ICJ ruling lays out case against Israeli occupation

Hello supporters! We published this episode on July 31, but it didn’t get sent out to some platforms, including Spotify. We’re republishing it again now for you and hope you enjoy it. - Chris

In a ruling on July 19, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that confirmed what Palestinians have been saying for over 7 decades: That the Israeli occupation is illegal, that the way Palestinians are treated by Israel is a form of apartheid, and that the occupation must end.

This ruling includes the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have grown especially since the Israeli military withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

As we are approaching 300 days of the genocide in Gaza and over 40,000 deaths at the hands of the US-funded and armed Israeli military, we wanted to talk more about the ICJ and this ruling. An ICJ advisory opinion cannot force a country to act, but can have a real impact on how the rest of the world approaches policy towards Israel.

We’re joined by Laith Aqel, human rights lawyer, a lecturer in the Human Rights Clinic at Yale and an organizer with the CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition.

And later in the show, just days after the ICJ ruling Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in front of the US Congress as over 10,000 people rallied outside the Capitol. We’ll bring you some of the speeches from that rally as well.