The Rise of Global South-Led Justice

Synergy recently visited the West Bank to meet with potential partners and to better understand how we can support locally-led justice initiatives in Palestine. We were inspired by the incredible work being done both by civil society and government agencies in extremely challenging circumstances. In this blog post, Synergy for Justice Director of Programmes, Mera Eftaiha highlights some of the work being done by the Global South to uphold international justice norms and ensure that they are equally applied to all, including Israel, which continues to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Palestinian people.

Israel’s latest war on the Palestinians has paved the way for what could be a new order in international justice. For a long time, there’s been quiet rumbling about how international justice and accountability systems built by the West are applied only to non-western countries and non-white criminals. Israel’s war on Palestine — recognised by most of the world as a genocide — made that double standard crystal clear. Multiple NGOs have documented the war crimes being committed by Israel in plain sight. Torture? Check. Attacks against civilians? Check. Sexual violence? Check. Forceable displacement? Check multiple times. Israel is doing this live streamed, broadcast in real time, and documented by its soldiers on their social media accounts, demonstrating their complete comfort in knowing that they can rely on the impunity granted to them by the West. Countries in Europe and the West are watching, defending, providing diplomatic cover, and selling offensive weapons to Israel. The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant caused France and Germany to cast doubt on their intent to carry out the Court’s order, effectively tossing aside their legal obligations and contributing to the erosion of international justice. These countries, who proclaim to be guardians of justice, now turn a blind eye to Israel’s actions, demonstrating the hypocrisy of the West.

However, there is a ray of light emanating from countries of the Global South. South Africa took the historic step of filing a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violation of the Genocide Convention. Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Türkiye, Chile, Maldives, Bolivia, Ireland, and Cuba have joined — the majority from the Global South. The Hague Group, formed in January 2025, is another Global South-led effort to hold Israel to account and ensure state compliance with ICJ judgements and ICC warrants.

We know that collective action from individuals and civil society organisations is essential when governments fail. In addition to longstanding efforts by Palestinian civil society, new coalitions are emerging. The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) launched Global 195, a legal coalition working across jurisdictions to pursue war crimes charges. The Hind Rajab Foundation is also collecting evidence and pursuing legal action against perpetrators of violence against Palestinians.

For those working in this sector, it’s hard to remain hopeful when international justice mechanisms seem to be crumbling. But individuals and civil society remain resilient — especially those who have suffered from injustice and double standards. They are the ones who will restore our faith in a fair and transparent international justice system, and we will continue to support them however we can.