FRANK CHIKANE: The Hague Group must be welcomed

The prophet Isaiah’s command rings across centuries: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression.” SA's decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) embodied these ancient words in contemporary action. Now, with the formation of The Hague Group, this moral stance has found powerful allies across the Global South, transforming one country’s courage into collective courage. 

A report in the respected medical journal The Lancet estimates that 55,298-78,525 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. More than 85% of Gaza's population was displaced. 

It is alleged that Israeli bombs have deliberately destroyed hospitals, schools, universities and refugee camps. The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, the destruction of food and water supplies and the bombing of clearly marked medical facilities are war crimes, war crimes carried out as part of a genocidal project. 

Just as the world eventually stood together against apartheid, nations must now stand together against genocide. During the 1980s the anti-apartheid movement built networks of practical solidarity that proved decisive — dock workers refusing to handle SA cargo, universities divesting, churches demanding sanctions, consumers boycotting complicit companies. These actions helped isolate the apartheid regime and create pressure for change.

The formation of The Hague Group, announced on January 31, brings together nine nations from Africa, Latin America and Asia in a coalition that marks a turning point in global solidarity. When Colombia, Bolivia and Honduras recalled their ambassadors from Israel, they acted alone. When Namibia turned away a ship carrying explosives to Israel at Walvis Bay, it acted alone. Now these nations act in concert, with clear commitments to stop arms reaching Israel and to support international law. 

This follows a crucial lesson from the anti-apartheid struggle — solidarity must be practical. During apartheid the international arms embargo and sanctions were vital tools that ensured moral condemnation had practical consequences. The sports boycott, which began with small actions and grew into complete isolation, showed how targeted measures could undermine the regime's legitimacy. The academic boycott forced universities to confront their complicity. Cultural boycotts helped shift public opinion. 

The Hague Group follows this example. Its members will deny port access to ships carrying weapons to Israel and block arms transfers through their territories. This mirrors successful anti-apartheid tactics like the 1963 East London dock workers’ refusal to handle SA cargo, an action that inspired similar boycotts in Liverpool, Sweden and San Francisco. 

The group’s members have also committed to uphold UN Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 and support the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) arrest warrants issued against Israeli officials in November 2024. This marks a crucial step in ending impunity. When states act together to enforce international law, they give real power to legal decisions that might otherwise remain symbolic gestures. 

The group has also committed to preventing the transfer of arms and munitions to Israel where there is clear risk of their use in humanitarian law violations. This builds on the ICJ’s advisory opinion of July 2024 and follows the precedent of the mandatory arms embargo against apartheid SA. States working together can disrupt the supply chains that sustain military operations. 

Arguments that SA should focus on domestic issues rather than Palestine echo identical claims made during apartheid when our allies supported the liberation struggle. They were wrong then and are wrong now. 

It is true that many of our people still live in unconscionable conditions. It is also true that we must act against this with urgency. But our humanity cannot be bordered. We must be in solidarity with the oppressed everywhere. 

Just as the apartheid regime tried to paint the liberation struggle as a communist plot, those backing Israel’s actions try to dismiss global solidarity with Palestine as anti-Semitism. These are desperate tactics used by those defending the indefensible. Supporting Palestinian rights is not anti-Semitic. All over the world, including in Israel, Jewish people of good conscience are appalled by the oppression of the Palestinian people. 

The formation of The Hague Group sends another crucial message — the Global South will no longer accept lectures about human rights from nations that enable genocide. The US, which rushes weapons to Israel while vetoing ceasefire resolutions, has lost all moral authority on this issue. Britain and Germany continue arming Israel while claiming to support human rights. This hypocrisy mirrors Western nations' long support for apartheid while claiming to oppose racism. 

We are in a critical moment. US president Donald Trump has publicly threatened Colombia for its stance on his vicious xenophobia. He has also threatened SA for its commitment to lawfully-carried-out land reform. In light of Trump's alarming statement that Gaza should be redeveloped as a real estate project, more pressure on government's supporting justice for Palestine will surely follow. This is precisely why collective action matters so much. Nations acting together can resist attempts to intimidate them into silence about Palestine. 

The Hague Group's approach — combining legal action, diplomatic co-ordination, and practical measures like blocking arms shipments — creates a framework for Global South co-operation that could extend beyond Palestine. Its initial commitments are specific and practical: supporting ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials, restricting arms transfers that could facilitate war crimes, and denying port access to vessels carrying military supplies. 

The church’s role in opposing apartheid — from Archbishop Desmond Tutu'’ leadership to local congregations sheltering activists — showed how moral authority combined with practical action can help bend the arc of history towards justice. Today, religious institutions must again move beyond statements to active solidarity — supporting boycotts, backing sanctions, and helping build global opposition to genocide. 

Critics who call SA’s position impractical and therefore unrealistic in the light of global power relations are wrong. What is truly unrealistic is expecting peace while enabling genocide. What's truly unrealistic is thinking that Western impunity can continue forever. 

Gustavo Gutiérrez, the great Peruvian theologian who died in March last year, wrote that “To know God is to do justice, is to be committed to the liberation of the poor and oppressed.” Today, in the face of genocide, this truth rings with power and clarity. We are all called to action and we must heed that call. 

• Rev Chikane chairs the Anti Apartheid Conference for Palestine & Against Israeli Apartheid.