Understanding South Africa’s genocide case against Israel

Good morning. It's Thursday, January 11th. I'm Mark Garrison, in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, South Africa's genocide case against Israel; Explaining the violent crisis in Ecuador; And a compelling new clue in one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in American history.

The UN's International Court of Justice is hearing arguments in a case accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. More than 23,000 Palestinians, largely civilians, have been killed since Hamas' attack on October 7th. And nearly all of Gaza's more than two million residents have been forced out of their homes. South Africa is bringing the case.

The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years. On 6 October 2023, and every day since October the 7th, 2023. In the Gaza Strip, at least since 2004, Israel continues to exercise control over the airspace, territorial waters, land crossing, water, electricity, and civilian infrastructure, as well as over key government functions.

Lamola also clearly condemned the Hamas attack on Israel. Ellen Ioanes is covering the case for "Vox."

Proving that Israel directed genocide and actually, as a whole state or body politic or however the court looks at this is gonna be really hard.

She told us about why South Africa is bringing the case against Israel.

There's a really long history of solidarity with Palestinians. It's an important political notion within South Africa.

Nelson Mandela once said the freedom of South Africans would be incomplete without the freedom of Palestinians. He and other anti-apartheid campaigners were strong supporters of the Palestinian cause. South Africa laid out its argument in an 84-page document. It says Israel's actions are, quote, "genocidal in character, intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnical group." Israel has strongly denied the accusations.

It's particularly galling, given that those who are attacking Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their supporter Iran, continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.

Genocide is among the most serious crimes a country can be accused of. The term was first used in 1944 to describe the Nazi murders of Jewish people and other ethnic groups during the Holocaust. While the court's decisions are legally binding, they can be difficult to enforce. Russia, for example, was ordered to halt its invasion of Ukraine, but has continued to ignore that ruling.

The interesting thing about the court is There really isn't much of a mechanism besides the U.N. Security Council and member states' treaty obligations to enforce it. And that's pretty complicated because the Security Council, especially the permanent members, are highly, highly political right now. So, the U.S. has veto power. So, any sort of dispute that comes up before the Security Council, especially when it comes to Israel, the U.S. is going to side with Israel.

Still, Ioanes says, a ruling of genocide would have significant impact on Israel's global reputation. Tomorrow, Israel will present its defense. It could be years before there's a final ruling in this case. Now, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news. Today, there are closing arguments in former President Donald Trump's civil fraud case in New York. And those arguments will not be delivered by him personally.

Trump reportedly wanted to speak, but the judge turned down the request because Trump refused to agree to stick to the facts of the case and avoid attacks. Trump is accused of fraudulently inflating his net worth and faces hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damages. There's also quite a bit of news about the rest of the Republican presidential field. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped out of the race just days before the Iowa caucuses.

She spent 68 million so far, just on TV, spent 68 million so far, 59 million by DeSantis, and we spent 12. I mean, who's punching above their weight and who's getting a return on their investment, you know? And she's gonna get smoked. And you and I both know it. She's not up to this.

Haley and DeSantis faced off last night in the last debate before the Iowa caucuses Monday. You can find more campaign coverage in the Apple News app. And in sports, two football legends are leaving their teams. Coach Bill Belichick is reportedly parting ways with the New England Patriots.

He coached 24 seasons there, winning six Super Bowl titles. And in college football, Alabama coach Nick Saban is retiring. He won six national titles with Alabama and one with LSU. Now to Ecuador, where people are reeling from a wave of deadly violence. It includes the incident we talked about yesterday on the show, when armed men held a TV station's employees at gunpoint while they were live on the air. The "BBC" explains how the country has been overtaken by gang violence.

The most recent wave started a few days ago, when a notorious gang leader was found missing from his cell. There were also riots in a number of prisons across the country, with more than 130 prison guards and staff taken hostage. Carolina Loza Leon, a local journalist, told the "BBC" that many people are afraid to leave their homes.

Nobody expected this. We had seen violence, especially when there were transfers from drug gang members, key gang members from one prison to another. But nothing as coordinated at this level in several cities in the country, as we saw. People were in a complete state of panic and terror.

Ecuador's president has declared a state of emergency and is enforcing a daily curfew. Thousands of police officers and military personnel are deployed to hunt down criminal gangs and restore order.

The U.S. is offering support for the government, with aid on the way. Even before the most recent surge in violence, more Ecuadorians have attempted to enter America, trying to escape the danger and poverty there. We're gonna close with a story about a big break in one of the FBI's most intriguing cold cases. "Popular Mechanics" looks at how a necktie may hold the answer to the only unsolved commercial airline hijacking in history.

In 1971, a man got on a plane in Portland with a one-way ticket to Seattle. He gave the flight attendant a note. It said he had a bomb and wanted $200,000. His demands were met. Then somewhere over Washington State, he parachuted out and was never found. History knows him as D.B. Cooper. Just before he jumped out, he took off his tie. It wouldn't be a good idea to skydive with one of those flapping around in your face. Now, a new analysis finds some microscopic evidence that's promising.

When you look at the tie, when you look at that skinny black clip-on tie that he picked up at JCPenney, probably around Christmas 1964 for $1.49, and you apply modern, state-of-the-art technology to it, things they didn't have back in 1971 when this occurred, it tells a story.

Ulis says the tiny metal fragments on the tie trace to a company called Crucible Steel in Pennsylvania. It provided material that made planes. And Cooper seemed to know a lot about aircraft. He gave very specific instructions about the flight path, speed, even the angle of the flaps on the wings. Ulis thinks that points to a person who was involved in aerospace engineering. Ulis isn't sure who D.B. Cooper could be yet, but he's focusing on a titanium researcher named Vince Peterson.

But Peterson died decades ago, so we can't get his part of the story. Over the years, people have found possible evidence, money, and papers in Washington state. But the thing that finally solves it might just be a tiny speck on an old-fashioned accessory. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a Narrated Article coming up next from "The New Yorker."