International Opinion

South Africa comes to Palestine's rescue: a world overthrown

Europe's and North America's claims to support the universality of human rights are constantly contradicted by their actions. As they stand by and do nothing while the state of Israel destroys Palestine, it is instead South Africa that is today defending these universal values, argues Mediapart's publishing editor Edwy Plenel in this op-ed article.

Edwy Plenel

South Africa's petition to the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the state of Israel over “genocidal conduct” in its war against the Palestinians of Gaza is not just an unprecedented legal event. It also marks a geopolitical turnaround: while the peoples of the world see, through the lens of Palestinian tragedy, the flexible way that Europe and the United States apply the universal values they claim to support, it is now a country that symbolises the liberation causes of the anti-colonial and anti-racist Third World that has stepped forward to carry the torch for those values.

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