About 10,000 anti-Israel Muslim protesters marched through central Cape Town to Parliament.
Organized by the Muslim Judicial Council, the protesters chanted pro-Palestine and anti-US and anti-Israel slogans and carried placards reading “Stop the baby killers” and ‘”Apartheid Isreal!!” (sic) at the Wednesday demonstration, according to the daily Cape Times newspaper.
Urging the South African government to sever ties with Israel because of its continued occupation of the West Bank, the protesters demanded that the government recall its ambassador to Israel, close the Israeli embassy and remove Israeli flags from government buildings. Marchers called for a “total boycott” of Israeli products.
Imam Ebrahim Gabriels criticized the government’s continued recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. In a live link-up with Muslim scholar Raeed Salah in the West Bank prior to the march, Salah thanked marchers for their support. African National Congress official Max Ozinsky told the protestors that the ruling party supported the struggle to liberate Palestine.
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