Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa President in his speech to the 79th United Nations General Assembly has said the continued attack of Palestine by Israel is genocidal and has likened the attack to the apartheid that lasted for decades in South Africa and called on other countries to join his country in filing a case against Israel.
“The Security Council has not fulfilled its mandate to maintain international peace and security. The UN Security Council must be reformed as a matter of urgency.”
“We South Africans know what apartheid looks like. We lived through apartheid. We suffered and died under apartheid. We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others.
“Through the United Nations and the instruments it wields, we must end the suffering that Palestinians are being subjected to.”
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He added international law cannot be applied “selectively”, saying no one state is “more equal than any other”.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recalled the end of apartheid and the UN’s support to “turn the tide against apartheid” during his opening remarks.
“Genocide was declared to be a stain on the conscience of the world, and the world community took a stand against genocide. Apartheid was declared a crime against humanity and a stain on the conscience of the world,” he said.
He recalled how the UN took a stance against apartheid in South Africa and how same should be done against the ‘genocidal attack’ on Palestinians.
“The United Nations took a stand against apartheid; these were seen as crimes against humanity then, and they continue to be crimes against humanity now. It has been 11 months since the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and where hostages were taken. As South Africa, we have condemned this attack,” Ramaphosa said, but noted Israel undertook an act of “collective punishment” on Palestinians in response.
South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel was filed as a state party to the Genocide Convention, President Ramaphosa says.
“We welcome the support that a number of countries have given to the case that we launched at the ICJ. The ICJ’s orders make it clear that there is a plausible cause of genocide against the people of Gaza,”.
“They further make it clear that states must also act to prevent genocide by Israel and to ensure that they are not themselves party to the violation of the Genocide Convention by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide,” he said.
“Famine and disease stalk the streets of Gaza. This cannot but shock our collective humanity. The violence the Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of more than half a century of apartheid that has been perpetrated against Palestinians by Israel.
Ramaphosa also joined other world leaders who are calling for to the immediate ceasefire to the war, release of hostages by Israel and establishment of a Palestinian state.
“We reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all hostages. The only lasting solution is the establishment of a Palestinian state, a state that will exist side by side with Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
President Ramaphosa says Israel’s “torment” of Gaza continues “unabated” as more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Further more, Ramaphosa highlighted how the UN Security hasn’t been inclusive as no African country is yet to be part of the Security council. Despite it population, Africa isn’t represented in that arm of the United Nations.
“Seventy-eight years since its formation, the structure of the United Nations Security Council remains largely unchanged. Africa and its 1.4 billion people remain excluded from its key decision-making structures. This cannot continue,” he said.
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