South Africans call for severing ties with Israel.
According to the Rai Al-Youm news site, more than three thousand activists, NGOs, and political parties in South Africa held demonstrations in the streets of Cape Town, calling on the country’s government to sever trade and diplomatic relations with Israel over the Gaza war and to close the regime’s embassy in Pretoria.
According to the report, the demonstration, which is considered one of the largest marches in support of Palestine in recent months in South Africa, was held with the widespread participation of pro-Palestinian organizations, political parties, Islamic, and Christian groups. Holding Palestinian flags, the participants chanted slogans in support of Gaza and called for practical measures instead of demonstrations to support the oppressed people of Gaza.
At the end of the demonstration, the protesters submitted a petition containing their demands to the South African House of Representatives.
“South Africa should boycott Israel and impose sanctions on Israel by withdrawing its investments from the country, just as the world has done against us in the past,” said Joseph Chiketie, coordinator of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, before submitting the petition to the South African House of Representatives.
Referring to international sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa, he called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the closure of the regime’s embassy in Pretoria, adding: “The South African government must do this as soon as possible.” Chiketie also called for Israel to be barred from membership in international sports bodies, including the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
The petition submitted to the South African House of Representatives also calls on the country’s government to stop exporting coal to Israel and prosecute any South African citizen who joins the Israeli army.
Pretoria is a strong critic of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and filed a complaint against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing the regime of committing genocide in Gaza, a charge that the Israeli regime has completely denied.
The Zionist regime, with the support of the United States, has launched a devastating war against the residents of the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 (15 Mehr 1402), as a result of which, in addition to massive destruction and deadly famine, more than thousands of Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, have been martyred and injured.
Tel Aviv, by despising the international community and ignoring the UN Security Council resolution for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the orders of the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, continues to commit genocide crimes against the residents of this region.
Despite all these crimes, the Zionist regime has admitted that it has not yet been able to achieve its goals in this war, namely the destruction of the Hamas movement and the return of Zionist prisoners from the Gaza Strip.