The South African Apartheid Committee launched a global movement to combat apartheid practiced by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories, at the conclusion of the popular conference hosted by the city of Pretoria on November 28 and 29, coinciding with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which The United Nations called for it.
The final statement of a group of discussion sessions stated that South Africa’s official launch of the Anti-Apartheid Movement represented “a historical moment filled with pride and commitment to the global struggle against racism, colonialism, exploitation and dehumanization.”
The statement added, “This event constitutes a firm stance by South Africa against the Israeli settler apartheid regime and the genocide against the Palestinian people.”
This global movement draws its inspiration from the legacy of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, and aims to mobilize a broad coalition of societal forces to oppose apartheid in Palestine and call for the complete isolation of Israel.
Commitment to justice
Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Rev. Frank Chikane, said that the South African government had taken action against the genocidal practices committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, which had spread to the West Bank. We need to do everything we can to stop this genocide.
Shikani added – in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net – that we in South Africa (government and people) believe in the justice of the Palestinian cause, so we were present at the International Court of Justice. In fact, “we have no choice, because if there is injustice against anyone in the world, including the Palestinians, we will stand with them.”
The Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Apartheid Movement welcomed the recent decision of the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and said, “The ICC’s decision came to clarify its position on the genocide committed by Israel, as it has always been accused of acting only against Africans, or if “It was about the enemies of the West, just as they did with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
Global movement
At the conclusion of the conference, Shikani said, “The genocide against the Palestinians and Israel’s impunity must end, and we actively extend our solidarity to the Palestinians who continue to endure unimaginable injustice. Together we demand accountability, justice, and freedom from apartheid, from the Jordan River to the sea.” “average”.
The conference statement also affirmed that the launch of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa ignites the spark for other countries to follow the same path in building momentum that will lead to a global movement.
Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches, Rev. Mzwandidi Mulu, called on religious communities to join the movement. “We as the South African Council of Churches know the tragedy of racism and the value of global solidarity as called for by our religious leaders in the past,” he said.
He added, “The disproportionate violence practiced by Israel, which has turned the small area of Gaza – which includes 2.5 million Palestinians – into rubble with heavy artillery, ammunition and unacceptable bombing, bears the characteristics of genocide as defined by international law. Therefore, we call for an end to the genocide committed by Israel and its destruction.” Homes, hospitals, schools, universities, churches and mosques.”
Action agenda
The conference resulted in the formation of working groups to organize its outcomes more effectively, and to ensure that measures are taken to ensure the implementation of the agenda that the conference participants called for to implement, including:
- Stop arming genocide.
- Preventing trade with the apartheid regime.
- Activate the interrupt weapon.
- Ending child genocide.
- End ecocide.
- Confronting Zionist propaganda and promoting the Palestinian narrative.
- Punishing the Zionist project legally and diplomatically.
- Supporting Palestinian prisoners and their families.
As part of the activities of the conference to launch the apartheid movement, simultaneous peaceful protests were organized in front of the US embassy in Pretoria, as well as at the US consulates in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg.
The statement issued by the conference indicated that these protests represent “a means of pressure on those governments that support and finance acts of violence carried out by Israel.”
It is noteworthy that during the period from 10 to 12 last May, the city of Johannesburg hosted the activities of the World Conference against Israeli Apartheid in Palestine, where it called at the time to launch a global movement to dismantle the system of settler colonialism and Israeli apartheid. “It also authorized the State of South Africa to stop those “Those who are leading the genocide in Gaza,” according to Shikani.
