A group made up of different formations in KwaZulu-Natal has come out to show solidarity with the people of Palestine amid the ongoing war in Gaza where Israeli forces are pounding the densely populated and besieged strip.
The KwaZulu-Natal group gathered in central Durban on Monday evening to light up candles and pray in solidarity with the Palestinians.
This was in response to the aerial bombardment of Gaza by the Israel airforce in retaliation to an incursion by Hamas on Saturday morning that left scores of Israelis dead and others captured.
The surprise attack that has been described as having shattered the invincibility of Israel forced the Jewish state to fight back by bombing several targets.
Hamas claimed to have launched over the issue of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the persecution of Palestinians by the Jewish state.
According to a BBC report on Monday night, the Israel Airforce claimed to have hit 2,500 targets it intended to hit as part of its fight back.
This while according to Qatar-based cable news network, Aljazeera, Israel officials said Hamas killed 86 of its soldiers and over 200 during a party in the desert near Gaza.
With the fighting gaining momentum and more lives lost, the grouping calling its KwaZulu-Natal Palestine Solidarity Forum joined othera around the world including African solidarity and anti-apartheid organisations in supporting what it called "the right of Palestinians to resist the illegal Israeli occupation that has been in place for 75 years".
“The apartheid Israeli regime has also inflamed the emotions of all Palestinians, Muslims and people of conscience worldwide with their support for right-wing settler group incursions into the Al Aqsa compound which regularly violates its sanctity and provokes worshippers,” the grouping said in a statement after the candle-lighting and prayer session.
“We call upon the South African government to cut diplomatic ties with apartheid Israel and to charge South Africans that fight illegally in Israel with war crimes.”
The group also called on the South African government to disband groupings within South Africa that support the state of Israel.
Meanwhile, the SA BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanction) Coalition said along with South African activists, trade unions and civil society will be taking action on Wednesday to demonstrate its support for the Palestine people in their struggle for justice, equality, the right to resist and achieve liberation from Israeli.
The simultaneous demonstrations will take place in front of the US Consulate in Johannesburg and the city centre of Cape Town.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
IOL Politics