Cape Town - At what was once a place of colonial violence, hundreds of people gathered at the Castle of Good Hope to commemorate the Nakba “Catastrophe” of 1948, while highlighting the ongoing Nakba taking place in Gaza, Palestine and Israel’s settler-colonialism.
On Saturday, the day began with teach-ins consisting of creative and educational activities for children and adults, a movie screening, and discussions on key issues related to Palestine.
The Nakba rally, hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), consisted of musical performances, poetry readings and addresses from predominantly young activists joined by veteran anti-apartheid activists.
Political parties agreed to sign a pledge in support of a comprehensive draft Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel, for discussion in parliament. Signatories included the ANC, Al Jama-ah, EFF, SUN, NCC, and independent candidate Zackie Achmat.
Writer, poet and post doctoral fellow at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, at UWC, Thandi Gamedze said: “Before the state of Israel was created, there were Arab Christians, Muslims and Jews living in the land of Palestine. This is not a religious conflict. However, religion has been used and appropriated to uphold what is going on right now in Palestine and to uphold the injustice and oppression that is taking place.”
SA Jews for a Free Palestine member Megan Choritz shared that she had lost friends and family because she could not support their “racist, paranoid, colonial fixation with Israel” but had gained an interfaith community fighting for Palestinian liberation.
“I stand in front of you as one of a growing movement of Jews around the world who know or who are discovering that Zionism is a commitment to an exclusive, racist ethnostate whose existence continues to be at the expense of other human beings. Jews all over the world are seeing what cannot be unseen, Zionism is not only evil, it is also not Jewish. Jews are waking up, Jews are becoming angry that we have been lied to.”
PSC chairperson Jaamia Galant said the Palestinian struggle was an anti-colonial struggle for justice, land, identity, and dignity and that these struggles were present too, in South Africa.
Referencing the homeless camped outside the Castle and people relocated to temporary shelters and settlements such as in Blikkiesdorp, Galant said: “Land and the reclaiming of land is a universal struggle and we stand here in solidarity with the Palestinians, in the full knowledge that we also have a struggle at home for the same issues.”
Palestinian journalist Aziz Younis said in the 225 days of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, over 35 000 Palestinians have been killed.
“Today, on the 225th day, the occupation army killed more than 100 Palestinian scientists, academics, university professors, and educators. Furthermore, over 141 journalists have been killed by the occupation army while carrying out their sacred mission of reporting the truth. As the saying goes, ‘Journalism is the first rough draft of history’. And the loss of these brave individuals is a blow to uncovering the realities faced by the Palestinian people.”
Reverend Frank Chikane provided an update on the recent inaugural Anti-apartheid Conference on Palestine held in Johannesburg.
“When I was at the UN in March this year in Geneva, I said to them you can't blockade Gaza for 16 years and expect them to do nothing,” Chikane said.
Chikane reaffirmed that Zionism is racism, stating that Christian Zionism was the opposite of what the Christian faith should be about.
“Christian Zionism is cruel. I’ve never seen people who support 35 000 people dead and they said in terms of their theology, they must die.”
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za
Cape Argus