For Immediate Release

11 June 2018

ANC IN JOHANNESBURG CONDEMNS MMC PHALATSE’S ISRAEL SOLIDARITY UTTERANCES

The ANC in the City of Johannesburg has noted the recent activities at the Johannesburg City Hall where the MMC for Health in the City of Johannesburg, councilor Mpho Phalatse falsely reaffirmed the City’s solidarity with Israel.
We strongly condemn this behavior by the MMC and distance ourselves unequivocally.

As the ANC in Johannesburg, we re-iterate our solidarity with the heroic people of Palestine. We condemn Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the systematic oppression meted out to the Palestinian people for decades.

The ANC has always made it clear that it stands in solidarity with the Palestinians. The City of Johannesburg has a sister-sister relationship with the City of Ramallah, where the statue of Nelson Mandela stands tall. This statue is symbolic of the links between the South African liberation struggle and struggle for freedom and dignity in Palestine.
At our 54th national conference in December we resolved, as the ANC, to immediately and unconditionally downgrade the South African embassy in Israel to a liaison office.

The participation of more than 100 South African organisations in this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week was one of the best examples of South Africa’s unity in diversity and the vibrancy of our civil society.

Our freedom, which our people fought and died for, was only possible because of the support from the international community who made our struggle against the apartheid regime their struggle and campaigned in support of us.

Yet, the DA does not see the importance of extending solidarity towards the Palestinian people who continue to face Israeli occupation and apartheid. In fact, the DA recently slammed our government for the decision to withdraw the South African ambassador to Israel. This was after Israeli snipers targeted innocent civilians from Gaza who were protesting in the Great March of Return.

The death toll, which includes journalists and medical staff, now sits at over 100, while those injured number in the thousands.

Our own painful history – from Sharpeville to the 1976 youth uprising – should give us an understanding of the level of oppression and brutality faced by the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli regime.
When will the DA recognise Israel’s apartheid and oppression for what it really is?
ENDS

Issued by ANC Caucus in the City of Johannesburg

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