UK accused of double standards after failing to back South African file on Gaza ‘genocide’

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis on Jan. 7 (AP)

•  In November, Britain supported bid to label Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya as genocide
• ‘It would be wholly disingenuous’ if UK treats Israeli case differently, expert says

LONDON: The UK is facing criticism over its failure to back South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice arguing that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, just six weeks after it supported a bid to label Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya as genocide.
Critics are accusing Britain of double standards following the news that it would not support the South African document, which will be discussed at the ICJ in The Hague on Thursday, The Observer reported.
Along with five other countries, the UK in November submitted a “declaration of intervention” on Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya minority.
The document argues that the criteria for genocidal intent can be fulfilled in the case of systematic forced displacement from homes, deprivation of medical services and forced subsistence diets.
The UK also said the threshold for determining genocide is lower if children are targeted over adults.
And rather than rely on “explicit statements” or “numbers killed,” courts determining genocidal intent should draw reasonable inference from a pattern of conduct and factual evidence, Britain argued.
But similarities between the UK’s own submission and the South African document, which makes many of the same points, have led to criticism of perceived British double standards.
Tayab Ali, head of international law at Bindmans, said the UK intervention regarding the Rohingya showed “the importance the UK attaches to adherence to the UN Genocide Convention.”
He added that the UK “took a wide, and not a narrow, definition of acts of genocide, and the intent to commit genocide.
“It also made clear that the court should take into account risks to life after a ceasefire caused by disabilities, inability to reside in their homes and wider injustices.”
Ali said: “It would be wholly disingenuous if the UK, six weeks after advancing such a significant and broad definition of genocide in the case of Myanmar, now adopts a narrow one in the case of Israel.”
Israel is set to defend itself at the ICJ, a UN body, and will insist it has sought to limit civilian casualties during its campaign in Gaza.
Israeli officials have also said the country’s plans for the enclave after the war, including Palestinian governance, demonstrate a lack of genocidal intent.
But South Africa is likely to draw upon many of the arguments put forward by the UK in its submission on the Rohingya, which followed years of legal debate following an initial submission by the Gambia in 2019.
In late 2022, the ICJ rejected a claim by Myanmar that the Gambia had no right to file the claim, and the former has consistently denied that it carried out a genocide during its 2017 military campaign. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh as a result of the conflict.
US news website Axios reported that Israel ordered its diplomats to rally international opposition to the South African document.