The Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine is taking place in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa from May 10 – 12, 2024
The conference aims “to set the basis for the mobilisation of a Global Anti-Apartheid Movement to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, and to work to dismantle Israeli apartheid from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This will see an intensification of the mobilisation, organisation and coordination for global action against Israeli apartheid.”
Palestine Chronicle editor Nurah Tape is covering the full duration of the conference. Stay updated on all events below.
Friday, May 10, 05:40 pm (GMT +2)
NA’EEM JEENAH, South African academic and activist: “The 7th of October changed everything about how we understand solidarity, how we must understand solidarity.”
NA’EEM JEENAH: “Our cause is one cause … The core of solidarity networks should be networks of oppressed peoples.”
NA’EEM JEENAH: Cautioned about the notion of peaceful resistance. “Non-violence should not be fetishized.”
“When the moment calls for a strong response, there should be a strong response.”
NA’EEM JEENAH: To the Palestinians present here: “This conference is here to honor you, we honor your families, we honor your martyrs…”
Friday, May 10, 05:15 pm (GMT +2)
STEVEN FRIEDMAN, South African academic: “The struggle for Palestine is entering a new phase.”
STEVEN FRIEDMAN: “Zionists are not proud to be Jewish at all, they’re deeply ashamed to be Jewish.”
STEVEN FRIEDMAN: It was only after (South Africa’s) Sharpeville (massacre) that the international campaign against South Africa took off. I think we are entering the phase now where because of the genocide it would be assumed that decent people don’t want anything to do with the Israeli state.
STEVEN FRIEDMAN: “We need to talk concretely about how Palestinian lives are being destroyed by apartheid Israel…You can only do that if you talk about how the system dehumanizes people.”
STEVEN FRIEDMAN: “The role of Jewish people is very important…Jewish anti-Zionism is going to become an increasingly important factor. ”
Friday, May 10, 05:00 pm (GMT +2)
FARAZ AL QAWASMI, from Hebron (Al-Khalil), works with imprisoned Palestinians: Around 9,000 Palestinians are in Israeli jails, who have their basic rights denied.
“My own brother was arrested after Oct 7. He was released recently, he lost 30 kilos in that time.”
OFFICIAL HASHTAG: The official hashtag for the conference is #palestineafrica2024
Friday, May 10, 04:45 pm (GMT +2)
ALI ABDULLAH, Masafer Yatta village, occupied West Bank: “When you go to the court you are facing a judge who is a settler.”
ALI ABDULLAH: “Settlers have taken advantage of the situation in Gaza, shooting with intent to kill, burning homes.”
SAMIHA, Resident of Massafer Yatta: “What is the fault of a Palestinian mother who has to live in fear 24 hours a day?”
SAMIHA: “Our land is in their (Israeli) hands, our rights are in their hands.”
Friday, May 10, 04:30 pm (GMT +2)
AHMAD NASRALLAH, Gaza High Court Judge: Left Gaza recently. “I hardly skipped death when I left…the massacres are unprecedented.”
AHMAD NASRALLAH: “These martyrs are human beings who have rights. I call upon you to work closely to bring to book the occupation leaders who have killed” the over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Friday, May 10, 04:15 pm (GMT +2)
MOHANNAD AL-QAISI, occupied West Bank resident, member of Olive Tree Campaign: “After October 7, harassment has gotten worse.”
MOHANNAD AL-QAISI: “When I was 13, a sniper shot my friend.” Mohannad went on to study psychology in an attempt to help others with their experience of living under Israeli occupation.
MOHANNAD AL-QAISI: Shared his experiences of collective punishment, and how Israeli soldiers raid towns during the middle of the night. “In the camp where I live, the snipers will shoot anyone.”
MOHANNAD AL-QAISI: “Standing here in South Africa and getting your support means a lot to the Palestinians. I don’t stand here as a victim, I’m a freedom fighter.”
SHIREEN HILAL, occupied West Bank: Shared the experiences of her family in Gaza. “We should not rest until this is over. We owe the people of Gaza, the children of Gaza, the heroic Gazans…We cannot stop resisting.”
Friday, May 10, 04:00 pm (GMT +2)
RONNIE KASRILS, South Africa’s former Minister of Intelligence: “This conference has to be focused on stopping this genocide.”
RONNIE KASRILS: “We’ve got to break Zionist Israel…The key is clear politics, policy, unity.”
Friday, May 10, 03:15 pm (GMT +2)
LAMIS DEEK, Palestinian-American Activist and lawyer: “Palestinian refugees and demand for return is a force of peace. Palestinian resistance is a force of peace.”
LAMIS DEEK: “We are the only colonized people not being allowed to exist by name.”
LAMIS DEEK: Our demands call for “liberation from all institutions of zionist supremacy, wherever they may be.”
LAMIS DEEK: “The Zionists have given us a formula, they’re very predictable in what they do…We are in a place of power. It’s important that we understand our capacity and our power. Power only concedes to power.”
Friday, May 10, 02:15 pm (GMT +2)
DECLAN KEARNEY, Chairperson of Sinn Fein: “The Palestinian and Irish freedom fighters share a special bond. Our commitment is absolute and unbreakable.”
DECLAN KEARNEY: “History did not commence on October 7… Israel has laid bare the moral hypocrisy of Western powers.”
SALEH HIJAZI, Amnesty International and BDS movement: “Let us grow this movement together and end decades of oppression, and usher in a time of liberation.”
Friday, May 10, 02:00 pm (GMT +2)
IBRAHIM ZAYAT, International Union of Muslim Scholars: “We call on all leaders present to amplify the call for a free Palestine.”
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, Palestinian Legislative Council: “What is happening in Gaza is a terrible crime no one should live with…How many wars can the world allow this Israeli fascist regime to commit” against the Palestinian people?
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: “We’ve woken the people of the world against genocide and injustice …and hypocrisy of international governments.”
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: “Israel initiated this war but Israel will not be the one who decides how it ends.”
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: “We will not leave our land.”
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: “This is not anti-semitic as they claim, it is against Zionism…against white supremacy.”
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: “We will not submit, we will not surrender…till we achieve our freedom, our justice, our full humanity and our dignity. We will overcome because you are with us. We will see freedom in Palestine in our lifetime.”
Friday, May 10, 12:00 pm (GMT +2)
PALESTINE CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT: The Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine has kicked off with a moment of silence for the more than 34,000 Palestinians who have been killed in Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip.
REVEREND FRANK CHIKANE: “This conference must make sure that we mobilize the world … and free the people of Palestine.”
ARCHBISHOP THABO MAKGOBA: “Such an unjust system can only be sustained by violence… Israel maintains an apartheid-like grip on the Palestinian people only by extreme violence.”
MINISTER NALEDI PANDOR: “Progressive forces need to push for the inalienable right of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”
MINISTER NALEDI PANDOR: “There can never be peace if the Palestinian people are not free …We should be ashamed that 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza.”
MINISTER NALEDI PANDOR: “The International Criminal Court (ICC) must prioritize the case against Israel.”
DR MUNTHER ISAAC: In a symbolic gesture, the Reverend Munther Isaac of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem places a keffiyah around the shoulders of Minister Naledi Pandor at the Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine.
DR KENNETH MTATA, World Council of Churches representative: “What is happening to the Palestinian people challenges the moral integrity of the churches.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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