FROM THE BLOG

11 November 2024

Statement from:
Dr Mamphela Ramphele and Mr Niclas Kjellstrom-Matseke
Desmond & Leah Tutu House
Cape Town

SA MUST EXPEL ISRAEL’S DIPLOMATS AND BORROW ANTI-APARTHEID TACTICS TO IMPLEMENT GLOBAL SANCTIONS MOVEMENT

If the daily sight of child and women victims of Israel’s ongoing annihilation of Gaza, now spreading to Lebanon, is insufficient to persuade powerful nations of its wrongfulness, less powerful nations, which don’t necessarily have veto powers at the UN, have responsibilities to step into the void.

Over the past 400 days the US has repeatedly used its veto to reduce the world body to a talk-shop, while Israel recently announced the banning of the UN Relief and Works Agency and described UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres as persona non grata.

It is not only Palestine that is under attack, but the integrity of the rest of the world to correct human made crises.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US supplied 69% of Israeli arms imports in 2023, with Germany its second largest supplier, followed by Italy, the UK, France and Spain. Three of those countries retain the veto powers that came with permanent membership of the UN Security Council granted to them in 1945.

As Archbishop of Southern Africa Thabo Makgoba aptly put it: “Any nation which arms a party to the conflict, whether directly or indirectly, implicitly makes this war its war too.”

The rest of the world cannot be innocent bystanders. Nations must use their collective powers to squeeze the State of Israel – diplomatically, economically and reputationally – to force it to negotiate a just and sustainable solution in which both the people of Israel and Palestine can live in peace.

We are reminded of the late Archbishop Tutu’s teaching, that there’s no place for neutrality when an elephant is standing on the tail of a mouse’s tail. If you don’t call out oppression you agree with it…

There is no doubt left, given all the world has witnessed over the past 13 months, that, regardless of what formal label is applied to its strategy, the State of Israel’s objective is to clear Palestinians from Palestine.

South Africa’s principle in charging Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice is worthy, as is its support for Türkiye’s recent initiative, joined by 51 other countries, to call on the UN Security Council to support halting arms shipments to Israel.

But South Africa can do more. It can double down on its efforts by using the same non-violent toolbox of boycott and sanctions to isolate and force Israel to the negotiating table as were used to isolate and force change in apartheid South Africa.

Government must enact the parliamentary resolution passed a year ago to cut diplomatic ties with Israel, and draw on its experience of the power of sanctions and boycotts to apply renewed impetus to the struggle for the equal rights of all in the Holy Land, including Muslim, Jews and Christians.

Cutting formal diplomatic relations need not preclude South Africa from participating in multilateral talks aimed at resolving the crisis in future. 

South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Co-Operation must take the lead in proposing SWIFT banking sanctions against Israeli banks. The Society Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) is based in Brussels. It authenticates more than 20 million inter-bank financial transactions daily, linking over 11 500 financial institutions in more than 200 countries.

SWIFT has previously been used to apply pressure on Iran and, less successfully, on Russia which switched to selling oil in currencies other than the US Dollar.

The Archbishop Desmond Tutu Intellectual Property Trust and the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation associate themselves with the Statement of Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches in Jerusalem, issued on 7 October 2023, which read:

“We unequivocally condemn any acts that target civilians, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or faith. Such actions go against the fundamental principles of humanity and the teachings of Christ, who implored us to ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Mark 12:31).

It is important to acknowledge the many citizens of Israel, and members of the Jewish diaspora, who have had the courage and self-esteem to raise their voices against the appalling injustice and breakdown of international law in the Holy Land. They are important allies in the global struggle for human rights and equality.

Last week, Gaza’s Health Ministry, which the UN regards as reliable, said more than 43 300 Palestinians had been killed over the past 13 months. Many other bodies are believed to remain under the rubble.

The UN’s Human Rights Office released an analysis of people killed in Gaza between November last year and April. They found that 44% of verified victims were children, and 26% were women. Of the children, most victims were five to nine-year olds.

Last month, the UN Security Council was informed by a senior UN official that Gaza was home to the largest number of amputee children in modern history, with an average of 10 children losing one or both legs per day.

The UN has also reported a 300% spike in miscarriages and mothers’ dying in childbirth.

Psychological trauma is intense, rippling outwards, from families and neighbours, across the border to Lebanon, to the rest of the world.

The world body is long-due for a structural overhaul, reducing the powers of individual nations to act against the interests of the group. In the meantime, countries that support the human values of Ubuntu, of common principle and common purpose, must act.

Signed by:

1. Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Chair of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust; and
2. Mr Niclas Kjellstrom-Matseke, Chair of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation

Ends…

Distributed from Desmond & Leah Tutu House by Oryx Media. Call Benny Gool +27 82 5566 556 or Roger Friedman +27 79 8966 899.