/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) commends the protests held in South Africa this week in solidarity with the people of Palestine against the apartheid Israel occupation. The Annual Quds Day march was held in Cape Town on Friday, 5 April, and on Saturday, 6 April at the United States consulate in Sandton, Johannesburg. The protests form part of global solidarity calls for an end to the occupation of Palestine by the apartheid Israeli settler state. The protests assert of the Palestinian people’s right to national sovereignty and self-determination.

The SACP condemns in the strongest terms possible the genocide committed by the colonial and apartheid Israeli settler state in Palestine. This week the regime continued its murderous rampage. Over 1,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both of their legs. Dozens more Palestinians have been killed. This week also revealed the carnage caused by the Israeli army’s over two weeks-long occupation of Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s biggest and most advanced medical complex. In addition to the destruction of the hospital, bodies were left strewn all over and around the hospital floor and yard, with more Palestinians injured.

Since the launch of its genocidal offensive on 7 October 2023, the apartheid regime of Israel has murdered over 33,137 Palestinians in Gaza, of which at least 75 per cent are children (14,500), women (9.560) and elderly people. The Israeli occupation army has thus far also killed about 162 United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff killed, injuring 26. Over 75,000 Palestinians have been injured, while more than 7,000 are still buried under destroyed buildings and infrastructure, including over 5,000 children.

The situation in Gaza is worsening as the reality of malnutrition and dehydration has led to the death of at least 30 children. The 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza now face starvation as a result of apartheid Israel’s policy of starvation, in line with its broader genocidal strategy to wipe out the Palestinian population.

The SACP reiterates its message of solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemns Israel’s continued disregard of the International Court of Justice’s order and basic human rights. It is clear that the colonial Israeli regime is unprepared to heed the dictates of international law, and does so with the express support of its imperialist benefactor, the United States.

The SACP further reiterates its support for the Palestinian people’s right to resist occupation of their land by the colonial regime of Israel. The SACP will continue to participate in protests against apartheid Israel, and also calls for deepened unity among justice loving people across the world, including cooperation of the people as well as governments and international bodies to isolate apartheid Israel economically, politically, culturally and otherwise.

Issued by the South African Communist Party