South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Chatsworth, South Africa, May 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rogan Ward

South Africa has vowed to continue its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) despite the ceasefire in Gaza, the most significant effort yet to halt the nearly two-year Middle Eastern conflict, taking effect.

Speaking before parliament in Cape Town on Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa affirmed that the US-backed peace deal “will have no bearing” on the ongoing legal proceedings against the Jewish state.

Ramaphosa promised to continue seeking “justice for the people of Gaza,” while reiterating false accusations that Israel committed genocide under international law during its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

“The peace deal that has been struck, which we welcome, will have no bearing on the case that is before the International Court of Justice,” the South African leader said.

“The case is proceeding, and it now has to go to the stage where Israel has to respond to our pleadings that have been filed in the court, and they have to do so by January of next year,” he continued.

Israel has strongly rejected all allegations of genocide, calling South Africa’s case “baseless” and “politically motivated.”

However, Ramaphosa has once again defended South Africa’s efforts against Jerusalem, insisting that the case is driven not by politics but by moral and legal principles of accountability and human rights.

“We cannot go forward without the healing that needs to take place, which will also result from the case being properly heard,” the South African leader said. “True peace requires justice, recognition, and reparations.”

“Peace cannot come at the expense of justice,” he continued. “For the victims, for the families, and for humanity itself, the truth must be heard.”

Ramaphosa’s continuing push comes amid mounting international pressure, with the US, South African political leaders, and the local Jewish community all expressing opposition to his government’s actions, accusing it of pursuing an anti-Israel campaign instead of addressing the country’s own pressing issues.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) strongly condemned Ramaphosa’s latest remarks, denouncing him and the country’s leadership as showing no real concern for achieving peace in the Middle East.

“It is fascinating that [Ramaphosa] chose not to comment on the return of the hostages or the ceasefire. Seems peace is not their real goal. Maybe that’s why they aren’t sitting around the peace table in Sharm El-Sheik?” SAJBD wrote in a post on X, referring to the Gaza peace summit in Egypt, where leaders signed a US-brokered agreement aimed at ending the war.

It is fascinating that @cyrilRamaphosa or @DIRCO_ZA chose not to comment on the return of the hostages or the ceasefire. Seems peace is not their real goal. Maybe that’s why they aren’t sitting around the peace table in Sharm El-Sheik? @Zwandid @ClaysonMonyela

— SA Jewish Board (@SAJBD) October 13, 2025

“It is a profound disappointment that the South African government, despite its ties to Hamas, adopted a one-sided and performative stance from the conflict’s outset, choosing meaningless virtue signaling exercises, failing to leverage its position to contribute meaningfully to hostage negotiations, de-escalation, or the pursuit of a peace that could have saved countless lives,” the statement read.

Several countries, including Spain, Ireland, Turkey, and Colombia, have expressed their support for Pretoria’s efforts.

On Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel since the start of war in Gaza, expressed his support for Ramaphosa’s decision to continue pursuing the ICJ case despite the newly brokered ceasefire.

“There cannot be impunity,” Sánchez told local media. “The main actors of the genocide will have to answer to justice.”

South Africa first filed its case in December 2023, accusing Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli leaders have condemned the case as an “obscene exploitation” of the Genocide Convention, noting that the Jewish state is targeting terrorists who use civilians as human shields in its military campaign.

Last year, the ICJ ruled there was “plausibility” to South Africa’s claims that Palestinians had a right to be protected from genocide.

However, the top UN court did not make a determination on the merits of South Africa’s allegations, which may take years to go through the judicial process, nor did it call for Israel to halt its military campaign.

Instead, the ICJ issued a more general directive that Israel must make sure it prevents acts of genocide. The ruling also called for the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the terrorist group’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Under ICJ timelines, Israel must respond to South Africa’s allegations by January next year, with oral hearings scheduled for 2027 and a final judgment potentially arriving as late as 2028.

Screenshot of footage of pro-Hamas group raiding event held to honor Israelis who died during Oct. 7 massacre. Photo: Screenshot

Pomona College officials are investigating an outrage in which masked pro-Hamas activists breached an event held on the California campus to commemorate the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in which Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists raped, murdered, and abducted women, children, and men during their rampage across southern Israel.

