Al-Qalam 
By Iman Zanele Omar
Human Rights Day, the interfaith community of Cape Town took to the streets on a symbolic walk of 41km, which is reminiscent of the length of the Gaza Strip, as a demonstration of solidarity for the journey Palestinians are being forced to undertake through forced removals and displacement by the Zionist State of Israel.
Thandi Gamedze, one of the organizers of the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage event, said the inspiration came from a global movement of action taking place in over 140 cities around the world.
“This event was organised by Christian pro-Palestinian activists globally to counter Zionism and complicity in the Christian community specifically,” she said.
Gamedze said the decision to collaborate with other faiths for this event was motivated by a means of challenging the mainstream media’s narrative of this conflict being provoked by religious division. She said although the conflict in Palestine is by no means a religious conflict, religion is implicated; therefore, she believes it is the responsibility of people of faith to counter those narratives by building bridges of connection and solidarity.
South African Jews for a Free Palestine representative, Mitchel Hunter, explained that the struggle for a free Palestine calls on all sectors of society to get together and stand united as one community. “This pilgrimage is happening all over the world but I don’t think any of those events hold the same significance as ours being on Human Rights Day. What our history teaches us is that the struggle for human rights and freedom can be won and it requires people from all walks of life to get together just like we did during apartheid,” he says.
Hunter added, “This pilgrimage was a significant and powerful statement not only on Palestine but also on our own issues here in South Africa. It is a reminder on this day of commemoration that our struggles are still deeply interconnected.”
Mansour Shouman, the Palestinian-Canadian journalist who had been reporting on the atrocities happening in Gaza, came straight from the airport to join the community of walkers on the first half of their journey in solidarity. “I just arrived in Cape Town an hour and a half ago and the first thing I did was come to walk with the people of South Africa in showing their solidarity for Gaza, masha-Allah, it was such a blessing to join in marching and chanting for freedom,” he said.
Shouman said the impact of solidarity efforts is a source of hope for the people in Palestine: “The people there all have smartphones, and the first thing they are looking at is what is happening in the world, who is standing up for us. And they see that the people of South Africa are doing, and it gives them a little hope, and they are very proud of all the efforts South Africa has made.”
He explains that South Africa’s case to the ICJ was a necessary step for justice, but its effects cannot be felt unless there are sound resolutions set in place for it to be implemented. “We need to capitalise more on what has been done at the ICJ right now I think the ICJ is slowly playing politics, and we need to mobilise and redirect the eyes of the world on what’s important right now, ensuring that whatever the demands the ICJ has made of the Zionist state of Israel that it is being upheld as soon as possible including a permanent and immediate ceasefire,” he said.
Shouman said that although South Africa has led the call for justice, it is time for other countries across the world to do the same. “South Africa as a people and as a government is way ahead of anyone else and we ask other countries to follow this example so we’ll be able to see this political shift in the world, slowly getting away from the Western unilateral control into a more level-headed, balanced, neutral approach towards Palestine and also other cases around the world where there is oppression.”
