South Africa: “Israel” Must Be Declared Apartheid 

By Staff, Agencies 

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor called on Tuesday for classifying the Zionist entity as an apartheid state and that the United Nations General Assembly should establish a committee to verify whether it satisfied its requirements. 

“The Palestinian narrative evokes experiences of South Africa's own history of racial segregation and oppression,” she added. 

Pandor’s comments were made at the second meeting of the Palestinian Heads of Mission in Africa, held in Pretoria, one of South Africa's capital cities. 

The first Palestinian embassy in South Africa opened in 1995. A statement on the South African government website echoes Pandor's statement: “Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, South Africa has always been an ally of Palestine and has constantly highlighted the struggles of the Palestinian people, supported them on international platforms, and offered material assistance within its capacity.”

Pandor was the first representative of the government to denounce the killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May during an “Israeli” raid in the West Bank. She further compared the violent disruption at Abu Akleh's funeral procession by “Israeli” police to the brutality of the South African apartheid military. 

Pandor’s statement of “Israeli” apartheid comes in the aftermath of three human rights reports earlier this year which charged that “Israel” should be considered a regime that committed the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people.