ANC statement on the recent massacre of Palestinians by apartheid Israel
8 August 2022
The ANC, as it has done in the past, unequivocally condemns and denounces the current attacks by the apartheid Israeli army in Gaza over the last three days in which 24 people including children have been killed. The continual colonisation and attacks by apartheid Israel on the people of Palestine is a gross violation of the fundamental global human rights.
It is obvious, response to this carnage needs more than public statements from any peace-loving organisation, movement, and any government globally. The call for maximum restraint has and continues to sound hollow to the Israel aggressors, no matter how many times it is repeated.
The continual displacement of Palestinians and justification of the attacks against civilians including children through the usage of heavy artillery should be stopped. No sane person can doubt that Israel's persistent butchering of Palestinians is conducted with impunity. We then must ask ourselves: For how long are we expected to watch this carnage on people who simply are fighting for their birth right without making impactful efforts to stop such carnage?
The ANC appeals to all its members and progressives throughout the world to intensify solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle for liberation. Any persistence by the Israeli apartheid government in the atrocities it perpetrates against Palestinians should receive an equally intensive response from the progressive internationalists.
We also need to seriously take into cognisance that not every Israeli supports the atrocities carried out by the Israeli apartheid government.
The world cannot continue to sit by and allow for this endless infringement on the sovereignty and rights of Palestinian and its people over decades. An attack on innocent civilians being reduced to the killing of jihadists and by the mentioning of a 5-year-old girl is unacceptable. The destruction of a nation by targeting its next generation and its people is a clear intent of ethnic cleansing.
Instead of investing on negotiations for a lasting peaceful settlement the Israeli apartheid government invests in weapons to massacre Palestinians. Let us not forget those that have ensured that apartheid Israel is optimally equipped militarily to perpetrate such aggression against the Palestinians. The ANC is further asking progressive internationalists that for how long are we going to continue issuing press statements, moulding, and remoulding resolutions in multinational bodies against Israel whilst one apartheid government after another simply ignore and continue with their carnage against Palestinians?
The ANC calls for the international world to intervene to end the current and continual attacks by apartheid Israel against the people of Palestine and to invoke all the necessary International laws against Israel for its gross violations of the fundamental rights of Palestinian people. The ANC continues to pledge its unwavering support to the Government of Palestine and its people and conveys its heartfelt condolences for the loss of lives. There comes a time when all peace-loving people, globally, should assert that enough is enough.
Issued by Pule Mabe, National Spokesperson, ANC, 8 August 2022
