{"id":37678,"date":"2024-11-18T10:44:08","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T18:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=37678"},"modified":"2024-11-18T10:44:08","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T18:44:08","slug":"pope-francis-urges-genocide-probe-of-israels-war-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/18\/pope-francis-urges-genocide-probe-of-israels-war-on-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis Urges Genocide Probe of Israel’s War on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pope<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pope Francis speaks on December 25, 2023 in the Vatican City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo: Alessandra Benedetti\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pontiff’s call comes as the International Court of Justice is reviewing evidence in a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 17, 2024 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new book set to be released this week, Pope Francis I endorsed a genocide investigation into Israel’s war on Gaza\u2014which has killed or maimed more than 150,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened millions more over the past 13 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza<\/a> in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” the pontiff wrote in his latest book,<\/a> which goes on sale in some countries on November 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the Pope added. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/VaticanNews\/status\/1858112095260131496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1858112095260131496%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fpope-gaza-genocide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pope’s words echo last week’s finding<\/a> by a United Nations expert panel that Israel’s annihilation of Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Court of Justice\u2014a U.N. organ\u2014is currently weighing a South Africa-led<\/a> genocide case against Israel<\/a> backed by more than 30 nations and regional blocs as well as hundreds of groups and experts around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking<\/a> arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three former Hamas leaders assassinated by Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many jurists<\/a>, scholars<\/a>, and other experts<\/a>\u2014including<\/a> some of Israel’s leading Holocaust historians<\/a>\u2014have called Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza genocide. Early in the war, Raz Segal\u2014an Israeli historian and professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University in New Jersey\u2014called<\/a> Israel’s Gaza onslaught “a textbook case of genocide.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous world leaders<\/a> and other international officials<\/a>, artists<\/a>, entertainers<\/a>, and others\u2014including half of Democratic voters in the United States surveyed<\/a> in May\u2014also agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Palestinian Christians have been killed, injured, or otherwise harmed by Israeli forces during the bombardment, invasion, and siege of Gaza. With just 800 to 1,000 people believed remaining in Gaza, members of the world’s oldest Christian community warned<\/a> early in the war that they were “under threat of extinction.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their most infamous attack on Gaza Christians, Israeli forces bombed<\/a> the 12th century Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, Gaza’s oldest, in October 2023, killing 18 Palestinians including numerous children. Among the victims were two women and an infant related to former Republican U.S. Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an Israeli sniper fatally shot<\/a> an elderly woman and her daughter on the grounds of a Catholic church in Gaza City last December, Pope Francis condemned<\/a> what he called an act of “terrorism.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the death and destruction wrought by Israel’s assault on Gaza, last December’s Christmas celebrations were canceled<\/a> in Bethlehem, the purported birthplace of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How can we celebrate when we feel this war\u2014this genocide\u2014that is taking place could resume at any moment?”\u00a0asked<\/a>\u00a0Palestinian Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Francis speaks on December 25, 2023 in the Vatican City. (Photo: Alessandra Benedetti\/Corbis via Getty Images) The pontiff’s call comes as the International Court of Justice is reviewing evidence in a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel. BRETT WILKINS Nov 17, 2024 (CommonDreams.org) In a new book set to… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37679,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37678\/revisions\/37679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}