Al-Qalam 
By Azra Hoosen
“The demands have been made very clear to shut down the Israeli embassy completely, expel all Israeli diplomats from South Africa and cut off all trade ties with Israel,” human rights activist, Professor Alan Boesak said at a gathering in Durban this week.
Professor Boesak addressed a crowd at the Al Ansaar hall during the “Solidarity with Palestine” programme – organised by the KZN Palestine Solidarity Forum (PSF) committee, United for Palestine (UFP), People Against Oppression (PAO), South African Muslim Network (SAMNET), Caring Sisters Network (CSN), Al Ansaar Foundation and the KZN Christian Council.
He applauded a statement made by Foreign Affairs Minister, Naledi Pandor, in which she called upon the International Criminal court to arrest Netanyahu. Boesak expressed that at this point, Netanyahu’s entire cabinet should be declared “war criminals”.
He criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for not showing enough support.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has made time to celebrate with the Springboks, has not made time to address the crisis in Palestine and what our solidarity means. The solidarity with Palestine in 2023 is not the same as the solidarity with Palestine in 1995. Our language needs to be different. I do not want a bogus public holiday; I want my government to stand up and say we are shutting down the Israeli embassy right now!
You cannot be the President of the people of SA, if you don’t actively distinguish yourself from other political parties like the Democratic Alliance, which is actively complicit in an apartheid state, not just in words, because every word we utter is already drowned in the blood of those children who have no words.
The issue will forever be the ongoing occupation and its consequences since 1948, but they are shifting the call, for what they call ‘a humanitarian pause’. That may be the language of the Israeli and governments of the West, but it cannot ever be the language of the South African Government. We are calling for justice and peace for the people of Palestine right now!” Boesak said.
Boesak stressed on the importance of continuously reminding the world that what the Palestinians are engaged in is a ‘war of resistance’ to the illegal occupation, oppression, tyranny, and genocide by Israel.
“What kind of war is this? It is not another Nakba. It is the continuation of the ongoing Nakba since 1948. It is a war of genocide. Since October 7, the Israeli army has killed more children in Gaza, than all the children that have been killed in all the world wars since 2019. This is a deliberate attempt at extermination,” he said.
Boesak urged the community to keep putting pressure on the South African government as this is effective in making a change.
