European civilization is on trial

With South Africa taking a prominent step in the Palestinian case, it will soon become apparent how much attention is being paid to African countries. However, it can be said that South Africa's success in bringing Israel to trial for genocide has caused some surprise, at least among certain circles in Turkey. This success, which shakes the very foundations of the world we are accustomed to, needs to be reexamined with new questions. The answer to the question of why South Africa is important remains crucial. There are many questions that will remain unanswered when viewed from within a Europe-centric world.

Israel, through all its statements, showed that it did not want to accept the situation that arose with South Africa's application to the International Court of Justice. Because Israel was at the center of the system established after World War II. Britain and the United States, as the victors of this war, established a new order throughout the world. In this new order, Israel held a central importance. Israel not only held the most strategic region in the Eastern Mediterranean but also ruled over a vast hinterland at the point where Africa and Asia intersected. This dominance gave Israel tremendous self-confidence. Therefore, for half a century, Israel acted with the belief that it had the support of all Western countries behind it.

Although Israel showed that it had adopted Zionism as a worldview after 1948, it highlighted Jewish theology. Zionism was one of the ideologies nurtured by European colonialism, but Israelis believed they had dissolved this ideology within Jewish theology. However, Theodor Herzl, one of the founders of Zionism, had shown in his two books that he had designed Israel as a European colony. They realized that they had offered Jewish theology to the service of European colonialism but did not hesitate to reduce their religion to an ideological element in a humanistic endeavor, fueled by their belief in their success. The main reason they often bring up the concept of anti-Semitism is this. Zionism was a colonialist ideology and intertwined with Judaism. The fact that Judaism stands out so much in the accusation of genocide does not indicate the spread of anti-Semitism. Israelis constructed the path that led to this conclusion themselves.

Time will certainly show the answer to the question of what path Israel embarked on by offering the fundamental concepts of Jewish theology to the service of the Anglo-Saxons. However, after Israel's conviction of genocide becomes certain, Netanyahu entered into a defense related to Judaism again by talking about anti-Semitism. South Africa knows that they have no reason to associate themselves with anti-Semitism, but they find it difficult to abandon their old habits. They probably won't be able to leave the comfortable space of the twentieth century easily. Their repeated resorting to Jewish theology shows this. However, the genocide they committed in Gaza will wander with them for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, and this crime will be remembered as an atrocity that could be used as an example to all humanity in holy scriptures. They did not feel the need to hide that they enjoyed killing children and ordinary people and did it willingly. They should not have associated these crimes with Judaism. While causing a religious horror throughout the whole earth, they positioned themselves in minds by associating their crimes with Judaism.

It is also very important to know on what grounds countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, and especially the Anglo-Saxons participated in Israel's genocide. The ICJ is also judging them. It is not easy to make any predictions about the consequences of the trial, but we can easily say that new discussions may arise about the scope and nature of this crime. This is also directly related to South Africa. As is known, South Africa was directly influenced by the colonial system of the Netherlands and England for centuries. Colonialists representing the British bourgeoisie, such as Cecil Rhodes, led the way for new era colonies like Israel with the atrocities they committed at the end of the 19th century. Pictures showing Cecil Rhodes with one foot in South Africa and the other at the mouth of the Nile where it flows into the Mediterranean explain the existence of Israel.

If the Palestinians were not in a state of total resistance, this outcome would not have emerged.