The hearings at the International Court of Justice, discussing Israel's genocide upon South Africa's application, have made a significant impact beyond expectations, akin to a new and crucial wave of the Aqsa flood. Although these hearings may not have binding and conclusive results in terms of sanctions, they mark a momentous and unprecedented event in history due to the notes they leave and the effects they create on the global public opinion, even if Western mainstream media failed to cover the trial. Al Jazeera's English and Arabic broadcasts, along with TRT World, livestreamed all the hearings. Furthermore, these proceedings gained substantial traction on social media.
Israel, attempting to justify its occupation policies and crimes for 75 years based on the victimhood of genocide, now stands trial as the notorious perpetrator of a fresh genocide, with smoke rising in plain view of the entire world. Even if the ICJ were to declare Israel guilty, it is certain that the United States, the accomplice, supporter, and enabler of this crime, would use its veto power to shield Israel in the UN Security Council. However, this won't prevent the issue from reaching the UN General Assembly, where the suspension of Israel's membership could be demanded. Regardless of the outcome, the bells are tolling for Israel, and its constant defensive stance alone represents a significant gain for the Palestinian cause.
The fact that the case was initiated by South Africa, where only 2% of the population is Muslim, undoubtedly adds strength and importance to the trial. It highlights a reality that everyone can see, moving beyond Israel's reductionist narrative that previously framed the conflict as a clash between Islam and the modern Western Christian world. The issue now transcends Islam and others; it becomes a matter of universal humanity. Despite this, it does not justify the failure of all 22 Arab countries and 57 Muslim countries to take such an initiative. The bold stance of South Africa in this significant trial, standing alongside the great and noble resistance of the small Gaza population against oppression, occupation, Zionist ideology, global dominance, and genocide, has inscribed it in history with golden letters. This brave stance, prepared by the generation Nelson Mandela raised with a historical stance against the white-supremacist Apartheid occupation, is compelling Israel to uproot itself. Testimonies from individuals who emerged from a similar experience are entirely different.
Coincidentally, I am observing the trial from a region that has recently experienced another imperialist occupation, Afghanistan. Having squandered years under the Russian invasion and followed by a 20-year U.S. occupation, Afghanistan's people have displayed a resilient resistance grounded in a robust philosophy, belief, and culture against all the treacherous and unjust effects of the occupation. The last occupation of the Afghan people, estimated to have killed at least 500,000 individuals by the U.S., which never made a distinction between civilians and combatants, and rendered cities uninhabitable, was executed by the same U.S. supporting Zionist Israel in the ongoing massacres. You can easily observe from here whom Israel has taken as a model in its recent massacres, 75 years of occupier policies, and audacious genocidal acts.
The U.S. has massacred at least 500,000 people in Afghanistan over 20 years and has never made a distinction between civilians and combatants. It devastated cities. The resistance against this lasted until I left this place as a disgraceful mess two and a half years ago, and it has never given up. Yet, it never hesitated to label this resistance, as customary, as terrorism and shamelessly use this card globally. However, no one can label the resistance of a nation whose country is occupied as terrorism. The Afghan people resisted against the Russians before, and they were labeled as "mujahideen" or "resistants" by the U.S. Now, the U.S., which supported the Zionists in the Israeli occupation and genocide, describes this resistance as terrorist.
However, after 45 years, the first time since the victory of the resistance, Afghanistan is being governed by its people. The first and most obvious manifestation of this governance is the unprecedented stability and security in the country for the first time in 45 years. For the first time, the government in Kabul has control over the entire country, and there is hope for the future throughout the country.
Don't pay attention to those who try to present Afghanistan differently through an elaborate Taliban stereotype. The understanding of Islam and even the cultural understanding of the Taliban is by no means inferior to the general cultural understanding or life of Afghan society. Understanding this only requires a slightly closer sociological observation; it is a straightforward situation based on myths invented by occupiers to hide their imperialist desires that make Afghanistan incomprehensible.
To understand that the occupiers can never get close to understanding the Afghan people, just look at the secure areas they created in the safety zone they were stranded in for 20 years. Between the excessively secured walls and precautions that made the city look as ugly as possible, they literally lived in self-imposed prisons whenever aerial bombardments were not taking place. This situation is better observed in the offices and residences they had to abandon after leaving. They lived in fear of their own shadows here.
On the other hand, the Afghan people, as they express, have an extremely generous culture that warmly welcomes guests, accommodating them with open hearts and homes. But to those who come to eye their homeland, to the occupiers, they have tried to explain what they did to them, to the occupiers, over the past 45 years by showing it to the whole world. Those who do not want to understand can come to Kabul and see the works.
