Amr Moussa: Egypt was late in joining South Africa’s ICJ lawsuit

Egypt should have joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice earlier than it did, former Secretary-General of the Arab League, Dr Amr Moussa, said yesterday.

Speaking on BBC Arabic’s “Bi Tawqeet Masr” programme, Moussa said:  “Our joining will not affect the course of the lawsuit, but Egypt should have filed a lawsuit with the ICJ. This is an application of the law, and demanding it is not a declaration of war.”

He explained that “Egyptian-Israeli peace is bilateral, but it takes place in an atmosphere that sets a clear condition for its continuation, which is the Palestinian issue.”

The late President Mohamed Anwar Sadat signed two documents at Camp David, Moussa said, the first was related to bilateral relations with Israel and the second is related to the Palestinian issue. Adding that it is not possible to separate the relationship with Israel from the Palestinian issue, noting that “what happened in the region and to the Palestinians cannot be forgotten.”

“Tension between Egypt and Israel has existed from the beginning, either at the level of the state or the people,” he continued, while “economic relations did not grow because of the people.”

“The Egyptians see the increase in injustice, the way the Palestinians are treated in a racist manner, as if they are second-class citizens, and an administration under occupation that is extremely bad, violent, and bloody, with destruction and siege,” he added.

“The general atmosphere surrounding the peace treaty was affected after Israel’s invasion of the Palestinian city of Rafah,” noting that “Israel crossed the line” when it entered and took over the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt. “Everything has limits, and Israel has crossed those limits,” he concluded.

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