On November 21, 2023, our elected representatives in the Parliament of South Africa voted by 248 to 91 (73% in favour), to suspend diplomatic ties with Israel and shut their embassy in Pretoria. On December 29, 2023, almost 20 months ago, the government of South Africa brought a case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Since then the genocidal actions of the Israeli regime have become more obvious and brutal. Most shocking is the slaughter by Israeli forces of tens of thousands of children. For the last months, Israel has imposed extreme hunger on the approximately two million residents of Gaza.

Hundreds are starving to death as we write this and Israeli bullets and bombs continue to kill dozens more every day. Despite all of this, our government is still maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel and hosting an embassy and staff who have full diplomatic privileges.

It is now far beyond time for the Executive arm of the government of South Africa to act on the decision of Parliament and cut all diplomatic ties with Israel.

The embassy must be closed and Israeli diplomats expelled. It is hard to comprehend how having correctly accused Israel of genocide, our government continues to maintain relations with that genocidal regime.It is worth noting a few of the other atrocities committed by Israel over the last 22 months. Israel has killed more United Nations workers in Gaza than have been killed in any other conflict in the history of the organisation.

More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both ‘world’ wars including five on August 10 in a tent inside Al-Shifa Medical complex. The war crimes committed by Israel include destroying hospitals, clinics, schools and universities. Health workers have been killed including doctors, nurses, and RedCross/Crescent workers who in almost all previous conflicts have been allowed safe passage to provide life-saving support to injured people from all sides.

While imposing hunger on Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has also allowed in article of aid that has lured hungry Palestinians into shooting allies where hundreds have been murdered while simply trying to get food in order to stay alive. In the last week over 5,500 people have signed a petition calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperations, Ronald Lamola to “shut down the embassy of genocidal Israel”.

This is not a radical demand, but it is a call for an obvious action that should be taken and that is entirely within the control of the government to take. The Executive arm of government needs to take seriously the decisions of the democratically elected Parliament. Much more should also be done, such as charging South African citizens and permanent residents who have served in the Israeli Defence Forces as this goes against international laws our democratic state have signed and ratified.

Additionally, there is an urgent need to stop the sale of coal from South Africa to Israel. Coal that is directly helping fuel the genocide. Private companies should be de-registered in our country if their actions cause harm. But our focus here is on the importance of cutting state to state diplomatic ties.

Maintaining diplomatic relations exposes the hypocrisy of the South African government in taking Israel to court but still associating with them. As citizens ofSouth Africa, we are ashamed that our government continues to host representatives of the Israeli regime in South Africa. We know how important the isolation of the apartheid regime in South Africa was in helping finally bring about democracy in 1994.

Israel has, through its indescribably brutal actions against Palestinians, made itself a pariah state and it must be treated as such.

Shutting the embassy will be an important symbolic action, it will show the government of South Africa to be living its values, and it will also make it that bit harder for supporters of Israel in South Africa to maintain economic and other links.

There can be no more business as usual and no normal relations with a state that is committing genocide, multiple war crimes, slaughtering children(deliberately with bombs and targeted sniper fire), bombing neighbouring countries, raping and abusing thousands of Palestinian political hostages who are held with no charges, and enforcing a racist system of apartheid (as determined by the ICJ) in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

* Zukiswa Wanner is author of the Palestinian long-form essay ‘Vignettes of a People in an Apartheid State’.
Marc Wegerif is an academic at the University of Pretoria and member of Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Both are South African citizens.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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