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‘Double-Speak and Double-Standards’: South African Jews Excoriate Government Over ICJ Case Charging Israel With ‘Genocide’
Supporters of Hamas demonstrating outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: Reuters/Jehad Shelbak
South Africa’s Jewish community on Thursday accused the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of “double-speak and double-standards” on the opening day of the government’s case at the International Court of Justice charging Israel with committing genocide in Gaza.
In a statement shared with The Algemeiner, South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) president Prof. Karen Milner observed that only a week after the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel — in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and over 200 kidnapped alongside multiple reports of rape, mutilation, and other atrocities — the South African government had already decided that Israel was guilty of “genocide.” It noted as well that during the same week, President Cyril Ramaphosa “failed to condemn Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel. To absolve Hamas of any complicity in the tragic loss of lives in Israel and in Gaza shows a thorough lack of understanding of the conflict.”
The statement highlighted that despite its legal campaign targeting Israel, the South African government had hosted international leaders facing charges of crimes against humanity, including former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Mohamed Dagalo, the commander of the RSF militia in Sudan that has carried out numerous atrocities against non-Arab minorities in the Darfur region.
“South Africa’s double-speak and double-standards is also evident with dogged determination to remain neutral and ‘talk to both sides’ in the Russian-Ukraine war,” Milner’s statement continued. “Yet, with Israel it has taken constant punitive action, including refusing to offer condolences to Israel after the Oct. 7 massacre, closing the SA Embassy, issuing a demarche to the Israeli ambassador. and now taking Israel to the ICJ.”
In its evidence submitted to the ICJ in The Hague, South Africa invoked the 1948 Genocide Convention, claiming that Israel’s military response to the Hamas pogrom was “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnical group.”
That point was emphasized in speeches to the court on Thursday by prosecuting lawyers. “The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state,” Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a lawyer for the High Court of South Africa, declared, while his colleague Adila Hassim said that “every day there is mounting, irreparable loss of life, property, dignity, and humanity for the Palestinian people.”
Israel will formally deliver its response to the charges on Friday. However, several Israeli politicians weighed in on Thursday with strong condemnation of the proceedings.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett described the ICJ case as “the Dreyfus Affair of the 21st century” — a reference to the late 19th century trial of French Army Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew, on false charges of espionage that triggered a wave of antisemitic violence across France. Separately, Economy Minister Nir Barkat asserted that “instead of starting proceedings against Hamas, the hypocritical court in The Hague charges Israel with false allegations, fabrications, and antisemitic blood libel plots.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on social media that it was “not Israel that is on trial today, but the integrity of the international community.”
Said Lapid: “If a country that protects itself from a brutal murderous terrorist attack can find itself in court for genocide, then the genocide convention has become a reward for terrorism and antisemitism.”
Within South Africa, most opposition parties lined up behind the government in supporting the ICJ case.
“We welcome the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) hearing later this week for provisional measures relating to Israel’s obligations under the Genocide Convention,” Roger Jardine — the founder of Change Starts Now, a new party launched only last month — said in a statement.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), which has often been a thorn in the side of the ANC, offered only muted criticism, arguing that it was “a great pity that the South African government has consistently ignored gross human rights violations on our own doorstep,” Emma Powell, a spokesperson for the party, told local media outlets, before clarifying that “the DA will await the ICJ’s findings.”
More forthright opposition was expressed by the far right Patriotic Alliance, which dismissed the ICJ proceedings as “a joke.” However, party spokesperson Steve Motale later clarified that “we have never taken a side, except to push for a genuine two-state solution, which would bring the violence to an end. We have also been clear from the start that we condemn Hamas, who themselves preach and pursue policies and actions of clearly stated and performed genocide … We support a free Palestine too.”
Rev. Kenneth Meshoe — the leader of the pro-Israel African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) — bemoaned that “the South African government could have played a far more constructive role in influencing Hamas to release hostages after the deadly attack on Oct. 7, and even to surrender, to avoid the loss of civilian lives, and to seek to bring about a lasting peace in the Middle East.” He also expressed skepticism that South African government lawyers would succeed in proving that Israel has demonstrated “the necessary genocidal intent against the Palestinian people as required by the Genocide Convention.”
The post ‘Double-Speak and Double-Standards’: South African Jews Excoriate Government Over ICJ Case Charging Israel With ‘Genocide’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.