Africans Rising for Palestine
We, the signatories of the Kilimanjaro Declaration and members of Africans Rising condemn the on-going massacre of Palestinian nationals in Gaza, following the relocation of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem on Monday, 14 May 2018.
After seventy years of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, the international community remains perilously silent in the face of atrocious ethnic cleansing and genocide. This is wholly unacceptable and it betrays the very basic rationale behind the existence of the renowned global peacekeeping institutions, which have failed the Palestinian people for far too long. “It is unacceptable that we can have a sovereign state of Palestine with its unarmed civilians subject to a brutal level of military aggression on a daily basis,” said Africans Rising Co-Coordinator, Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan.
70 years to the anniversary of Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe”, President Donald Trump’s Administration officially opened the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, making the United States of America the first foreign state to undercut Palestinian hope and provoke this warranted anger among the Gazawi youth.
Africans Rising for justice, peace and dignity condemns in the strongest of terms the massive killings of innocent and unarmed Palestinian demonstrators along the Gaza border on Monday 15 May 2018. Protestors massing at The Wall were once again noticed by social media, they were also quickly taken up by Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian party with most control in Gaza. These Palestinians have declared allegiance to their freedom and they have successfully drawn attention to the forgotten, and hopeless Gaza Strip. The Israeli government has always attempted to silence the voice of Palestinians on the rise, however, such a violation of Gaza should chock us all into action and it should never be business as usual.
This attack has seen more than 60 martyrs, many of whom are teenagers, children and women. The death toll recorded the largest number of fatalities in a single day and continues to rise even as the majority of the wounded continue to receive treatment. The Israelis attacks are a ferocious and a pervasive violation of human rights and further loss of life or injuries must be stopped forthwith. “As Africans and fellow human beings, we urge our governments to take heed of the statement from the African Union Commission on Palestine and, add to add the African people’s voices to the global solidarity campaigns to end this modern-day Apartheid” Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan added.
“He reiterates the solidarity of the African Union with the Palestinian people in their legitimate quest for an independent and sovereign State with East Jerusalem as its capital. He calls for renewed and genuine international efforts to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict, based on the existence of two States, Israel and Palestine, within the framework of the relevant United Nations pronouncements.” Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Palestine, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Addis Ababa, 14 May 2018.
We further commend the swift action of the Government of South Africa, which immediately withdrew it’s Ambassador to Israel and urge all other African states to follow this example and act decisively to isolate the pariah state of Israel.
“Given the indiscriminate and grave manner of the latest Israeli attacks, the South African government has taken a decision to recall Ambassador Sisa Ngombane with immediate effect and until further notice,” Dirco (Department of International Relations & Cooperation) added.
We fully support the view of the Government of South Africa that Israel must immediately withdraw its troops from the sovereign state of Palestine.
“As we have stated on previous occasions, South Africa reiterates its view that the Israeli Defence Force must withdraw from the Gaza Strip and bring to an end the violent and destructive incursions into Palestinian territories. South Africa maintains further that the violence in the Gaza Strip will stand in the way of rebuilding Palestinian institutions and infrastructure.”
“We urge all African countries to remember that it was no other than Nelson Mandela who reminded the world of the obvious fact that, our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” said Africans Rising Co-Coordinator, Coumba Toure.
The decision was taken by the South African government to recall their South Africa Ambassador to Israel, Sisa Ngombane, owing to these attacks should be replicated by the rest of the world to show solidarity and to offer support in ending the violence against Palestinians.
--- Issued by Africans Rising for Justice, Peace & Dignity For more information: email Imen Haddad media@africans-rising.org +21627962745
