CfP welcomes ANC's historic Mangaung Conference resolutions on Palestine
The Coalition for a Free Palestine (CfP) welcomes the African National Congress (ANC) 53rd National Conference's historic and decisive resolutions on Palestine.
The ANC re-affirmed the call by the ANC international solidarity conference in October to endorse the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. In 2005 Palestinian civil society issued a call to the international community for a program and campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) to be applied against Israel as a way to pressure Israel to end its violations of international law and respect Palestinian human rights.
In a historic move, the ANC also called for all South Africans to "support the programmes and campaigns of the Palestinian civil society which seek to put pressure on Israel to engage with the Palestinian people to reach a just solution."
In addition we welcome the resolution by the National Conference: "The ANC abhors the recent Israeli state-sponsored xenophobic attacks and deportation of Africans and request that this matter should be escalated to the African Union" Furthermore, despite the Israel lobby calling on the ANC to take a balanced and even handed approach to a conflict in which Israel has asymmetrical power, the ANC adopted a resolution saying: "The ANC is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel."
The CfP looks forward to working with the ANC and the International Solidarity Conference (ISC) steering committee on the implementation of these resolutions. The groundbreaking nature of the resolutions adopted at the governing party's National Conference, show that South Africa remains committed to ending apartheid in Israel.
Finally, we congratulate our affiliate, the ANC on a highly successful 53rd National Conference in which democracy, robust debate and the adoption of important resolutions were achieved.
*The Coalition for a Free Palestine is the largest South African Palestine solidarity umbrella body, which includes youth groups, trade unions, human rights organizations, faith based groups, artists collectives, student organizations and political parties. Some member organizations include the South African Council of Churches, Congress of South African Trade Unions, African National Congress, South African Communist Party, Muslim Judicial Council, Muslim Students Association, Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Media Review Network, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions in SA and the student society.
Statement issued by CfP Convener Tahir Sema, December 21 2012
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