Envoy calls on SA to support Palestinian cause
SHANNON EBRAHIM Group Foreign Editor
THE newly appointed Palestinian ambassador to South Africa, Hanan Jarrar, has said that the Palestinian people are relying on South Africa, and hope for tangible efforts from the country to support the Palestinian cause.
Addressing the media in Tshwane on Friday, Jarrar said that the so-called “peace plan” announced in Washington on January 28 was based on unilateral Israeli visions, and that the Palestinians were not party to this scam.
“The plan promises Palestinians, who constitute more than 50% of the population between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river, bantustans in less than 14% of the whole area, no Jerusalem as the capital, no real sovereignty, and no control over borders or international relations,” she said.
“The plan legitimises grave violations of international law, including the annexation of land by force for the sake of the settlement enterprise.”
Under the stipulations of the plan, the right of six million Palestinian refugees to return to their homes is denied, and the Palestinians are pressured to halt the process of bringing Israelis and Americans to international courts to account.
Jarrar warned that the declaration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – that he will begin this Sunday to work on annexing settlements and the Jordan Valley – is a very dangerous step.
Ronnie Kasrils, the former minister of Intelligence and chairperson of the
Palestine Solidarity Campaign in South Africa, castigated what he calls “the steal of the century”.
“The Trump-netanyahu deal is another criminal step to rob the Palestinians of the shrinking territory they have left. It aims to legitimise Israel’s latest land grab and to hoodwink international opinion.” He added: “Israel gets the green light to expand its borders by the stroke of a pen as a gift from the US president.”
Kasrils has called on South Africans to help stop what he calls the ultimate hijacking of what is left of a country, that would leave the indigenous Palestinian people without a land or rights.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the AU Summit in Addis Ababa on February 8, where they will discuss the way forward.
Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt have failed to criticise Trump’s plan and to collectively insist on the need for the Israelis to negotiate final status issues with the Palestinians, Jarrar says Palestine is still counting on Arab states to support their cause.
The Palestinian leadership plans to hold meetings with the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation to forge a unified position to reject the deal.
In addition to seeking a UN resolution that condemns the plan and reiterates international law, Palestine will request a Human Rights Council Resolution, and is considering bringing new cases to the International Criminal Court and ICJ.