The ANC Western Cape calls upon the Government of Israel to release the thirteen women who were detained illegally on international waters by the Israeli navy. The thirteen, including one of our citizens, Lee-Ann Naidoo, have been detained unlawfully and must be immediately released.

We  call on DIRCO to respond speedily to ensure that our citizen is unharmed and released swiftly.  It is time for intensified action – Israel has continued to abuse and oppress Palestinians in violation of international laws, it has insulted us by blocking passage for national ministers who wanted to visit Palestine and now they have arrested a South African citizen in international seas.

This arrest is yet another insult to South Africans and an act of hostility, we therefore request – inline with ANC policy and the position stated by president Zuma in his recent address at our January eighth celebrations, that government review its diplomatic relations with Israel.

Finally, this recent intercept in international waters and not allowing un-armed women activists to enter the Palestinian Gaza Strip proves the ANC correct that Israel has indeed blockaded the Palestinian Gaza Strip and its inhabitants into effectively the world’s largest open air prison.

We repeat our ANC 2014 statement on Gaza: “Gaza is the world`s largest open air prison with over 1,5 million Palestinians caged in and cut off from the rest of the world. The Gaza Strip is the world`s most densely populated piece of land on this earth making the Israeli bombing of the Palestinian Gaza Strip all the more horrendous. The collective punishment and illegal siege of the Palestinian people of Gaza must immediately end.” (http://www.anc.org.za/content/anc-statement-gaza-strip)

For comment contact:
ANC Western Cape Provincial Secretary, Comrade Faiez Jacobs: 0836337690