Johannesburg – The Strategic Dialogue Group (SDG) joins millions across the world in expressing condemnation of Apartheid Israel for its criminal maiming and indiscriminate killing of Palestinian citizens, including women and children, as well as the barbaric destruction of property and much needed infrastructure.
The SDG is a collective of ANC activists who were mostly leaders of student and youth organisations in the late 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. It aims to contribute to improving the capacity of the state to achieve the aspirations of the national democratic revolution.
The SDG said in a statement, “We recall the words of Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel laureate, Desmond Tutu, who recorded his 1989 visit to Israel in the following harrowing terms: “I have witnessed the systemic humiliation of Palestinian men, women and children by members of the Israeli security forces. Their humiliation is familiar to all black South Africans who were corralled and harassed and insulted and assaulted by the security forces of the apartheid government.”
The SDg further stated that the actions of Apartheid Israel and its leader, the obdurate Benjamin Netanyahu, amount to war crimes for which he and senior commanders of the Israel Defence Forces must be charged.
“We call on the peoples of the world to exert pressure on Apartheid Israel to refrain from acts of provocation in places of worship such as the recent police raid of Al-Aqsa Mosque – a world heritage site – in Jerusalem and cease all aerial bombardments, illegal and violent removal of Palestinians from their homes for purposes of illegally occupying their lands.”
“In particular, we call on the people of the United States (US), Israel’s staunchest ally, to pressure their government to withdraw all military and economic aid to the Apartheid State and to support a peaceful solution based on two viable States that exist peacefully with each other. The political and economic elite of Apartheid Israel would not be as emboldened to perpetuate the systemic dehumanisation of the Palestinian people were it not for the backing from successive US administrations which daily extol the virtues of democracy and human rights even as their record in Palestine and elsewhere leaves much to be desired.”
“We note that just last week, the US thrice blocked a United Nations Security Council Statement condemning Apartheid Israel’s destruction and wanton murder in Palestine. We support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s call to consumers around the world to target Israeli and multinational companies that are complicit in the perpetuation of the Apartheid system and its dehumanising consequences to the people of Palestine. We accordingly call on South African citizens to join the boycott of goods made in Apartheid Israel. Lest we forget the words of President Nelson Mandela: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” the SDG statement concluded.
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