Chikane calls for end to ‘israeli’ exceptionalism, genocide

Alameen Templeton

The world must mobilise to ensure “israel’s” era of exceptionalism ends and it is forced to respect Palestinian rights and international law, World Council of Churches moderator Frank Chikane says.

He was speaking at the close of the Global Anti-apartheid Conference for Palestine that was held in Johannesburg at the weekend.

“We didn’t wake up in the morning and ask for a conference like this. We were there in 2022 and interacted with the Palestinians. We went to where people stay, to people who have lost houses which were bulldozed, those who were threatened with being evicted, those whose family members have been killed,

“We went to the people and we experienced what they are experiencing and watched and learned about their situation.

“And it is in that discussion where they said ‘nobody cares for them, the world doesn’t care for them. They have no rights. If they are detained, there is no law that applies in that situation.”

“And so they asked us to help them, South Africa is the only country that understands them. So, we said the best way is not to wait for governments. It is to mobilise a similar movement to the anti-apartheid movement against apartheid South Africa.

“In this case, you can see the key country is the United States. You can see the student protests and action that has begun. The Jewish communities in the US who say ‘not in our name’.

“So, we want to mobilise the world to take a stand, to end this colonial, apartheid system which is giving the position of privilege and exceptionalism which is totally unacceptable. You can’t commit genocide and not pay for it or not take responsibility for it,” Chikane told SABC News.

“So that is what this conference was about, as per the request of the Palestinians and we brought the world here.”

“Attendees were “really appreciative of what South Africa is doing, both Palestinians themselves and other people from other parts of the world.

“We have had the former Prime Minister of Turkiye talking about South Africa. They appreciate it, they believe South Africa is the only one who has taken a stand. But we are pleased that more and more countries are joining South Africa. At the International Court of Justice, we have more and more countries eager to join. Egypt today announced it was going to join South Africa and ‘israel’ has said it is disappointed.”

“I think the leadership of South Africa has helped other countries to take a stand. So, this conference is in addition to the ICJ action and, I must say, this is what South Africa is about, actually.

“We are reflecting what South Africans are. We stand for justice, irrespective of who is affected.

“There is no other way to deal with this matter except to mobilise the people of the world. You see, you get the veto of the United States stopping any action – even now, when “israel” said ‘we are going into Rafah’, they said ‘we are going to draw the line and we are not going to give you arms’ and ‘israel’ goes there and we don’t see any action from the United States. The UN has made up its mind and has spoken, but the United States blocks it. What we need is for the people to apply sanctions, boycotts against ‘israel’ and also make it difficult for the United States to continue applying the veto.

“The people from the United States were here at this conference, they were represented. They are going back home to mobilise in the US to make sure the US changes. We did that with South Africa and applied pressure on them until they adopted a law that actually applied sanctions against South Africa.

“It is urgent because people are dying now, genocide is happening. We can’t wait for another day.”

Asked about “israel’s” response to the ICJ ruling ordering it to take actions to protect Palestinian civilians’ lives and prevent genocide, Chikane said: “Well, their attitude is that they don’t care about the world. You see, the world, especially the western world, the main countries, have made israel to think they are exceptional – because of the holocaust and the way Europeans treated them. They then present themselves as exceptional and that they can commit the same crimes that (the Europeans) committed against them without anybody doing anything.

“They violate international laws every day and there is no action. The International Court of Justice makes a ruling and the Security Council doesn’t act. I think we need the world to actually expose this bias and attitude of western countries, which is actually very dishonest, to make sure they don’t treat different countries differently.

“If it is Ukraine, they apply sanctions immediately. They have the ICJ issue a warrant for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin; if it is ‘israel’ committing even worse atrocities, no action is taken.

“We must end this exceptionalism which is actually promoted by those who support ‘israel’

“We must stop that and we are committed to mobilising the world. That is the only way that you can do it.

“And I think ‘israel’ is beginning to lose their credibility, their cover, their legitimacy, and soon, the world will turn against them and they will be forced to turn around and make peace.”