STATEMENT BY BRETT HERRON, GOOD SECRETARY-GENERAL
12 May 2021
The GOOD Party joined the Muslim Judicial Council’s march for justice in Palestine, in Cape Town, today, calling for sanctions against Israel and for the South African government to lead global solidarity with the long-suffering people of Palestine.
The march follows escalating violence in Israel and Palestine initially triggered in East Jerusalem and now engulfing the region – again. Israeli air strikes have claimed the lives of at least nine children.
While the State of Israel argues that it must defend itself against Palestinian aggression, its unbridled military force has rightly been condemned around the world for its disproportionality.
Lethal bullying tactics aside, Israel’s self-defence argument would have wider traction if it handed back illegally occupied territories, stopped antagonising the situation by grabbing more land, and started treating Palestinians as fellow human beings.
As things stand, there are many similarities between Israel’s response to Palestine’s struggle for justice and the then-South African State’s response to the anti-apartheid struggle. Among the similarities are the unjustified killing of children.
As we know from our experience in South Africa, the beneficiaries of a just settlement between Israelis and Palestinians would be both Palestinians and Israelis.
The South African government is more qualified than most to recognise and respond appropriately to apartheid, when it sees it. We call on the government to play a global leadership role to place the people of Palestine and Israel on the road to lasting peace.