Implement Apartheid Bill, sanction Israel now!
10:00 | Corner of Hanover and Chapel Street, District Six
On 5 October 2024, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign - Cape Town (PSC Cape Town) and its partners will march from District Six to Parliament, calling on South Africa to fully implement in legislation the United Nations (UN) International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (Apartheid Convention). While South Africa ratified the Apartheid Convention in May 2024, the next crucial step is passing legislation to ensure compliance with its international obligations, a necessary action that would demonstrate South Africa's commitment to justice and human rights.
Commemorating a year of escalated genocide
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 41000 Palestinians in Gaza which includes close to 16 500 children by bullets, bombs, beating, or having them die beneath the rubble. Experts estimate that up to 186 000 could be attributable to the current war in Gaza.
Israel has also destroyed critical infrastructure in Gaza, leading to widespread hunger and denial of medical treatment. These atrocities, pogroms and genocide have since extended into the West Bank.
Terror across the region
The Israeli apartheid regime has extended their reign of terror to Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, no strangers to Israeli aggression and oppression, seeking to goad these sovereign nations into full-scale, regional war. The assassination of leaders and freedom fighters such as Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) in a foreign country, and of Hasan Nasrallah (Hezbollah, an official member of Lebanese parliament), is evidence of Israel's disregard for sovereignty, and its existence, a threat to world peace and the upholding of international humanitarian law.
International legal findings
On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world's highest court, ruled that:
- Israel must end its occupation, dismantle settlements, provide reparations to Palestinian victims, and facilitate the return of displaced persons.
- The international community must not provide any support to Israel's illegal occupation.
Despite this, Israel continues to defy international law, intensifying its attacks on Palestinian civilians and infrastructure, and now is enacting the same playbook across the region.
South Africa's responsibility
South Africa has a unique historical role in the global fight against apartheid and can now take the lead in implementing international law. The "Apartheid Bill," drafted by the PSC Cape Town and its partners, is a step toward operationalising South Africa's commitment to the Apartheid Convention. The Bill is designed to hold entities accountable for human rights violations and will provide the legal framework for South Africa to implement Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) and establish Apartheid-Free Zones across the country.
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March details
The march on 5 October 2024 will culminate in South Africans demanding that Parliament pass the "Apartheid Bill", which will domesticate the UN International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid into South African law.
The time to act is now, to end the genocide against the Palestinian people and eliminate the Israeli threat to international stability and peace.
ISSUED BY: - Palestine Solidarity Campaign, CAPE TOWN
