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The global anti-apartheid conference for Palestine got underway in Sandton on Friday, May 10 and will end tomorrow. FASEEGAH DAVIDS reports on some of the highlights from day one.
DAY one marked an important day in shaping the broader politics, narrative, and outcome for the movement toward a free Palestine. The room filled approximately 480 guests with 180 of them as international guest and delegates from embassies around the world including Namibia.
The conference opened with Reverend Frank Chikane emphasising the urgency of this conference, stating that over 35000 people have been killed since October 7, 2023. Regular reference was made to the 1948 Nakba and the settler colonialism of Israel which began 76 years ago and not on October 7. Reverend Chikane extended a cordial welcome to the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor who issued a global call for solidarity. ‘As South Africa we actively lobbied for the withdrawal of Israel as an observer member of the African Union, and we will continue our efforts towards support for a two-state solution and the right to self-determination,’ said Minister Pandor.
However, activists at the conference raised questions on the political view of a two-state solution as they looked upon it as the continued fragmentation of Palestine, given Israel’s illegal settlements. Does the two-state solution impose on Palestinians right to self determination ?
Minister Pandor endorsed calls for third-party states to undertake measures toward the comprehensive decolonisation of Palestine, ‘this has to involve the dismantling of all structures of domination exploitation and oppression and the realisation of the rights of Palestinian peoples rights of freedom and democracy.’ Minister Pandor also thanked Namibia and Algeria for their support. The thematic underpinning of the conference, epitomised by the hashtag ‘PalestineAfrica2024,’ underscores the symbiotic relationship between the Palestinian struggle for liberation and the broader anti-apartheid ethos, emblematic of principles of collective liberation and solidarity.
A key figure at the conference was lawyer Lamis Deek, whose discourse provided critical insights into the prevailing situation in Palestine. Deek articulated that an appropriate conceptual framework for understanding the Palestinian predicament is one of ‘incremental genocide that comes in phases.’ She elucidated that Gaza currently finds itself entrenched in an escalated phase of this genocidal trajectory, while cautioning that the West Bank stands at the precipice of the same peril. Deek emphasised that Palestinians and all stakeholders engaged in or associated with the Palestinian struggle have been ensnared within a meticulously orchestrated and scientifically calibrated project of psycho social, legal, and political engineering. She explained that, ‘this must be the beginning of our work moving forward,’ and fiercely advocated for the right of return. A prominent call from human rights activists and other attendees at the conference is the call for the decriminalisation of armed resistance in Palestine.
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Another key-note speaker, Declan Kearney, the current national chairman of Sinn Féin expressed Ireland’s support for the struggle of the Palestinians and the history of shared struggle in South Africa and Ireland.
Civil society formations, including BDS (The Boycott, Divestment,Sanctions movement), PSA (Palestine Solidarity Alliance), and PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign), as well as organisations such as Jews for Justice and SAJFP’s (South African Jews for a free Palestine) participation and activism, served as indicative of a broader coalition committed to combating prejudice and discrimination in all its manifestations.
