Alliance calls for urgent sanctions
An urgent call to sanction Israel and to boycott all its products was made by the Mbombela-based Palestine Solidarity Alliance.
MBOMBELA – An urgent call to sanction Israel and to boycott all its products was made by the Mbombela-based Palestine Solidarity Alliance.
Furthermore, an appeal to expel the Israeli ambassador, Mr Arthur Lenk from the country as a form of diplomatic protest, was also made.
These were the demands of more than 500 members of the ANC, Cosatu, SACP, the Mbombela Boycott, Divestment and Sanction against Israel (DBS South Africa) and various unions and political parties, in solidarity and in support of justice and freedom for the people of Palestine who are currentlyunder attack by the Israeli government.
These local men and women peacefully marched to the provincial legislature where they handed over a memorandum of demands to thespeaker, Ms Thandi Shongwe.
Leading the march, Mr Zayd Boroko who also presented the memorandum, labelled the injustice faced by the Palestinians as a “modern apartheid” which needed to be exposed and dealt with once and for all.
“Today we are just here to hand over the memorandum and also declare that our next move will be to physically go to Palestine and defend our innocent brothers and sisters who are living and suffering under the most appalling atrocities perpetrated by the Israelis upon the people of Palestine,” said Boroko.
“We demand the banning of all products of Israeli companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israelis into South Africa. Make local municipalities “apartheid Israel free zones” by not signing any contracts for goods or services with Israeli companies or companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” Boroko added.
The planned consumer boycotts include Sodastream, G4S, Dead Sea products and Woolworths’ Israeli products.
Receiving the memorandum on behalf of the premier, Mr David Mabuza, Shongwe promised to forward it to the presidency and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
“I believe that our position as a country on the Palestine situation is clear and unambiguous. We believe that the people of Palestine have a right to sovereignty and freedom. We believe that the continued invasion, military occupations and bombings in Gaza are contrary to the universal declaration of human rights and it should be condemned by all.
“We agree that the struggle and suffering of the Palestinians is synonymous with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. We will therefore continue to lobby the people of the world for a free state of Palestine,” said Shongwe.
The invasion by Israeli troops into Palestine is entering its fourth week now and the number of casualties increases daily.
