By Merve Berker
ANKARA (AA) – The step by Germany to become the first country to legally defend Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a third party had drawn a significant number of negative reactions from across the world, including UN rapporteurs.
“Shocking abdication of all responsibility by Germany,” wrote Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, on X.
“May better angels prevail,” he wrote. “Germany should be supporting efforts to enforce the Genocide Convention, not oppose it.”
Separately, Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN special rapporteur on the right to health, also criticized Germany for trying to prevent Israel from being tried for crimes it has been committing with its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
“The state (Germany) that committed more than one genocide throughout its history is trying to undermine the efforts of a country (South Africa) that is a victim of colonialism and apartheid, to protect another genocide and an occupying nuclear power (Israel),” she lamented on X.
“Germany? Are you for real? We hope you can do better!!,” she added.
In addition, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights, Francesca Albanese, also wrote on X: “Those trying to save Palestinians are not Arab countries, "brothers of blood", not Western countries, promoters of human rights, but a country who shares a history of oppression/apartheid (cit.Sami Al-Jrami).”
“Bcs of it is own history, #Germany should not obstruct it. @GermanyDiplo,” she wrote.
German federal government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit previously announced on X that Berlin “firmly rejects the accusation of genocide made against Israel.”
“It has no basis whatsoever. We will therefore speak as a third party in the main hearing before the International Court of Justice,” he added.
- Germany's Holocaust responsibility
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had attributed his country’s unconditional support for Israel after Oct. 7 to Germany’s historical responsibility for the Holocaust.
Berlin had put forward the same reason when blocking demonstrations of support for Palestine in Germany on the grounds of combating antisemitism.
During this period, more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrations were not allowed in the country, while in the capital, students were banned from carrying Palestinian shawls and stickers with Palestinian flags on them.
In the state of Bavaria, the slogan: "Palestine will be free from the river to the sea," used in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, was banned on the grounds it was "antisemitic.”
Scholz was the first foreign head of government to visit Israel after Oct. 7.
Israel's Ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, announced that Germany has become Tel Aviv’s "best ally in Europe" after the unconditional and unlimited support it has given since Oct. 7.
Tensions have been running high across the West Bank amid an Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The Israeli escalation resulted in the killing of 347 Palestinians and injury to 4,000 others, including 593 children, since Oct. 7, according to the Ministry of Health. The arrest of 5,822 Palestinians has been recorded, according to prisoner affairs institutions.
Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Hamas attack, killing at least 23,843 Palestinians, mostly children and women and injuring 60,317 others, according to health authorities in the seaside enclave.