‘Solidarity with Palestinians didn’t begin last year’

This is an excerpt from South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola’s speech at the 47th United Nations (UN) International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at Freedom Park in Pretoria on 25 November. Below is a response from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.

“Our solidarity with the people [Palestinians] did not start last year, as some would have us believe, as it was not on the instruction of another state. Those who make this claim ignore our history for their convenience; they ignore our history to blunt their conscience. Our consciousness will not be blunted.

“I seize this opportunity to add the voice of the ANC [African National Congress] to the vehement condemnation of the wanton aggression currently being perpetrated by Israel against Lebanon. In so doing, we reaffirm our revolutionary solidarity with the valiant people of Palestine, who, we are certain, will emerge, as they have done in the past, from this ongoing savage attack stronger than ever before and united under the leadership of their sole and authentic representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

“That we can echo the words of the African National Congress in the UN as far back as 1982 almost verbatim today speaks of the impunity that has prevailed where Israel is concerned for decades. It was in 1948 that Israel consolidated its occupation of Palestinian territory beyond that allotted to it by the partition plan.

“Let this gathering be a call to our conscience. It cannot be that any criticism towards Israel is rendered antisemitic. It cannot be that every action aimed at justice is rendered as a proxy action by Iran or another force.

“To question who bears responsibility for the countless child corpses emerging from the rubble of what were once homes destroyed by Israeli bombs is not an act of antisemitism. It is a profound call to humanity’s conscience, a plea for justice. It is a cry for accountability, a demand that the world recognise and respond to the suffering of the innocent.

“A call for humanity [ubuntu] cannot be reduced to antisemitism.

“We have always believed that only a comprehensive and unconditional negotiated settlement can bring about lasting peace in the region. For this to happen, there is an urgent need for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, an immediate end of the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735 [2024], along with the blockade and destruction of Gaza.

“Today, we should pause and reflect on the events that have unfolded from October 2023 to date, which have marked one of the most tragic and violent periods in the history of the people of Palestine and the region. Over the past year, the military onslaught on Gaza has brought untold suffering to the Palestinian population, who have suffered unspeakable atrocities in an unrelenting campaign of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes.

“By standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we are reminded of the resonant words of Palestinian revolutionary leader Chairman Yasser Arafat, when he stated, ‘I come bearing an olive branch in one hand and a freedom fighter’s gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.’

“In these words, Arafat captured the painful and delicate balance by the Palestinian people between the hope for peace and necessity of resistance in the face of relentless aggression. Today, Palestinians continue to extend that olive branch, yearning for their deferred freedom and to live peacefully on their rightful land in the face of continued Israeli aggression.”