Syksy Räsänen, the chair of ICAHD Finland, gave an impromptu speech along the following lines at a demonstration against the Gaza genocide in Helsinki on January 27 2024.
I am Syksy Räsänen, chair of ICAHD Finland and vice-chair of Sumud – The Finnish Palestine network.
Yesterday was a historic day. The International Court of Justice delivered its ruling on provisional measures on Israel related to genocide.
Some people are disappointed because the court did not order a ceasefire. But although we have been to many of these demonstrations calling for a ceasefire, they have also called for an end to the genocide.
The court was not asked to rule on armed conflict, but on genocide. And on genocide, it delivered a clear verdict, ordering Israel to stop genocide in Gaza.
The court could have dithered and delayed, but it did not. It delivered a ruling on provisional measures urgently, in only two weeks, and with a large majority of the judges. Even the chair of the court, who was an appointee of president Barack Obama and worked in the same administration as vice-president Joe Biden voted for all of the provisional measures. This is a huge victory.
We have to remember how far we have come. Israel used to be regarded by the public as a liberal democracy just defending itself. In the past years, the framework has shifted to apartheid. Defenders of Israel’s policies have had to talk about Israel in the context of apartheid. Now the discussion is framed by genocide, and they will have to explain why Israel is not conducting genocide, or argue that genocide is in fact good.
No court ruling has ever decolonised a single country. No court ruling alone has ever ended racial segregation anywhere. But this does not mean that court rulings are useless. They provide leverage to affect public opinion, and to pressure governments and corporations to end their complicity with Israeli apartheid and genocide.
So let’s take this victory and use it to campaign until Palestine is free.