We’re grateful that our call has now been taken up and is being pursued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and, by extension and inclusion, the MADANI Government under Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim who has time and again (i.e., even well before becoming PMX) demonstrated his unwavering commitment to the Palestinian cause and remained undaunted in his resolve to uphold justice and seek an end to oppression, dispossession and occupation.
In a statement to the Dewan Rakyat on November 4, 2024, the Prime Minister confirmed that Malaysia is leading the process of compiling the legal case for the Zionist entity’s expulsion from the UN and a draft resolution has been put forward which is currently in the negotiation process.
Thereafter, the draft resolution will be tabled at the UN General Assembly/GA for approval (“UN draft resolution: M'sia proposes expelling Israel from UN if there is legal violation – PM”, Astro AWANI, November 4, 2024).
Together with partner countries comprising the “core group”, i.e., Egypt, Guyana, Indonesia, Jordan, Namibia, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia, Malaysia is building a legal case against the Zionist entity as immediately occasioned by the recent banning (explicit measure) of UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) of East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza by the Knesset on October 28, 2024.
To that end, Malaysia has sought an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the obligations of Israel under international law to allow for the presence and activities of UN and UN-affiliated bodies.
Malaysia’s advocacy for Israel to be expelled follows a similar call by the UN Special Rapporteur (on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967) Francesa Albanese for Israel to be suspended due to the on-going genocide in Gaza as outlined in her latest report, “Genocide as colonial erasure” (October 1, 2024).
She confirmed that there’s an intent to commit genocide as a “means to an end”. The report follows up on her previous report, “Anatomy of a Genocide” presented to the Human Rights Council’s 55th Session on March 25, 2024.
The case for Israel’s expulsion can already be and would ultimately be founded – the cause – on the ICJ’s judgment on January 26, 2024 (among others/inter alia) in response to the Republic of South Africa’s Application Instituting Proceedings and Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures (December 28, 2023) against the State of Israel.
In its Order (ruling/judgment), the ICJ declared that “… the facts and circumstances mentioned … are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights [and, by extension, protection from genocide] claimed by South Africa [on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza] are plausible … [That is to say, the situation] identified in Article III, and the right of South Africa to seek Israel’s compliance with the latter’s obligations under the Convention [on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide].
The ICJ concluded that, “[t]herefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by South Africa that the Court has found to be plausible, and at least some of the provisional measures requested”.
The provisional measures as ordered by the ICJ include:-
1. Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza;
2. Israel to desist from the commission of any and all acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – a) killing members of the group; b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to the members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, etc.;
3. Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
4. And not least, Israel to take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
Furthermore, the ICJ in its Advisory Opinion on July 19, 2024 declared that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories of West Bank and East Jerusalem to be illegal/unlawful (under international law).
This Advisory Opinion was to form the basis of the UNGA’s Tenth Emergency Special Session’s resolution (Agenda Item 5) on 17 September, 2024 in relation to the “Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
As a matter of practical measure, the ICJ determined that the UN, and “especially the [GA], which requested this opinion, and the Security Council [SC], should consider the precise modalities and further action required to bring to an end as rapidly as possible the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the [OPT]”.
At this session, 124 member-states voted in favour (with 14 against and 43 abstentions) for the resolution calling on “Israel to comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activities, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank”.
The resolution is clear and unequivocal that Israel’s current military operations in Gaza doesn’t and can’t amount to self-defence.
Not only does the resolution states that “Israel is not entitled to sovereignty over or to exercise sovereign powers in any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory on account of its occupation, nor can Israel’s security concerns override the principle of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force”.
Of significant note too is the clear-cut demand by the UNGA for Israel to withdraw within the next 12 months (from the adoption of the said resolution).
Arguably, non-compliance with this measure in and of itself adopted by the world’s highest political body/community could constitute a cause for the Zionist entity’s suspension or otherwise expulsion from the UN.
Outside of the UN forum, Malaysia is also pushing for the case and mobilising global support for Israel’s expulsion.
In his speech (termed the “national statement”) delivered at the Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 11, 2024, the Prime Minister called on the international community to forge a consensus on the issue of suspending or expelling Israel from the UN.
Speaking matter-of-factly and without mincing, the Prime Minister stated that, “Israel, however, has gone beyond the pale, beyond reason, beyond humanity itself in its vile and blatant perpetration of the genocide of the people of Palestine. These cumulative acts of violence against an entire nation leaves us with no choice but to demand for the swift and effective action of the international community including embargo, suspension and even expulsion”.
The statement couldn’t be more well-articulated.
We’re seeing that the momentum for Israel’s suspension or, if need be, expulsion is gaining traction.
As such, the next step should be for pressure on the UNSC to uphold and enforce the UNGA resolution (i.e., the Tenth Emergency Special Session, Agenda Item 5).
As a preliminary, the UNSC should be pressured to adopt a sanctions regime against Israel (as part of the call for the enforcement organ’s proposed reforms which also include the use of the veto).
To foster a consensus, such a sanctions regime would be targeted, limited/restricted and temporary and not least conditional.
The same UNGA resolution should also be specifically and formally adopted by the relevant non-UN international bodies such as the EU (in cooperation with the UK), Arab League, OIC, BRICS, etc.
This is to encourage non-UN international bodies to implement parallel or otherwise additional (complementary – qualitative; supplementary – quantitative) measures, if at all, deemed appropriate (e.g., involving full-scale arms embargo alongside extensive trade and financial sanctions) as conditioned by respective timetables/deadlines accordingly.
The ultimate aim is to reinforce the momentum for Israel’s expulsion by setting the stage for triggering the move when the time comes.
That is, the de-legitimisation and isolation of Israel due to persistent non-compliance with the will of the international community as pre-eminently expressed by the UN (and, secondarily, of non-UN international bodies) need to be emphasised and entrenched.
For a country claiming to be the “only” (so-called) “democracy” in the region but which refuses the two-state solution as the only pathway to peace and security and which has consistently/consecutively defied (and, by extension, mocked) the UNGA (let alone the UNSC) resolutions as representing the collective will of the international community via their democratic participation and representation in the workings of the UN is simply beyond criminal.
Israel has even banned the Secretary-General of the UN His Excellency Mr Antonio Guterres from entering the country and, by extension, the OPT.
An act which displays sheer contempt for the UN.
The time has come for Israel to be expelled – in due course.
Jason Loh Seong Wei is Head of Social, Law & Human Rights at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.
