Opinion Editorials, June 2007
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South Africa Ends a Week of Activities Calling for an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
SA Ends Week of Action against Israeli Occupation
Johannesburg, June 12, 2007 (WAFA) -
On Saturday, 9 June, about 20,000 South Africans around the country participated in a number of activities, united in a single call:
“Free Palestine ! End Israeli occupation”, the End the Occupation Campaign said.
The Campaign said major activities on Saturday included a march in Cape Town where 10,000 protestors braved the rain to march and listen to speakers calling for an end to the occupation and calling for boycotts and sanctions against Israel , followed by a symbolic ring of 350 cars around the US Consulate.
"The Johannesburg City Hall Rally was packed to capacity. It was addressed by 15 speakers, including Cosatu President Willie Madisha, South African Council of Churches General Secretary Eddie Makue, Palestinian ambassador Ali Halimeh, various faith representatives, Steven Friedman , Palestinian solidarity and social movement activist Virginia Setshedi and Palestinian Legislative Council member Dr Bernard Sabella."
The rally was chaired by Minister Kasrils. The Durban rally was also well attended. Other activities took place in various parts of the country. All the events noted the absence of Palestinian Education Minister, Nasr al-Din al-Shaer, who was to participate in the week of action but was arrested by Israeli forces a week before he was due to arrive in South Africa.
Saturday’s protests followed more than a week of activities as part of the “Week of Action” called for by a new coalition called End the Occupation Campaign. The activities included rallies, pickets outside supermarkets selling Israeli goods, sermons in mosques and churches, seminars, radio talk shows and two parliamentary debates (one in the National Assembly and one in the Western Cape Legislature).
The Campaign called on the United Nations and its member states – including the South African government, to exert pressure on Israel to end its illegal occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights.
It also called for providing international protection for the Palestinian people living under occupation as well as end the siege and financial blockade that has been imposed against the elected Palestinian Authority and to end the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
The Campaign said the activities of this week – which was the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights, coincided with similar actions across the globe, as movements from Australia to the USA, from the United Kingdom to Malaysia, responded to a call from the International Coordinating Network on Palestine for global days of action on the 9 and 10 June to call for an end to Israeli occupation.
The call for global action was also supported by the Anti War Assembly and the Social Movements Assembly at the World Social Forum held in Nairobi earlier this year.
Hundreds of thousands of people united across the globe to pledge themselves to working to end the occupation. While the Week of Action has ended our solidarity has just begun.
More and more South African organisations are joining our Campaign. Already, we represent the views of the vast majority of South African citizens. We are ratcheting up preparations for the commemoration of the Nakba and 60 years of ethnic cleansing and strengthening our links with Palestinian organizations. The latter include those in the Diaspora and those Palestinians who are deemed ‘Israeli citizens’ yet face constant discrimination as well as those facing a military occupation in the West Bank, Gaza and Syrian Golan Heights. We do this while we embrace those Israelis who stand with the oppressed Palestinians.
"We are convinced that the just struggle of the Palestinian people will see its proper end: with the destruction of the Apartheid Wall, the dismantling of all the Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas, the return of Palestinian refugees and the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem," said the Campaign. "We, South Africans of conscience, commit ourselves to playing our role towards this end. We will work with other solidarity groups and civil society organisations around the world to respond to the call by Palestinian civil society for a global campaign of Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), based on building a non-violent movement of opposition to Israeli apartheid and occupation."
(13:00 P) (10:00 GMT)
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