Al-Qalam 
Photo source: (AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian solidarity groups have demanded the SA government declares the Israeli Ambassador in Pretoria persona non-grata and breaks off all diplomatic and other relations with Apartheid Israel, writes an Al-Qalam Reporter.
Palestinian solidarity organizations in South Africa have accused the ANC-led Government of paying mere lip service in relation to the barbaric air and ground assault on a dense refugee camp in Jenin which has been labeled a “New War Crime”.
The Security Council is expected to meet today (Friday) to discuss Israel’s reign of terror.
Iqbal Jassat, Executive member of the Media Review Network told Al-Qalam that it was dismayed by the South African Government’s weak pronouncements on Israel’s brutality of the Palestinian people, especially the latest Zionist “savagery” in Jenin where over 13000 people are forced to live in compacted houses.
“We call on South Africa’s prosecuting authorities, the NPA in particular, to act with urgency to charge SA citizens deployed in Israel’s murderous army and break the cycle of recruitment.
“Groups allied to the settler project must be probed to uncover their role in enabling illegal settlements and funding terrorism against Palestinians.
“We also express our dismay that despite regular pronouncements of solidarity with Palestine, the ANC-led government has failed miserably to match words with meaningful action.
“We as a country owe it to Jenin to take all necessary steps to hold Israel accountable. Unless tangible action is taken such as shutting the Israeli embassy to punish the Occupying regime, SA’s soft approach will aid and abet crimes against the Palestinians”.
He said the world had watched in horror visuals and reports of Israeli savagery in Jenin.
“It tells the story of Zionist settler colonialism’s insatiable appetite for mass-murder, bloodshed and indiscriminate collective punishment.
“It is a blood-soaked pattern Zionist invaders have followed for more than a century, laying waste to Palestine, a land that does not belong to Europe’s colonisers, and through calculated ethnic-cleansing pogroms, turned indigenous Palestinians into refugees.
Jassat said the Jenin refugee hub within the Occupied West Bank has repeatedly experienced European-style colonial savagery by successive Israeli regimes.
“What we are witnessing today is an entire army of Zionist terrorists pitted against a refugee camp. An army, funded and armed to the teeth by America, supported by Western allies, on a ruthless campaign of mindless destruction of Jenin.
“Ethnic cleansing is happening before our very eyes amidst global silence and the shameless reluctance of the International Criminal Court to charge Netanyahu and his band of extremist racist thugs.
Those who hold the view that Israel can do no wrong, will have been jolted by the cruelty of Zionist atrocities in Jenin, to realise that the settler entity is a sick, fascist and inhumane regime.
“Contrary to Zionist spin doctoring and fake propaganda, the reality of genocidal pogroms as transmitted by brave journalists and fearless news agencies will definitely test the patience of the international community,” he said.
Jassat said Jenin’s courageous defenders have redefined the true spirit of resistance as they steadfastly and with limited weaponry, battle a nuclear-armed force. Unlike Ukraine where the US and NATO have invested billions in military hardware and sophisticated armaments, Jenin’s Resistance operates with severe restrictions within a crippling Occupation.
“We, Media Review Network affirm the inalienable right of Palestinians to armed resistance against Israel’s reign of terror.
South Africa must hold Apartheid Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he added.
Meanwhile, Roshan Dadoo, Coordinator of the SA BDS Coalition, said in a media statement that it awaits decisive action from South Africa.
“Our government claims to uphold the tenets of international law so we await decisive action from South Africa in the UN, calling for the reinstatement of the anti-apartheid mechanisms towards international sanctions and an arms embargo against apartheid Israel”
“We further demand that our government declares the apartheid Israeli Ambassador in Pretoria persona non grata and breaks off diplomatic and all other relations. South Africa must heed the call of the Palestinian people to isolate Apartheid Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) in support of their liberation struggle as the world did in support of our anti-apartheid struggle” she said.
The SA BDS Coalition further called for the following immediate actions (1) The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to expedite the cases of South Africans serving in the occupation forces in contravention of the South African Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act.
(2) The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) implemented a policy for a sporting and cultural boycott. The government, the South African Football Association (SAFA) and all sporting codes must publicly call on Orlando Pirates not to play a ‘friendly’ with the apartheid Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in Spain later this month.
“We call on all South Africans to boycott products of apartheid and companies complicit in Israeli settler colonialism such as Puma, sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA). If we continue business as usual with Apartheid Israel we are complicit in its crimes against humanity”.
