• DarkGamer@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    Indeed they do and they acknowledge their history, and why this doesn’t apply:

    In light of German history and the crimes against humanity of the Shoah, the German government is particularly committed to the (UN) Genocide Convention," signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, Hebestreit said.
    He said the Convention marked a “central instrument” under international law to prevent another Holocaust.
    For this reason, he said, “we stand firmly against a political instrumentalisation” of the Convention.
    Hebestreit acknowledged diverging views in the international community on Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
    “However the German government decisively and expressly rejects the accusation of genocide brought against Israel before the International Court of Justice,” he said. “The accusation has no basis in fact.”

    Seems like they got it right.

    • Zaktor
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      10 months ago

      They didn’t actually present any argument that this isn’t a genocide, nor did they even try to address anything the South African delegation have presented. This is state speech for “nuh uh”, so the only reason you could see that “they got it right” was if you just liked their conclusion.

        • Justin@lemmy.jlh.name
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          10 months ago

          The South African government presented evidence, and this German statement does not address it, aside from dismissing it as “political”. I have no experience with ICC’s laws, but I would suppose that calling the prosecution “political” is not a valid defense in the ICC bylaws.

      • DarkGamer@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        I agree with their conclusion, yes. When both sides of the conflict that the genocide statutes were written to address say that this is not a genocide, I find that very compelling.

        • Zaktor
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          10 months ago

          Nazi Germany’s extermination camps are not the only genocides in history, nor does either entity have a special say in what a genocide is. Calling modern Germany the “side” of the Nazis is incredibly offensive, nor is Israel the “side” of the Jewish people. There are plenty of Jews around the world who have lost family in the Holocaust who very much do believe the term does apply.

          • DarkGamer@kbin.social
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            10 months ago

            Calling modern Germany the “side” of the Nazis is incredibly offensive

            Well they consider themselves to be atoning for it to this day and accept responsibility, as per the quote above. If you’ve ever been to Germany they don’t shy away from the connection or deny that the Nazis were German.

            There are plenty of Jews around the world who have lost family in the Holocaust who very much do believe the term does apply.

            A minority opinion, to be sure.