Hopewell Radebe
7 January 2009
Johannesburg — THE African National Congress (ANC) yesterday called on South Africans to donate humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinians in Gaza as Israeli forces continue their attacks there.
The Israelis launched their assault on the Gaza Strip 11 days ago. At least one-fifth of the estimated 600 victims are children and a large number of women are among the dead.
"Surely Israel is in violation of international laws governing retaliatory engagements and is creating a deep humanitarian crisis," ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said .
The ANC condemned Israel for using brute force against unarmed civilians in a bid to root out Hamas insurgents in Gaza, describing the war as horrendous. It said it was time for the Israeli government to accept that there would be no peace or a lasting solution in the region as long as it continued to occupy land that rightfully belonged to the Palestinians .
Mantashe urged South Africans to show solidarity with destitute Palestinians who had lost everything in the past few days, by helping with donations . He also urged the government to co-ordinate the resources and find ways to distribute them to deserving families.
Asked about the sentiments expressed by local activists, who described SA's reaction to Israel as weak and said the government should be recalling SA's ambassador, Mantashe said the ANC's reaction had not differed from that expressed by the international community and the United Nations.
"We are condemning the collective punishment of hundreds of civilians who are paying with their lives and thousands more who have been injured because we do not believe this will resolve the enmity between Palestine and Israel," Mantashe said. "What will move the peace process forward is addressing the root cause of the conflict."
He also said that only the government had the right to recall the ambassadors and it would do so within proper protocol and guidelines.
Speaking at the same press conference, Ali Halimeh, Palestinian ambassador in SA, said Israel's action had brought together Palestinians from various political backgrounds. They were all condemning the attacks and calling for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Asked why he was serving the president of the Palestinian National Authority , Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah movement, instead of the ruling Hamas, he said at this point in Palestine's history, all parties in his country were serving one agenda - that of standing up against Israeli .
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