NADEL condemns Israeli aggression and provocation

13 May 2021

The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) unequivocally condemns the most recent barbaric human rights violations of apartheid Israel, and the actions of the Nazi-like IDF, inflicted on innocent Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza.

We stand in solidarity, with the rest of the world, and pledge our support for the oppressed Palestinian people of Sheikh Jarrah, who face arbitrary evictions and illegal dispossession of their homes, all of Jerusalem, Nablus and various towns inside Israel.

We condemn the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque of Israeli occupation forces, and the firing of rubber bullets, setting off of sound bombs and spraying of teargas, while people were praying during the final week of Ramadaan, which left more than 400 people injured. 

NEUTRALITY IS NOT AN OPTION

Neutrality is not an option in the face of the current colonial occupation and gross apartheid crimes committed as a result of the ongoing brutal suppression of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem and Gaza.

We choose to side with the oppressed Palestinians against the gross abuse and violations of their human rights by apartheid Israel.

COLONIAL OCCUPATION AND CRIMES OF APARTHEID

We recognise that Zionism equals racism, and note with concern the illegal occupation by right-wing Zionists of the limited space left for the Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and elsewhere in the occupied territories, which is reminiscent of the actions of Nazi Germany.

The irony of the Israeli-Palestinian impasse currently is that the perpetrators of gross human rights violations are the Jewish people who, after having fled a most brutal persecution in Europe under Nazi-Germany, now inflict gross human rights violations and a system of apartheid on Palestinians in an effort to advance the parochial interests of the Zionist Israeli state.

In this day and age, in the third millennium, the use of technology and artificial intelligence, to bring about the brutal killing of innocent children and adults fighting for their rights to pray, and to freedom, is barbaric in the extreme.

The gut-wrenching scenes of Israeli brutality, occupation and apartheid atrocities, are being witnessed all over the world and via various social media platforms.

Apartheid Israel has shown that it will not exercise restraint or bring ‘peace’ of its own accord. ‘Peace’ means the immediate end to Israeli aggression and provocation, and the restoration of the rights of Palestinians.  

Now more than ever, people who respect human rights, freedom and equality must take a tougher stance on apartheid Israel. The world must defend the Palestinian people in their struggle against colonial occupation and crimes of apartheid!

If not, then history will soon lose its patience and condemn us for our silence, for we will be complicit in the wanton deaths of innocent civilians in Palestine and the illegal occupation of their land.

A CALL TO ACTION

We therefore call for action to be taken against the apartheid Israeli regime by every country and all freedom loving people in the world.

NADEL calls on the South African Government to: - (a) stop all diplomatic ties with apartheid Israel by withdrawing all its diplomats, (b) close its embassy, and (b) invite the Israeli Ambassador to immediately return to Tel Aviv.

NADEL further calls on the SA government to enact legislation and take appropriate measures, such as boycotting Israeli products, divestment and imposing sanctions, to ensure the isolation of apartheid Israel.

Finally, NADEL calls on the media to report correctly on the plight of the people of Palestine and to refrain from using words such as ‘conflict’, ‘clashes’, ‘peace process’, in a situation of aggression and provocation that is asymmetrical because of the superior military power of apartheid Israel against innocent people. 

Issued by Nolitha Jali, National Secretary General, The Office of the NADEL National Secretariat, 13 May 2021