The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) national chairperson, Veronica Mente has accused the South African government of cowardice in the face of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Last week, cabinet called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel’s alleged human rights violations in Gaza.
Israel has carried out numerous air strikes in Gaza after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel earlier this month.
EFF members are marching to the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
This comes as the Israel Defence Force intensified its offensive against Hamas which has led to thousand of Palestinians in Gaza and Westbank to be killed.
Mente says they are demanding the closure of the embassy and do more to support Palestinians.
“Not enough is being done. For instance, in South Africa, our state and our government has taken a non-alignment kind of stance. What kind of a measure is that if ever you are to intervene in a cruel humanitarian crisis. We are not only here to tell the Israeli Embassy to leave our shores, we are also sending a message to our government that stop being a coward.”
“Stop this cowardice stance of non-alignment because people are being killed on a daily basis. They don’t have to be your friend, you don’t have to have a political relationship or anything, the fact that there is a human rights crisis, it means that it can come to us as well,” adds Mante.
Party’s leader Julius Malema leads the march.
♦️Happening Today♦️
CIC @Julius_S_Malema will lead the EFF Picket at the Israeli Embassy in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
It is time for the entire globe to realise that the human rights crisis in Palestine has reached the point of genocide and ethnic cleansing.… pic.twitter.com/pkWswN0tvu
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) October 23, 2023
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Meanwhile, the South African Jews for a Free Palestine have rejected what they term the weaponisation of the Jewish faith in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The group held a vigil in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Sunday night, against what it calls the propaganda of the Israeli government.
Currently, Palestinians are fleeing their homes, as Israel continues to attack Gaza.
This follows a Hamas attack on Israel about two weeks ago.
Thousands of people have been killed on both sides.
Aid has started to trickle through the Rafah crossing.
The group’s Jo Bluen says Zionism must not be confused with the Jewish faith.
“As SA Jews, many of other ancestors, came to this country to escape the holocaust in Eastern Europe, so we recognise this fascism when we see it. We absolutely resist the conflation of Zionism and the conflation of anti semitism and anti Zionism. There is a long history in the world and in SA around anti Zionist Judaism,” adds Bluen.-Additional reporting by Hoosen Ebrahim
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