Retired high court judge Siraj Desai and anti-apartheid cleric Allan Boesak were among the more than 200 people who gathered outside a Tennyson Street mosque in Salt River last Friday to sound an interfaith call for peace in Palestine.
The South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) held a Shabbat ceremony and spoke out against what they said were acts of genocide being committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
They were supported by Judge Desai and Reverend Boesak as well as Claremont Main Road Mosque Imam Rashied Omar.
SAJFP executive member Anthony Fish Hodgson said the Shabbat ceremony was an acknowledgement that there were many protests taking place in support of Palestine.
“We also need moments like this to come together to connect and build each other up at the moment, and we try to do this in an interfaith way involving different groups,” he said.
Imam Shafick Jacobs, from the Mughammadiyyah mosque in Tennyson Street, said the issue was not about religion but about standing against oppression.
“This is a humanitarian issue that affects all walks of life.”
Imam Jacobs said the whole world was calling for peace, and it was sad that hospitals, churches and schools were being destroyed in Palestine and that those living there had no access to running water and electricity.
At the end of last month, the South African government filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts against Palestinians.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been staged in several countries following Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas militants massacring more than 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 200 hostages, including children and the elderly.
Israel’s strikes on Gaza have so far killed more than 22 000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The ICJ will hold public hearings on the matter today, Thursday January 11, and tomorrow, Friday 12.
“The case meets every criteria for genocide; the facts set out are compelling,” said Judge Desai. “Strategically it was correct for South Africa to bring the case regardless of the outcome.”
The newly formed Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine supported last Friday’s gathering. Executive member Fatima-Zahra Khan said they had more than 1000 members across the country.
“We are health-care workers that advocate against the targeting of hospital stations and doctors in Gaza which should be protected under international law.”
She said they were calling for a ceasefire and efforts to find a diplomatic solution to all the occupied territories.
