South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, endorsed the
boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel on
Thursday.
Adopting a series of resolutions blasting the Jewish state at
its 53rd National Conference, the ANC urged South Africans to support any
Palestinian campaigns that “pressure Israel to end its violations of
international law, respect Palestinian human rights and engage in fair
negotiations for a just peace.”
Another resolution affirmed that “The ANC
is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for
self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the
victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel.”
The ANC also
strongly condemned the Israeli “state-sponsored xenophobic attacks and
deportation” of African migrants. The resolution cites comments from Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and MK Miri Regev as
examples of Israeli racism.
In August, the South African cabinet approved
a plan to require special labels on products coming from the settlements so that
they do not read “Made in Israel.”
The government’s approval came some
three months after the plan was first made public, and despite a flood of
protest from South African Jews and other pro-Israel supporters in the
country.
The cabinet issued a statement saying it “approved that a notice
in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 be issued by the Minister of Trade
and Industry requiring the labeling of goods or products emanating from IOTs
(Israel Occupied Territories) to prevent consumers being led to believe that
such goods come from Israel. This is in line with South Africa’s stance that
recognizes the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not
recognize occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the State
of Israel.”
Herb Keinon contributed to this report.