Footage of the act circulating on social media shows the group attempting to raid the room while screaming expletives and pro-Hamas dogma. They ultimately failed due to the prompt response of the Claremont Colleges Jewish chaplain and other attendees who formed a barrier in front of the door to repel them, a defense they mounted on their own as campus security personnel did nothing to stop the disturbance, according to video of the incident and witnesses who spoke to The Claremont Independent.

“We have seen videos of the incident, and they are shocking and deeply disturbing,” Pomona College president Gabi Starr said in a statement. “It is both outrageous and cruel to interrupt a space where members of our community come together to mourn. Antisemitic hate cannot be tolerated here. Our community is better than this.”

Issuing a call for assistance in identifying the culprits, she continued, “While we have not yet identified the individuals, we are examining video footage taken during the event, as well as security footage to determine how access could have been gained.”

Claremont Hillel, the center of Jewish student life at the Claremont Colleges consortium, of which Pomona College is a member, denounced the incident as “completely unacceptable,” adding, “Jewish students must be able to gather, grieve, and remember without fear or intimidation. We are grateful for Pomona College’s swift response and strong condemnation of this incident, and we are working closely with the administration to strengthen safety protocols and support our students in the wake of this upsetting incident.”

Pomona College has historically followed through on its promise to punish antisemitic activity.

In October 2024, it imposed severe disciplinary sanctions, ranging from expulsion to banishment, on 12 students who participated in illegally occupying and vandalizing the Carnegie Hall administrative building on the first anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

A Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) spinoff, Pomona Divest from Apartheid (PDfA), led the assault on the building, flooding Carnegie Hall to graffiti its walls — with messages such as “F—k Pomona” and “From the river to the sea” — and to wreck “AV equipment, printers, plaques, and various materials.” The students destroyed important college “memorabilia” too, a campus paper reported at the time.

“The destruction in Carnegie Hall was extensive, and the harm done to individuals and our mission was so great,” Starr said after the incident. “Starting this week, disciplinary letters are going out to students from Pomona and other Claremont Colleges who have been identified as taking part in the takeover of Carnegie Hall. Student groups affiliated with this incident are also under investigation.”

Pro-Hamas groups at other higher education institutions are facing even worse consequences for their behavior.

A Santa Clara County, California grand jury has indicted, on federal charges of vandalism and trespassing, nearly a dozen pro-Hamas students from Stanford University who commandeered then-school president Richard Saller’s office in June 2024.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, anti-Israel activists associated with the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) raided Saller’s office, locking themselves inside using, the Stanford Daily said at the time, “bike locks, chains, ladders, and chairs.” The incident was part of a larger pro-Hamas demonstration in which SJP demanded that the university adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as the first step to its eventual elimination.

Twelve students in total had participated in the action, including one non-student, but the 12th student has reportedly become a “cooperating witness,” having agreed to tell on his friends in exchange for clemency. The remaining 11 are accused of causing some $300,00 in damages to Saller’s office and the administrative building in which it is located. As such, “Stanford is demanding restitution,” according to an email the group’s lawyer, Jeff Wozniak, sent to The Stanford Daily.

US college campuses saw an alarming spike in antisemitic incidents — including demonstrations calling for Israel’s destruction and the intimidation and harassment of Jewish students — after the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. In a two-month span following the atrocities, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 470 antisemitic incidents on college campuses alone. During that same period, antisemitic incidents across the US skyrocketed by 323 percent compared to the prior year.

To this day, Jewish students report feeling unsafe on the campus. According to a new survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS), the vast majority of Jewish students around the world resort to hiding their Jewishness and support for Israel on university campuses to avoid becoming victims of antisemitism.

A striking 78 percent of Jewish students have opted to “conceal” their religious affiliation “at least once” over the past year, the study found, with Jewish women being more likely than men to do so. Meanwhile, 81 percent of those surveyed hid their support for Zionism, a movement which promotes Jewish self-determination and the existence of the State of Israel, at least once over the past year.

Among all students, Orthodox Jews reported the highest rates of “different treatment,” with 41 percent saying that their peers employ alternative social norms in dealing with them.

