- The ANC and Africa4Palestine led a picket in Pretoria to show solidarity with Palestinians
- ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said "genocide" was happening.
- She called for a complete break in diplomatic ties with Israel.
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said South Africans who sent their children to be conscripted by the Israeli Defence Force were "part of the problem" in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
Duarte, who led a picket at the Israel embassy in Pretoria to show solidarity Palestinians on Tuesday, said: "We cannot be friendly with people who are genocidal," according to a tweet by journalist Govan Whittles.
TIMELINE | Deadly clashes in Gaza and Jerusalem
She added that the conflict wasn't called a "genocide" because it "doesn't suit" the World Trade Organisation.
ANC's Jessie Duarte says South Africans who are sending their children for conscription in the Israeli Defence Force are part of the problem and should stop. "We can not be friendly with people who are genocidal. They won't use the word genocide cos it doesn't suit the WTO." pic.twitter.com/TUVZmEcdbB
— Govan Whittles (@van1go) May 25, 2021
He also tweeted that Duarte had called for South Africa's Department of Defence to stop importing defence technology from Israel.
Duarte also called for the complete closure of Israel's embassy in Pretoria and South Africa's embassy in Tel Aviv, after the status of the embassy there was downgraded following a resolution by the party at its 2017 Nasrec conference.
Eyewitness News also reported that Duarte had called for South Africans to boycott Israeli products.
Duarte was flanked by the SA Communist Party's Solly Mapaila and Muhammed Desai from Africa4Palestine, a pro-Palestinian pressure group.
Cosatu also joined the picket ahead of a "virtual engagement" on the topic later in the day.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (#COSATU) joins millions of #Africans on the continent, and in the diaspora, as we celebrate the 58th #AfricaDay, which is our common #heritage and space for reflection on the present and future of our beloved continent. @UpdateAtNoon pic.twitter.com/qtJ6SfckZD
— @COSATU Today (@_cosatu) May 25, 2021
Gauteng Premier David Makhura compared the situation to apartheid, and said the Palestinians were "stateless" and "a nation in search of nationhood".
"They are experiencing apartheid aggression every day. We are out here because there is injustice and injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere, as Martin Luther King would say," he said.
If you tremble in indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine - Ernesto Che Guevara. We need more mobilisation and more international pressure against Apartheid Israel. #FreePalestine #ANCInSolidarityWithPalestine pic.twitter.com/drIWO6t0p5
— David Makhura (@David_Makhura) May 25, 2021
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire over the weekend following 11 days of violence, bombings and rocket attacks.
The picket was criticised on Twitter by Israel's former ambassador to South Africa, Arthur Lenk, who said ANC leaders should care equally about vaccines, fighting corruption, job creation and education.