For more than 75 years, Palestinians have suffered. Israel today epitomises an illegal occupation, illegal colonial practices and illegal apartheid practices. Under these conditions, international law gives the occupied people the right to resist that occupation.
The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign thus recognises the operation today by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza as a legitimate expression of their right to resist. We support all efforts of oppressed people to liberate themselves from their oppressors in the same way we did in our liberation struggle.
Over the past seven decades, Israel has brutalised the Palestinian people, stealing Palestinian land, homes, and even culture. The medieval-like siege on Gaza has been in place for almost 20 years, the attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have been ongoing and intensifying, including the constant incursions into Al Aqsa, harassment of Palestinian Christians, targeting Palestinian journalists and health workers, home invasions and demolitions in Jerusalem and denial of Palestinian rights within 48 territory.
In this year alone, hundreds of Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli soldiers and settlers, including 40 Palestinian children, Palestinian homes destroyed, more settlements built, and more prisoners tortured.
In the Masafer Yatta villages over 1,000 Palestinians are under constant attack from occupation soldiers and illegal settlers, destroying their homes, schools, uprooting trees, stealing livestock, confiscating cars of teachers to stop them reaching schools, and arresting residents. This has intensified since May this year as Israel attempts to ethnically cleanse the area, with Israeli courts affirming the area as an Israeli apartheid military firing zone. Palestinian residents are conducting resistance simply by their refusal to leave, by rebuilding their homes in tents, schools constructed from the destroyed buildings and defying through their presence their forcible transfer, a crime under international law.
It is no surprise, then, that Palestinians will exercise their legitimate right to resist the occupation, colonisation and apartheid by whatever means. Today’s operation is an escalation of that resistance towards ending Israel’s repeated violations of international law.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls out the hypocrisy of the EU and the US who condemn Palestinian resistance against occupation, yet supply Ukraine with weapons and support. These governments – as many of them did during our liberation when they supported the apartheid regime – now enable apartheid Israel to commit the crime against humanity of apartheid with impunity, violating numerous humanitarian and international laws. We further condemn normalisation with apartheid Israel by despotic Arab and African regimes against their own people who support the resistance. The UN, despite apartheid Israel’s flagrant violation of most treaties, conventions and resolutions have failed to protect the Palestinian people.
The current extreme right wing and racist Israeli government pretends that it can provide security to Israeli citizens. Today’s operation proves that the Israeli apartheid system through its practices endangers the lives of Israelis too. We are saddened by all violence but Israeli Jews will not realise peace until they accept a future where they will live with Palestinians as citizens in a single, democratic Palestinian state, with Palestinians being compensated for seven decades of colonisation, occupation and apartheid.
As night falls in Gaza – one of the most densely populated areas in the world and home to over 2 million people in 365 km2 – Israel has started bombing residential buildings. In just a few hours, over 250 Palestinians have been killed and 2,000 wounded.
The time is now to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and break all complicity with apartheid Israel. Palestinians refuse to live on their knees and grovel for handouts. They demand solidarity. We demand the South African government lives up to its political and moral responsibility and takes a clear stand against apartheid Israel:
• End sports, cultural, academic and other links with apartheid Israel and corporations complicit in Israeli apartheid.
• Declare the Israeli Ambassador in Pretoria persona non grata and sever diplomatic relations.
• Expedite the National Prosecuting Authority case to prosecute South Africans joining the Israeli occupation forces in total contravention of our Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act.
• Act within the UN to reinstate the Special Committee Against Apartheid towards international sanctions and institute an international protection force against apartheid Israel’s barbarism.
For more information please contact:
Ronnie Kasrils: 082 784 9236
Salim Vally: 082 802 5936
Arianna Lissoni: 078 003 3941
