SA calls for ‘Israel’ to be declared an ‘apartheid state’
Pretoria (QNN)- South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday that ‘Israel’ should be declared as an apartheid state and that the United Nations General Assembly should establish a committee to verify whether it satisfied its requirements.
At second meeting of the Palestinian Heads of Mission in Africa, held in Pretoria, one of South Africa’s capital cities, Naledi Pandor said, “The Palestinian narrative evokes experiences of South Africa’s own history of racial segregation and oppression.”
“As oppressed South Africans, we experienced firsthand the effects of racial inequality, discrimination and denial and we cannot stand by while another generation of Palestinians are left behind,” she added.
Pandor stressed Pretoria believes ‘Israel’ should be classified as an apartheid state and that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) should establish a committee to verify whether it satisfies the requirements.
“Our position on Palestine has always been clear, consistent, and convergent with the international community,” Pandor said.
According to a recent report by the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights, a civil organisation with headquarters in the Gaza Strip, approximately 5,418 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military operations in the besieged Gaza Strip during the past 15 years, including 1,246 children and 488 women.
A recent UN commission of inquiry to investigate violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, determined in its report that ‘Israel’ is responsible for severe human rights violations against Palestinians.
“These reports are significant in raising global awareness of the conditions that Palestinians are subjected to and they provide credence and support to an overwhelming body of factual evidence, all pointing to the fact that the State of Israel is committing crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians”, said Pandor while referencing the reports.
Palestinian foreign minister Riad Malki attended the forum and spoke to the state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) after the session.
“If there is any country or countries that can comprehend the suffering and the struggle for freedom and independence of Palestine, it is the African continent and the people of Africa,” Malki noted.
South Africa's Minister of International Relations has once again called for "Israel" to be labelled an apartheid state, but also called on global civil society to take up daily pickets outside Israeli occupation's embassies around the world 'until victory is won.' pic.twitter.com/8nGohVrvyE
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 27, 2022
Pandor’s comments of Israeli apartheid comes in the aftermath of three leading human rights reports earlier this year which found that ‘Israel’ should be considered a regime that committed the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people.
The latest report in February by Amnesty International which details how ‘Israel’ is carrying out “the crime of apartheid against Palestinians” and must be held accountable for treating them as “an inferior racial group”.
