These 15 judges are now deciding whether the 2.4 million Palestinian survivors in Gaza will live. Because of the political contamination so far evident in the legal remedies available through other United Nations bodies, most notably in the Security Council, this current panel of judges will also be deciding whether our body of protective international law survives.

It is important to know who they are, to let them know that billions of people around the world understand the pivotal point in time that has culminated with South Africa’s charge that the Israeli government is committing genocide against the Palestinian People in Gaza, and that we need them to do the right thing by granting South Africa’s request for a preliminary order compelling Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza.

The very low threshold that must be met to grant South Africa’s request for this emergency preliminary finding is that the indisputable case for genocide made so far amounts to a mere “plausible claim of genocidal acts”. That’s all.

Please sign this petition so that these judges know we care and that we are paying attention. Our part in signing is easy. We make a stand for justice and peace. Their part, insofar as they have to deviate from the political hold that their individual governments may have on them, may be difficult.

Judges, we are appealing to your humanity as well as your legal obligations: the case South Africa has brought to bear, the decades-long history of the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, the footage the world has seen on the ground in Gaza—footage from both Palestinians and Israelis—leaves no doubt as to what is going on and what is at stake.

PLEASE Judges Joan Donoghue, Krill Gevorgian, Peter Tomka, Ronny Abraham, Mohamed Bennouna, Abdulqawi Ahmed, Xue Hanqin, Julia Sebutinde, Dalveer Bhandari, Patrick Lipton Robinson, Nawaf Salam, Iwasawa Yuji, Georg Nolte, Hilary Charlesworth, Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant:

PLEASE grant South Africa’s request for a preliminary order doing what you can to compel Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza.

1) President Joan E. DONOGHUE, United States of America

j.donoghue@icj-cij.org

2) Vice-President Kirill GEVORGIAN, Russian Federation

k.gevorgian@icj-cij.org

3) Judge Peter TOMKA, Slovakia

P.tomka@icj-cij.org

4) Judge Ronny ABRAHAM, France                                            

r.abraham@icj-cij.org

5) Judge Mohamed BENNOUNA, Morocco                                

M.bennouna@icj-cij.org

6) Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed YUSUF, Somalia                            

a.yusuf@icj-cij.org

7) Judge XUE Hanqin, China                                                        

h.xue@icj-cij.org

8) Judge Julia SEBUTINDE, Uganda                                          

j.sebutinde@icj-cij.org

9) Judge Dalveer BHANDARI, India                                            

d.bhandari@icj-cij.org

10) Judge Patrick Lipton ROBINSON, Jamaica                          

p.robinson@icj-cij.org

11) Judge Nawaf SALAM, Lebanon                                              

n.salam@icj-cij.org

12) Judge IWASAWA Yuji, Japan                                                  

y.iwasawa@icj-cij.org

13) Judge Georg NOLTE, Germany                                              

g.nolte@icj-cij.org

14) Judge Hilary CHARLESWORTH, Australia                            

h.charlesworth@icj-cij.org

15) Judge Leonardo Nemer Caldeira BRANT, Brazil                    

L.brant@icj-cij.org