APA-Pretoria (South Africa) The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called on the South African government to shut down the Israel Embassy in Pretoria in protest of the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas which has claimed over 6,000 lives in two weeks.
Mente was speaking on Monday during a pro-Palestine rally at the embassy in Pretoria attended by thousands of demonstrators to protest the current “collective punishment” Israel is meting out to Palestinians of the Gaza Strip since last week when Hamas invaded southern Israel.
The Hamas raid killed 1,400 Israelis and Tel Aviv, in multiple bombings of the strip in retaliation for the deaths, has killed over 5,000 Gazans as they continue with daily airstrikes to bomb residences, churches and hospitals where the Palestinians have taken refuge.
The South African government last week called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s alleged human rights violations in Gaza.
However, this was not good enough as Mente said the protestors were demanding the closure of the embassy and for the government do more to support Palestinians.
“Not enough is being done. For instance, in South Africa, our state and our government has taken a non-alignment kind of stance,” Mente said.
She added: “We are not only here to tell the Israeli Embassy to leave our shores. We are also sending a message to our government to stop being a coward.”
EFF leader Julius Malema led the march and called on South Africans to boycott buying Israeli products in the country.
NM/jn/APA