UK Arab delegation commends South Africa’s High Commissioner in London

A delegation from the Arab community in the UK today met South Africa’s High Commissioner in London. The meeting with His Excellency Jeremiah Nyamane Mamabolo provided an opportunity to express the community’s gratitude to the Republic of South Africa for referring the state of Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over what is believed to be genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The delegation included the chairman of the Al-Arab in UK platform, Adnan Hmidan; Dr Anas Al-Tikriti, the CEO and founder of the Cordoba Foundation for Cultures in Dialogue; political activist Sumaya Ahmed; Firas Abu Hilal, Chief Editor of Arabi21; renowned artist Karim Dennis, aka Lowkey; and academic Zainab Kamal.

Ambassador Mamabolo thanked the delegation and reiterated South Africa’s belief that all states have an obligation to protect human rights. “We fight and stand for the good of all humanity,” he insisted, “and therefore we will reject any violation of human rights anywhere in the world.”

The democratic Republic of South Africa emerged from the crucible ruins of a dehumanising apartheid system, added the High Commissioner. “We fought against all forms of discrimination, whether based on race, religion, culture, or gender and colour. We were and still are motivated to make South Africa, Africa, and the whole world a better place to live in. The founding president of democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela, declared that South Africa will not consider herself free until the people of Palestine are free.”

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When South Africa waged a struggle and began to dismantle apartheid, he continued, its citizens were lulled into a false belief that apartheid is dead. “We now see and realise that it is emerging, rearing its head in the form of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Major human rights organisations have determined that Israel has passed the legal threshold for classification as an apartheid state, including B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Mr Mamabolo went on to point out that there seems to be a “bankruptcy” of global leadership, with countries that usually claim moral authority refusing to call out and hold Israel accountable for the “atrocities” it commits.

“We have been told repeatedly that our action of taking Israel to court is meritless and only serves as a distraction. We ask, a distraction from what? There is no serious attempt by these powers to negotiate a solution to the crisis, so their call for no action is actually an attempt to create paralysis while Israel continues its attempts to annihilate the Palestinian nation.”

Responding to Ambassador Mamabolo, Dr Al-Tikriti noted that the delegation represented communities in Britain from more than twenty countries. The position adopted by South Africa, he said, gains “exceptional significance” in light of what seems to be the paralysis in the international community in the face of the ongoing tragedy in Gaza.

“The bitter reality is that the world, which calls for humanity and dignity, stands silent, even encouraging the continuation of crimes, while innocents, children, women, elderly and sick people are killed every day in Gaza,” explained Al-Tikriti. “South Africa’s stance lights a candle of hope in the darkness of this international silence.”