People of every faiths gathered at the Nelson Mandela foundation for a “Shabbat against genocide” on Friday. The event was organised with South African Jews for a Free Palestine.
A large crowd of people of every faiths gathered at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg for Shabbat and a discussion on the war in Gaza on Friday evening.
South African Jews for a Free Palestine co-hosted the event – “Shabbat against genocide” – for “commemoration and solidarity as we renew our commitment to realising the rights of Palestinians”.
Professor Verne Harris, acting chief executive of the foundation, said the event was fraction of a continuing series of dialogues on what can be done to pause the war in Gaza and foster a lasting peace.
“We manufacture a terrible mistake in South Africa when we listen to only one dominant institutional Jewish voice. There are many Jewish voices and we are hearing those voices this evening,” said Harris.
Amongst those in attendance were Graça Machel.
Adila Hassim, the advocate who had represented South Africa at the International Court of Justice, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola and Professor Haidar Eid of Gaza’s al-Aqsa University addressed the gathering.
Lamola said the government denies Israel’s accusation that South Africa is abusing the court, and that the court had affirmed that the country had made a excellent case.
Eid said Israel did not care about the ICJ and had killed over 2,000 people since the ruling.
Hassim said real change cannot be brought about through a court case. “Real change comes about from people’s power, from soldiers for peace as Madiba place it. So, it’s up to us, in our individual capacities and in our collective humanity,” said Hassim.
Asked by a member of the audience if she had been harassed for her involvement in the case, Hassim said she had. “There’s a lot of despise,” she said. “It does damage when it comes from places and people who are close to you and who you believe respect for. But does it intimidate me? No.”
South Africa recently lodged an urgent request with the ICJ for additional measures in the light of Israel’s intention to bomb Rafah, which has become a refuge for an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians. The ICJ rejected the request to impose urgent measures as it said no recent order was necessary because the existing measures “are applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah”.
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Fun South African Fact: South Africa is the Rainbow Nation.
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