Cape Town - Respected and revered cleric and anti-apartheid activist, the Reverend Allan Boesak, has called for the Israeli Embassy in South Africa to close and for the South African government to formally declare Israel an apartheid state.
Boesak addressed a crowd of people who gathered for a “Stop the Gaza Genocide March and Rally” in Salt River, yesterday.
The mass gathering was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Salt River Heritage Society (SRHS) and supported by trade unions, political parties, civil society organisations, religious leaders, sporting bodies, and citizens.
Thousands of people converged at the corner of Albert and Fenton roads, for the march, at the mural of a teary-eyed woman in the colours of the Palestinian flag and next to this, a mural of slain Palestinian-American journalist murdered by the Israeli Defence Force, Shireen Abu Akleh.
Several walls in Salt River have been used to create awareness of the plight of Palestinians and show the community’s entrenched solidarity to the Palestinian cause.
Boesak strongly criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC government, who have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians with words but not actions.
“I think what this government must do and must do immediately is that this embassy of the Israeli government should be shut down, we should brand officially the Israeli government as an apartheid government, as an apartheid state. We should break all ties with that apartheid state. We should let all that people in that embassy go back, we should recall our ambassador and we should make clear that as a government we support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) programme. If we cannot do that, that to me is the minimum,” Boesak said.
“For him to stand and repeat old resolutions that the ANC has taken since the time of Mandela on Palestine but that same ANC has been too cowardly to take those resolutions and make work of it. You cannot say that you are South Africa’s president if you cannot follow in Mandela’s footsteps on the question of Palestine.”
As the toll and devastation as a result of Israeli bombardment on the densely-populated Gaza Strip becomes insurmountable, demonstrations in Cape Town and broader South Africa have taken place daily, to spur on the government to take urgent action to save Palestinian lives.
Journalist and speaker Atiyyah Khan criticised Western media’s coverage of the assault on Gaza.
“On the one hand, we have had Western journalists lie to the public, present biased unbalanced reporting in mainstream publications and then retract their statements.
“We have seen over and over again how interviewers badgered and disrespected speakers of Palestinian descent on their shows. They have become emboldened propaganda machines, they have dehumanised Palestinian lives.
“Many broadcasters like the BBC have fired journalists who have shown their support of Palestine. The dangers of spreading fake news in mainstream publications is that it is allowed to justify a genocide.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said as of October 22, at least 23 journalists were among over 4000 people killed as a result of the recent escalation in violence that started on October 7.
Not spared from the Israeli shelling have been medical workers and infrastructure, schools, churches and mosques, and other places of refuge.
A resolution to join SA BDS Coalition and PSC programmes was adopted with a programme of action calling for the closure of the Israeli embassy and expulsion of the ambassador; implement comprehensive BDS against Israel and campaign for the African Union to do the same; push for an immediate ceasefire by Israel and lead and support a massive humanitarian programme; prosecute South Africans serving in the Israeli Defence Forces; prosecute SA zionist organisations, their leaders and supporters for promoting and actively supporting colonialism, racism, and genocide; organising and attending mass rallies and protests on Saturday.
The actions will be targeted at the government, the Israeli, US and European embassies.