After more than 100 days since Israel’s bloody siege of Gaza, we are already seeing fatigue of the never-ending news cycle. However, on Jan. 26 the International Court of Justice came through for the Palestinians. In its findings, the ICJ found plausible that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. I think that is a very diplomatic way of putting it: Israel is committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinians.

Whether Israel has or hasn’t committed genocide is not the point. As a party to the Genocide Convention, it has to show it has done everything to prevent a genocide from happening and stem the public incitement to genocide. Which clearly it has not. The U.S. is also complicit in this point as it has materially provided Israel with weapons, intelligence, political cover, and money. It has basically green-lighted the last 100+ days where more than 26,000 Palestinians have been murdered including over 8,000 children, over 355,000 homes destroyed, all hospitals and most mosques. By October 29, 2023 Israel has dropped more than 6,000 bombs per week on the tiny strip of land — by some accounts the “heaviest conventional campaign in modern history.” These are not targeted strikes to root out Hamas — this is ethnic cleansing and genocide — and the world knows it.

In true Israeli fashion, they condemn the decision as it clearly puts Israel on the dais of countries like Putin’s Russia and China in terms of human rights atrocities and war crimes. What is most appalling (but not surprising) is the official outpouring of support for Israel by the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, etc. On one side of his mouth, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called the case put forth by South Africa as “meritless”, yet from the other side of his mouth he calls the Palestinian suffering as “gut-wrenching”. This is absolutely absurd coming from what seems to be a seasoned diplomat. I’d ask Blinken: how many more murders would Israel need to commit before it isn’t “meritless” anymore?

Similarly, Ron Wyden recently stated: “I can’t support a cease fire that would allow Hamas to rearm.” This is not only wrong, but it also goes agains the ruling of the ICJ. While I respect Senator Wyden and his long tenure representing Oregonians , I suggest that he read South Africa’s case and the ruling. If he did, he should see that parties to the Convention should prevent the incitement to genocide in addition to not committing it. This is where the U.S. and countries like Germany, France and the U.K. fail as well. Let’s be clear on the following:

There is no legal or moral justification for the incitement and use of genocide — not even as a retaliation to the Oct 7 attacks. Genocide is not a measure of self-defense. Companies like Elbit Systems and Boeing should be sued. They are providing weapons that are in use. Enjoying the rich amounts of data generated by battle-testing their technologies on live populations. They are just as complicit as Bayer was in the 1940s for the production of Zyklon chemical used in the Holocaust.

Everyone around the world has a responsibility. All of us, especially in America, have a responsibility to act and demand an immediate ceasefire. We should demand that the current bombardment stop and to allow humanitarian assistance to take place. Israel’s need for security does not trump our moral obligation to be humans and to stop the genocide. The urgency is real. The Palestinians will rightfully ask of all of us “Where were you when we needed you most?”

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor or a guest column.