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South Africa May Not Remain Disconnected from The Genocide in Gaza

Copyright: ©Anadolu Agency

Solidarity Knows No Boundaries

By Iqbal Jassat 

Words to describe the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza may have been exhausted or hopelessly inadequate to explain the enormous disaster unleashed by the most evil and inhumane regime of the modern era.

Medics and health care workers along with courageous journalists have not only been at the receiving end as victims of drone strikes, bombings and forced detentions, but along with the civilian population of Gaza they have and are enduring a living nightmare.

The testimonies they provide have shocked the world. The images viewed across the globe display more than bloodied bodies, broken limbs and grieving families. They underscore the inhumanity of an ideology that justifies starvation as a weapon of vengeance.

As onlookers witnessing the unimaginable pain and suffering of mothers and babies, as well as the old and infirm denied medical support due to hospitals having been bombed and destroyed, South Africans may feel helpless but not disconnected.

They may regret their inability to physically storm the fortified barriers which the fascist occupying regime with the collusion of despotic Arab regimes, particularly Egypt, Jordan and Syria, has encircled the entire Strip with.

But words do not need boundaries. Nor does solidarity.

We are able to not only challenge the watered-down narrative by South African Zionist hasbarists (propagandists), funders and enablers of the genocide, who project the horrific slaughter as “necessary” and “justified”, but also expose their connivance and blatant lies.

With firm clarity we are able to dismiss Israel’s wanton atrocities they would want the world to believe as being a “mere crisis”, by asserting that the genocide and weaponization of hunger is a profound moral catastrophe.

Indeed, as analysts and commentators have repeatedly warned that unless we confront and defeat Zionism, we will not be able to arrest the collapse of global conscience.

“We are witnessing what could be described as the Hiroshima of our time, an event that signifies not only the destruction of lives but the erosion of our collective conscience,” is a stark warning by Henry A. Giroux who currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department.

In the absence of swords wielded by South African civil societies and human rights activists as well as health care workers and journalists, do we not possess speech, words a conscience and pens?

“We stand at a crossroads. The violence and brutality we are witnessing today demand more than passive observation; they demand collective moral action. The tragedy unfolding in Gaza is not an isolated incident; it is part of a broader pattern of state violence and genocide,” insists Giroux.

“It is a global issue, one that transcends borders and affects us all. It is time to acknowledge the atrocities being committed and to act with the urgency that the situation demands.”

We are reminded that children of Gaza are not just casualties of a distant conflict; they are the children of humanity, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure their suffering does not continue unchecked and without accountability.

Now that the Zionist regime has left no doubt that it glorifies mass starvation and ethnic cleansing of Gaza’s entire population, the time to dismantle the machinery of death and state terrorism is now.

Let there be no dispute nor doubt about the dubious role of major western powers led by the Trump administration who continue to arm Israel and abuse global institutions such as the United Nations to protect it from accountability.

We must continue to fearlessly confront South Africa’s corporate powers – whether they are linked to political parties or not – as well as academic institutions, media platforms, sporting bodies and others who are engaged in ties with the settler colonial regime.

To be vilified for daring to speak out against Israel’s gruesome actions, must be worn as a badge of honour.

Iqbal Jassat

Executive Member

Media Review Network

Johannesburg

South Africa

 

 

 

Iqbal Jassat
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