Coalition demands accountability and justice for Palestinians in upcoming march

ORGANISERS of Saturday’s mass march in support of Palestine, have called on communities, trade unions, student movements, faith groups, and civil society organisations to lend their names and support to what they describe as a historic mobilisation for justice.

- MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

The demonstration is expected to draw one of the largest crowds ever assembled in South Africa in support of the Palestinian cause.

Yesterday, the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC-SA), Al-Quds Foundation South Africa (AQF-SA), the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and other civil society and faith-based organisations held a media briefing to highlight the main issues behind the protest.

PSC coordinator Professor Usuf Chikte said the march will push for the domestication of international conventions into South African law so that alleged crimes can be prosecuted locally.

“We have signed the Geneva Convention, we have signed the Apartheid Convention,” he said.

“All legal scholars say that Israel is doing apartheid, and we want to invoke that and domesticate it into South African law. It is a key and primary demand of the march. We want to have that bill passed in Parliament.”

The coalition singled out multinational companies and charity organisations, saying they are complicit.

“We want that to be dealt with in terms of the law,’ Chikte said.

Activists also called for tighter controls on money flowing from South Africa to Israel.