Cape Town - A solemn gathering took place outside St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Clergy and religious leaders from various faith groups, artists and activists, were among the crowd gathered for a vigil in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to call for an end to the occupation and lifting of the blockade on Gaza.
The church’s dean, Father Michael Weeder put out the call to action requesting members of the public “bring a poster, flowers, and a commitment for justice for all”.
Father Michael Weeder, Dean of St George’s Cathedral said: “We are witnessing the very expeditious unfolding of a humanitarian crisis and if you look at Gaza itself, it is a war on Gaza in the name of attacking forces of resistance that are in Palestine. But for us, if you look at the geographical area that is 40km long, populated by 2.3 million Palestinians, when the bombs come down upon them, where do they go? Where do they run to? Where do they find shelter when they have been living for 17-18 years in an open prison?”
With about 70% refugees, the densely-populated Gaza Strip remains under a land, air, and sea blockade by Israel and Egypt since June 2007.
Israel announced a complete blockade this week as it halted fuel, food, and electricity supply as a response to attacks by Hamas since Saturday.
Weeder called for people to fill the church steps, which has often been a protest site, every Wednesday at 1pm “for as long as the unbridled attack on Gaza continues”.
Last month, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s provincial standing committee declared Israel an apartheid state. The unopposed resolution endorsed a decision by the national executive committee of the SA Council of Churches to declare Israel an apartheid state.
Addressing attendees inside the church, Bishop of Table Bay Joshua Louw said: “When I hear my fellow bishop in Jerusalem asking me to pray for the people of Palestine, when I hear the stories of the people of Palestine, then I cannot do otherwise but to be in solidarity with them. I receive many messages asking how can a bishop take sides? I think the answer is clear. We are on the side of justice and we are on the side of peace.”
A protest by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and the SA BDS Coalition, was held at the Samson Centre, Hatfield Street, Gardens, soon after.
Mercia Andrews, a member of the PSC and SA BDS Coalition member, said: “They (Israel) are violating, as they usually do, all international laws.”
PSC member, Abeedah Adams, said: “It is important to call out the double standards of the international community, because they are giving that right to the Ukrainian people to defend themselves but the Palestinian people are not given the same right.”
Adams said the South African government should charge South Africans serving in the Israeli Defence Force. An SA BDS Coalition “Day of Action” demonstration was also held outside the US consulate in Joburg and on the Berea Tollgate Bridge in Durban.
Amnesty International said without addressing the root causes of the violence, “including impunity for war crimes by all sides and Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on Palestinians, civilians will continue to pay the price”.