“This survey exposes a devastating reality: Jewish students across the globe are being forced to hide fundamental aspects of their identity just to feel safe on campus,” ADL senior vice president of international affairs Marina Rosenberg said in a statement. “When over three-quarters of Jewish students feel they must conceal their religious and Zionist identity for their own safety, the situation is nothing short of dire. As the academic year begins, the data provides essential insights to guide university leadership in addressing this campus crisis head on.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

Soccer Football – UEFA Europa League – Maccabi Tel Aviv v GNK Dinamo Zagreb – TSC Arena, Topola, Serbia – Oct. 2, 2025, Maccabi Tel Aviv players pose for a team group photo before the match. Photo: REUTERS/Zorana Jevtic

The police and crime commissioner of the West Midlands Police (WMP) force in the United Kingdom has called for an “immediate review” of a decision to ban fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending the club’s UEFA Europa League game against Aston Villa next month following outrage from British government officials.

Simon Foster said he is requesting an urgent reassessment of the decision, made by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), to determine “whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable, and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim,” which is to ensure the safety and security of those attending the match on Nov. 6 at Villa Park in Birmingham. “That must include consideration, of all and any suitable, alternative options,” he added.

Foster concluded by saying that any decision or recommendation about the Nov. 6 match is ultimately a matter for the SAG to determine alongside the “independent, objective, and impartial operational policing judgement” of WMP.

Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans will not be allowed to attend the match at Villa Park in Birmingham because of security concerns, and the move has drawn condemnation from government officials in Israel and the UK, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets,” Starmer wrote on X. “The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”

Aston Villa said on Thursday that the decision was made by the SAG, a body comprised of several professional authorities responsible for issuing safety certificates for events at Villa Park. The SAG informed the club and UEFA that no away fans would be allowed to attend the game, the team noted.

“Following a meeting this afternoon, the SAG have formally written to the club and [European soccer body] UEFA to advise no away fans will be permitted to attend Villa Park for this fixture,” Aston Villa said in a statement. “West Midlands Police have advised the SAG that they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night.”

The team added that it was in “continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities throughout this ongoing process, with the safety of supporters attending the match and the safety of local residents at the forefront of any decision.”

West Midlands Police said on Thursday it supports the SAG’s decision, and that police classified the match as “high risk” after “a thorough assessment.”

“This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offenses that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam,” the police force said in a released statement. “Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety.”

A spokesperson for Downing Street said there are talks “at pace, across government” to resolve the issue regarding the ban against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

“Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is meeting officials to discuss what more can be done to try and find a way through to resolve this, and what more can be done to allow fans to attend the game safely,” the spokesperson said, as cited by the BBC. “The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Steve Reed, spoke to the local council this morning, and the Home Office is urgently working to support police to try and find a way through this.”

The UK’s Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch said the ban was a “national disgrace” and called on Starmer to “guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country.” Conservative MP Matt Vickers criticized the move as “utterly outrageous” while MP for the Liberal Democrat party Ed Davey demanded that the ban be reversed “as soon as possible” and said, “It’s completely wrong to tackle antisemitism by banning its victims.” Reform UK leader and MP Nigel Farage wrote on X: “This takes racial discrimination to a whole new level.”

The British nongovernmental organization Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) told the Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police that it intends to bring a judicial review over the decision. “Our lawyers are writing to the council and police in accordance with the pre-action protocol for judicial review,” CAA wrote in a statement on X. “Police forces and local councils must do whatever it takes to ensure that Britain is safe for everyone … We will do whatever it takes to overturn this pernicious ban which has humiliated and angered the whole country.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the ban as a “shameful decision” and called on UK officials to reverse the “coward” move against Israeli soccer fans.

Ian Austin, the UK’s trade envoy to Israel, said he was “appalled” by the ban and called on police to review the decision.

“It looks like they have capitulated to a campaign by trouble-makers and abdicated their responsibility to ensure people can go about their lawful business safely,” he said. “Birmingham is a great international city. It welcomes visitors from all over the world, and they must be able to come in safely. International sport is one of our most important exports and this has major implications for fixtures in the future.”

In November 2024, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were violently attacked by fans of the Dutch soccer team Ajax followed a European League match between the two teams in Amsterdam. During the premeditated and coordinated violence, Maccabi fans were chased with knives and sticks in the streets, run over by cars, physically beaten, and forced by their attackers to say, “Free Palestine.” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called the attackers “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” who went “Jew hunting.”