The President of the International Court of Justice, Lebanese judge Nawaf Salam. (Credit: ICJ photo via X / @CIJ_ICJ)
“Axis of Resistance” online campaigns have recently found a new target: The new President of the International Court of Justice, Lebanon's Nawaf Salam.
Following the decision in mid-February by the court to reject an additional application by South Africa against Israel, dozens of users of the X social network criticized Salam, who had been appointed president of the court ten days earlier.
They accused him of being paid by Americans and Israel. Some said in their posts that the ICJ president's name had been mentioned several times as a potential Lebanese prime minister by parties opposed to Hezbollah.
On Feb. 16, the ICJ — the highest judicial body of the United Nations — rejected South Africa's additional application against Israel, filed three days earlier, which asked the court to urgently examine and oppose “a new violation of rights” in Israel's announcement of a forthcoming military offensive on Rafah.
South Africa had already referred the case to the court, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The judges, who did not at this stage rule on the question of whether or not Israel is indeed committing genocide, enjoined it to prevent such acts. The court recalled the provisional measures taken on Jan. 26 in its rejection of Pretoria's second application.
"This alarming situation [a possible offensive on Rafah] requires the immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the court in its order of Jan. 26, 2024, which apply to the whole of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, and do not require the indication of additional measures,” the ICJ thus considered.
The decision was deemed insufficient by the people in Hezbollah's orbit, who have lashed out at Salam.
Fatima Ftouni, a journalist with the pro-Hezbollah channel al-Mayadeen, deplored the fact that "the ICJ, presided over by Nawaf Salam, has refused the South African request. We have no confidence in it. Shame on Lebanon.”
Several Internet users with X pseudonyms suggesting they are computer bots (automated software agents, which act like users on social networks), shared the same message, criticizing the ICJ's "refusal of South Africa's request to take action against the Zionist entity.”
"This is Nawaf Salam, whom the 14 Mars forces in Lebanon have demanded ‘prime minister.’ Doesn't he see how the people of Gaza are being killed?" shared one user, whose profile indicates that he is "an admirer of Hassan Nasrallah.”
This X user believes that "every time there is a desire to harm the Arab people, an Arab is appointed to the forefront,” in particular "Nawaf Salam, who was elected president of the Criminal Court to defeat the decision to condemn Israel.”
This is an opinion echoed by another Internet user, who believes that "the most important condition for appointing the president of the ICJ [is] having an American leash around your neck.”
Others accused the judge of being a "new sponsor of normalization" with Israel or felt that "we wouldn't let him get this job if he wasn't a Zionist or a Freemason,” as one user wrote, describing himself as a supporter of the Hashd al-Shaabi, a paramilitary coalition of pro-Tehran Iraqi militias.
Messages of support
This campaign was, however, matched by a flood of messages of support for Salam, from Internet users and personalities who justified or explained the ICJ's decision.
Sami Kleib, a former al-Mayadeen journalist, pointed out that the criticisms leveled at Salam were unfounded, "when even the President of South Africa, the country that lodged the complaint against the occupation, supports the court's decision,” before quoting the text published by the institution.
Our political columnist Mounir Rabih also came to Salam's defense, denouncing "fabricated information about the ICJ and the fact that it rejected South Africa's request for special measures concerning Rafah, which are false and trivial.”
"The new decision confirms the previous one, which obliges Israel not to commit any act provided for in the Convention against Genocide … it is unfair to invent such stories, at the expense of Palestinian blood, for political whims or petty ambitions," he added on X.
Another Internet user denounced a campaign against Salam led by people "who haven't read the decision" of the court, even though its president "does not alone hold the power of decision.”
The judge, who is not very vocal on the internet, has not commented on this campaign. His last message on X was published shortly after his election as head of the ICJ underlining the "great responsibility" entrusted to him to "guarantee international justice and ensure respect for international law,” with a thought for Beirut.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.