Justice who treated Israel fairly set to become ICJ President

Uganda's Julia Sebutinde returns to the spotlight

International Court of Justice (ICJ) Vice President Julia Sebutinde of Uganda made headlines twice last year. In January, she refused to join her colleagues in the South African government-led attack against Israel, declaring that there is no genocide taking place in Gaza. In May, she defended the purpose of the ICJ (which has no jurisdiction in Israel) and declared that the Court could not settle what is a political dispute between Israel and the Palestinian leaders. Last summer, IBSI senior staff member and attorney, the late Olga Meshoe-Washington gave an overview of Justice Sebutinde’s rulings in this video clip of the Forum on Israel, Africa, & Black America.

ICJ President Nawaf Salam will be returning to his native Lebanon at the request of the country’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun. Justice Salam is being tasked with helping form Lebanon’s new government. As the current Vice President, Justice Sebutinde is in line to become President of the ICJ. The Israeli publication Israel Hayom states:

The transition in leadership comes at a crucial juncture, with Israel scheduled to present its defense brief against South Africa's case in July. According to the court's statutory framework, the president – elected every three years through a panel member vote – oversees the institution's administrative affairs and chairs its panels, wielding a decisive vote in cases of judicial deadlock.

Last November, IBSI Founder & CEO Dumisani Washington wrote an AIW article entitled African Women Refuse to Join the Lynch Mob Against Israel. (He also commented further on his podcast Truth to Power Live.) In the piece, Dumisani likened both Ugandan Justice Sebutinde and Kenyan Alice Wairimu Nderitu, UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, to the heroines of the Exodus story. Quoting the article:

In the biblical story (Exodus chapter 1), the Egyptian Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill every Hebrew baby boy after he was born. The women refused to carry out the evil plan…UN Special Advisor Nderitu and ICJ Justice Sebutinde are modern-day Hebrew midwives who will not go along with the evil plans to attack and destroy Israel. What’s more, it is the women’s commitment to truth that guides them, not a pro-Israel sentiment. This is further proof that defending Israel’s right to exist and defeat its enemies is synonymous with defending the truth.

Exodus 1.20 says, “Therefore God prospered the midwives, and the people continued to multiply and grow very powerful.” This week’s Torah portion just happens to be Sh’mot (Names) which includes this very story (Exodus 1.1-6.1).

Justice Sebutinde defended the truth and now may very well be rewarded with a promotion — a promotion that will place her as a superior to her colleagues at the ICJ. Like Shiphrah and Puah, this likely promotion would make her even more “powerful.”

Psalm 75.6-7

6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.