Aimed at sanctioning Israel, the initiative is supported by the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network and other groups that have been at the forefront of the pro-Hamas marches that erupted after October 7.<\/p>\n
It is underpinned by a misreading of the International Court of Justice\u2019s<\/a> ruling by the legislation\u2019s architects, who wrongly claim that the ICJ found a plausible case that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n In reality, in its order of January 26, 2024, the ICJ found only that what was plausible was the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from genocide, as well as South Africa\u2019s right to bring the case to court.<\/p>\n Then-ICJ president Joan Donoghue later told the BBC that the ICJ \u201cdidn\u2019t decide that the claim of genocide was plausible.\u201d \u201cThe shorthand that often appears, which is that there\u2019s \u2018a plausible case of genocide,\u2019 isn\u2019t what the court decided.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Sidoti, the Australian lawyer on the controversial United Nations commission of inquiry that accused Israel of genocide, is also behind the initiative.<\/p>\n Sidoti has a long history of trying to delegitimize Israel as \u201ca settler colonial apartheid state\u201d and, according to UN Watch, trivializing antisemitism. In 2022, he told a UN human rights panel that Jews \u201cthrow around accusations of antisemitism like rice at a wedding.\u201d<\/p>\nRear view of adult Australian woman looking at Kangaroo Point Bridge, a pedestrian and cyclist bridge across the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Australia. (credit: Rafael Ben Ari)Long history of delegitimizing, antagonizing Israel<\/p>\n