South African Parliament Votes to Close Its Israeli Embassy in Solidarity Move
Through a majority decision made on Tuesday, South African lawmakers voted for the closure of its Israeli embassy by a vote of 248 in favor and 91 against. The vote came after a meeting was held between President Cyril Ramaphosa and other world leaders who all accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
This is not the first time that South Africa held a supportive stance towards Palestine as back in 2017, South Africa’s governing ANC party downgraded diplomatic relations with Israel. Then in 2018, South Africa took another step in showcasing its support for Palestine by withdrawing their ambassador from Israel.
Along with these actions, South Africa also joined in with world countries to make a bigger stance. Just last week, South Africa and several other countries made an official submission to the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel for its war crimes. An even bigger step was how South Africa also called for a warrant of arrest against Israel’s President Benjamin Netanyahu.
As seen by these actions, South Africa is among many countries that have been taking diplomatic steps towards holding Israel accountable for its actions and its continuous abuse of the human rights of Palestinians. Such avid support of Palestine represents the true nature of South Africa as a country that understands injustice due to facing a multi-year apartheid. In the past, during the apartheid, the nation of South Africa gained support from the international community including Palestine that is why today, they are paying forward what was done in the past.
