We have just finished the first session of the referral to the International Court of Justice. Today was the day for the plaintiffs, so to speak, to bring their case before the court. South Africa is the actor of the moment, before Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has to respond to the case tomorrow.

This alone is a great moment. Why? Because we’re so immersed in the appalling, shameful situation we all know already. I say that it is shameful because the group of big countries that lectures the whole world at every opportunity, calling for sanctions against this or that state, has now fallen silent and is allowing what is, at the very least, a growing number of war crimes.

What South Africa is saying is that, more than a series of war crimes, we’re dealing with something qualitatively different. As a signatory to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, it’s saying there is a question of genocide. I’ll leave aside the purely legal considerations for the moment and stick to that. So, why is this a great moment? Because it’s the return of humanity. We only see this one human people through international law, through collective action.