ANC to support Parliamentary motion to cut diplomatic ties with Israel
The ANC on Thursday confirmed that it would support a motion, set to be tabled in Parliament on Thursday, calling for the shutting down of the Israeli embassy in South Africa.
The motion is expected to be tabled by EFF leader Julius Malema.
The EFF said the motion is “an opportunity for all those who claim to be in solidarity with Palestine to put their solidarity into practice”.
Last month, the governing party marched to the Israeli embassy in Pretoria to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people and urge peace and talks between Palestine and Israel.
The ANC has also continued to call for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to allow humanitarian corridors to be fully operational.
Over 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an assault on Israeli towns, killing 1,200 people and taking some 240 others hostage on 7 October.
Thousands of civilians are now trapped in crippled Gaza hospitals, with medical practitioners warning that patients will die in the crippled facilities unless there is a resolution to the conflict.
“The ANC welcomes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that our government has put through a referral to the International Criminal Court. We cannot sit back and watch the genocidal actions of the Israeli regime,” said ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu–Motsiri.
“President Ramaphosa has stated clearly that the ANC-led government, as well as the ANC, does not condone any form of violence directed at citizens. We welcome the fact in this intervention. South Africa is not alone it has the support of other nations.
“We reiterate our call for a cease-fire for humanitarian corridors to be fully operational.
“Given the unfolding atrocities in occupied Palestine, the African National Congress will agree to a parliamentary motion which calls upon the government to close the Israel Embassy in South Africa and suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel until Israel agrees to a cease-fire and commits to binding United Nations facilitated negotiations whose outcome must be a just, sustainable and lasting peace,” added Bhengu-Motsiri.
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