South Africa’s deputy foreign minister said that no other country has flouted international law as much as Israel. At a reception for Arab ambassadors in Pretoria held on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Six -Day War, Aziz Pahad said that since the war Israel has “been able to defy the international community with impunity,” according to the Cape Times. “The situation 40 years on is still bad,” Pahad said. “Israeli violence against Palestine is continuing. The Israeli authorities continue to arrest and imprison Palestinian ministers and legislators.” The ruling African National Congress in a statement also expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian people, saying that South Africans needed to “join hands and act in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they struggle for the realization of their basic human rights.” A coalition of pro-Palestinian organizations, including the ANC, under the banner “End the Occupation Campaign,” is planning pickets, debates and rallies countrywide this week to mark the 40th anniversary of the war. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the Palestinians’ plight and would demand a boycott of Israeli products on the part of the government and the people, according to Mohammad Groenewald, spokesman for the Palestinian Solidarity Group.
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