JOHANNESBURG

Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah applauded the South African government Saturday for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its conflict in the Gaza Strip.

The Tanzanian-born British novelist and academic who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2021, spoke at the 2024 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg and said South Africa’s case has invited greater condemnation of the tragic events perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.

“The court’s ruling and its warrants will only be more words, in the end, and words will not end this or other injustices, will not rebuild schools or hospitals, or end detentions and the destruction of cities,” he said.

Gurnah, 75, however, expressed opportunism. “There are times when words is all we have -- words and sympathy -- and an understanding of our comparable experiences, our shared humanity,” he said. “Having a sense of shared humanity means being committed to championing justice … and to demand profound care for the environment and for other species. In an international context, our sense of shared humanity should guide our understanding of justice and inspire us to pursue justice beyond the borders of our respective communities and countries.”

South Africa filed the case at the tribunal based in The Hague in late 2023, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since last October, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The top UN court ordered Israel in May to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was the third time the 15-judge panel issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the blockaded enclave, where casualties have surpassed 41,000.

Several countries have joined the genocide case against Israel including, Türkiye, Nicaragua, Palestine, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia. The case began public hearings in January.

Colonialism

Gurnah noted his experience during colonialism in Zanzibar in 1960, when he was a 12-year-old school boy. He said it was a time of unprecedented excitement as the politics of decolonization were approaching a climax.

He said he came to know about South Africa, where the white minority ruled, because of the sense of solidarity that arose out of the decolonization activities that led to boycotts of South African products.

“I think, actually, that was the first awareness of South Africa for me,” he said.