Cape Town — The African National Congress (ANC) held an interfaith prayer service at the Regina Mundi Church in solidarity with the Palestine Civilians on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel which resulted in the death of more than 1 000 people. Since that day, Israel has launched a barrage of attacks on Hamas, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, attacking schools, and orphanages and killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians.
South Africa has been a staunch supporter of Palestine and was the first country to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a bid to halt Israel’s genocide against Palestine.
According to EWN, more than 42 000 Palestinian civilians have died at the hands of Israeli attacks since the 7th of October, and many people joined forces to highlight the devastating humanitarian violations.
ANC’s Gauteng chairperson, Panyaza Lesufi, has criticised Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the way he has handled the war in Gaza and accused him of being above the law.
Lesufi said he has been playing “God” and stressed that no leader should reach beyond the reach of international law.
“We can’t watch when the weak and the vulnerable are denied their basic right to life because someone thinks he can play ‘God’ and decide who must live and decide who must die, we are saying stop it now,” said Lesufi.
The ANC Deputy Secretary General, Cde Nomvula Mokonyane leads the Candlelight Vigil and Interfaith Prayer in solidarity with the people of Palestine as part of commemorating the innocent lives lost in Gaza.
We continue to pledge our unwavering support to the people of… pic.twitter.com/bEWDFMuMDJ
— African National Congress (@MYANC) October 6, 2024
Newzroom Afrika reported that the ANC will continue supporting the people of Palestine and the party’s deputy secretary-general, Nomvula Mokonyane, explained why the ANC held the prayer service.
“We converged here to recommit ourselves and take this struggle for the plight of the people of Palestine to a higher level. Today we saw the prayer that was an interfaith prayer, we saw different organisations come together, and we saw our young energetic minister to update South Africans as to where we are,” she said.
“Through prayer, let us seek intercession but through our role in the international space, let us intensify our action and support the decision of the South African government as we proceed with the court case,” she added.
Mokonyane explained that Israel did not retaliate to Hamas’ attacks and it did not start on the 7th of October.
“It was something that was deliberately done to allow Israel to intensify those genocidal attacks,” she said.
She condemned that Israel will continue to attack Palestine along with the support of those who back Israel’s attacks but the ANC continues to show support to Palestine and thanks those who have shown support to Palestine.
The ANC has held an interfaith prayer service, in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Tomorrow marks a year since Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on southern Israel – killing over 1,000 people. Over 200 hostages were also taken.
The incident led to a military… pic.twitter.com/qCRf1Fo759
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 6, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
