I find kaufman always very insightful. She is an editorialist for Le Monde. Here is the gist of her argument re the S African complaint at the international court against israel. I will translate just the gist of the key concept, which i find both simple and brilliant, and in line with mbembe's notion of the shift:
Fondé sur le caractère massif et le bilan humain de la riposte militaire israélienne aux massacres commis par le Hamas le 7 octobre, le recours sud-africain dépasse la simple procédure judiciaire. Il est la plainte du Sud global contre les critères occidentaux de la supériorité morale. Il est la remise en cause d'un ordre international installé par le plus puissant allié de l'accusé, les Etats-Unis. Il est aussi la contestation d'une mémoire dominée par la Shoah, à laquelle s'oppose ouvertement celle de la colonisation.
(Founded on the massive character and the human total (numbers) in the israelian military response to the massacres commited by hamas on oct 7, the south african action is more than a simple juridical procedure. It is the complaint of the global south against western criteria of moral superiority. It is an act of challenging an international order installed by the most powerful ally of the accused, the united states. It is also the challenge to a memory, dominated by the shoah, against which is openly opposed that of colonialism)
Apologies for the awkward translation; but i hope everyone gets the idea
Ken
Kenneth Harrow
517 803 8839
Emeritus Professor of English, Michigan State University
Harrow@msu/edu
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