World News | S Africa Decries Israeli Call for Evacuation of All Gaza Citizens; Offers Mediation Assistance

Johannesburg, Oct 14 (PTI) South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) has decried the call by Israel for all citizens of Gaza to leave the territory which it has vowed to raze to the ground, offering to immediately begin peace negotiations.

Following a meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee, all members, draped in the scarves symbolising Palestine, stood alongside party President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also the President of South Africa, as he briefed the media on Saturday afternoon.

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“(We) are all standing here pledging our solidarity with the people of Palestine. We stand here because we are deeply concerned about the atrocities that are unfolding in the Middle East,” Ramaphosa said.

The president said that the party has passed on its condolences to the people of both Israel and Palestine after over 2,000 have died in the war so far.

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“We have a full understanding of how the people of Palestine have taken up this issue, because they are people, as many countries and leaders in the world have opined, that have been under occupation for almost 75 years.

“(They are) people under occupation, who have been waging a struggle against an oppressive government that has occupied their land, but also a government that has in recent times been dubbed an apartheid state,” Ramaphosa said.

“The worst part is when the Israeli government now says 1.1 million people must evacuate the northern part of Gaza (after) having closed all exit routes.

“Now we believe this is a serious matter of great gravity and concern and to this end, we call on the international community, the UN and all other concerned international bodies to make sure that peace is restored in Palestine and that the Israeli government is directed at withdrawing this command of getting people out of the northern part of Gaza because, in the end, it is going to amount to almost genocide,” Ramaphosa added,

He said South Africa and the ANC stand firm on the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

“We also stand ready to participate on a neutral basis, as we always do, in various conflicts around the world. Whether the parties involved in a conflict share the same position as ourselves ideologically or not, we have always participated in the ending of conflicts with integrity,” the president said.

Ramaphosa said South Africa has already received from a number of countries in the Middle East requests to assist and send humanitarian assistance, which is being processed.

Earlier on Saturday, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor said the Israel-Palestine conflict had exposed the double standards of Western countries and media.

“Despite the fact that the root cause of this conflict is illegal occupation, we have heard a tirade of criticism of Palestine from Western powers and unflinching support for the occupying power. These types of double standards are the result of a global system which is skewed in favour of the powerful to the detriment of those fighting for their rights and self-determination,” Pandor told the International Conference on Dilemmas of Humanity organised by South Africa's major trade union NUMSA.

“It is imperative that social movements raise their voices in solidarity with the Palestinian people, particularly given the notably biased media coverage of the current violence,” Pandor said, as she called on trade unions worldwide to rise up against Israeli oppression, which she liked to the apartheid from which South Africa had risen.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)