On 12 January 2024, the German Federal Govern- ment published the following press re- lease1:
“On 7 October 2023, Hamas ter- rorists brutally at- tacked, tortured,
killed and kid- napped innocent people in Israel.
as it has done for many decades. The Fed- eral Government intends to intervene as a third party in the hearing on the merits. (emphasis CC)
In response, the President of Namibia, Hage Geingob, issued the following state- ment.2 Namibia was the German colony
of South West Africa until the end of the First World War.
“Namibia rejects Germany’s Support
of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Is- raeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza. On Namibian soil, Germany com-
the internal displacement of 85% of civil- ians in Gaza amid acute shortages of food and essential services, the German Gov- ernment haschosen to defend in the In- ternational Court of Justice the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli Govern- ment against innocent civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Germany cannot morally express commit- ment to the United Nations Convention againstgenocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst sup- porting the equivalent of a holocaust and
Hamas’ goal is to wipe out Israel. Since then, Israel has been defending itself against the inhumane attack by Hamas.
In light of Germany’s history and the crime of humanity – the Shoah, the Fed- eral Government sees itself as particular- ly committedto the Convention against Genocide. This Convention is a central in- strument of international law to implement ‘Never Again’. We irmlyoppose a politi- cal instrumentalization [of the Convention].
We know that different countries as- sess Israel’s operation in Gaza differently.
However, the Federal Government irm- ly and expressly rejects the accusation
of genocide that has now been levelled against Israel at the International Court
of Justice. This accusation has no basis whatsoever.
The Federal Government supports the International Court of Justice in its work,
mitted the irst genocide of the 20th cen- tury in 1904–1908, in which tens of thou- sands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane andbrutal conditions. The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Nami- bian soil. Therefore, in light ofGermany’s inability to draw lessons from its horrif- ic history, President Hage Geingob ex- presses deep concern with the shocking decision communicated by the Govern- ment of the Federal Republic of Germa- ny yesterday, 12 January 2024, in which it rejected the morally upright indictment brought forward by South Africa before the International Court of Justice that Is- rael is committing genocideagainst Pal- estinians in Gaza. Worryingly, ignoring the violent deaths of over 23 000 Pales- tinians in Gaza and various United Na- tionsreports disturbingly highlighting
genocide in Gaza. Various internation- al organizations, such as Human Rights Watch have chillingly concluded that Is- rael is committing war crimes in Gaza. President Geingob reiterates his call made on 31 December 2023, ‘No peace- loving human being can ignore the car- nage waged against Palestinians in Gaza’. In that vein, President Geingob appeals to the German Government to reconsider its untimelydecision to intervene as a third- party in defence and support of the geno- cidal acts of Israel before the Internation-
al Court of Justice.” •
1 https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/ aktuelles/erklaerung-der-bundesregierung- zur-verhandlung-am-internationalen-ger-
ichtshof-2252842 (translated by Stefan Talmon, GPIL, uni-bonn.de)
2 https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/sta- tus/1746259880871149956