THIS is with reference to the report ‘ICJ stops short of ordering Gaza Ceasefire’ (Jan 27). While the ruling by the Interna- tional Court of Justice (ICJ), indeed, could have gone a little further in putting the truth across in as many words, it was a step forward in the sense that it represen- ted the first ever acknowledgment at a global platform of what Israel has been doing for decades. The credit for it must go to South Africa for taking the initiative.

It was Nelson Mandela who had said that the freedom of the black community in South Africa was “incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”. This he had said at the end of the apartheid rule in that country.

Many members of South African parliament visited occupied Palestine and were left in tears by the plight of the Palestinians at the hands of the occupiers, and said that what the Pales- tinians were experiencing was worse than what they had.

So it did not come as a surprise that South Africa worked hard in taking Israel to the ICJ for genocide. By doing so, South Africa took a major step towards Mandela’s quest for the freedom of the Palestinians. This was truly a monumental moment not only for South Africa, but for humanity as a whole.

While Israel, the rogue state that it happens to be, is not expected to take any major policy reversal, it is time for us, the people, to continue with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement with fresh vigour. Let us hit Israel where it hurts. And, the BDS movement, in tandem with the rallies in support of Palestine, has surely had an impact.

Companies that supported the apartheid regime are waking up, and have started distancing themselves. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) banned Israel from taking part in its competitions. Some lame excuse was given as a facade, but the timing of the decision tells the tale. Even though it was later reversed on a “case to case basis”, the initial decision was an indi- cation of what people’s power can do.

Puma has abandoned its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association even if it insisted that the decision had nothing to do with politics. There are several other embarrassments that have been heaped on Israel in recent days. Besides, the boycott movement of Israeli products in the occupied West Bank (as seen in the accompanying image) is getting more and more intense by the day.

The point is that the BDS movement has worked, and if we continue to keep the momentum going even countries like the United States and the United Kingdom will feel the heat in due course of time. Let us do it for it is worth doing.

Angabeen Ahmad
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024