SACP opposes granting of observer status to Israel in African Union

6 August 2021

The South African Communist Party (SACP) strongly opposes and condemns the decision by the African Union Commission Chairperson (AU), Moussa Faki, granting an observer status to the apartheid state of Israel at the AU.

On 22 July 2021, the AU Chairperson received credentials from the ambassador of Israel and granted the Israeli regime an observer without consultation of the AU member states and in complete disregard of the Constitutive Act of the AU. The SACP calls upon the AU to investigate this and take action.

The SACP supports the stance taken by the South African government, communicated on 29 July 2021, against the Chairperson’s decision. The government correctly noted that the unjust actions committed by Israel offend the letter and spirit of the Charter of the African Union.

The people of Palestine still languish under the murderous apartheid state of Israel. This is something that the African people cannot tolerate, particularly noting their history of subjugation under colonial rule.

Israel is a colonialist force and, in perpetrating and propagating its colonial rule, employs the policy of apartheid which was branded by the United Nations as a crime against humanity.

The people of Palestine, therefore, would never anticipate that the African continent could ever become a safe harbour for the murderous regime. Apartheid Israel has tortured and incarcerated hundreds of children in its jails, in addition to many women and men. This is but a tip of the iceberg when the sum of its crimes is considered.

On 3 March 2021, the International Criminal Court communicated that it was conducting investigations regarding the situation in Palestine, on war crimes committed since 13 June 2014. Israel, fully aware of its crimes, opposed the investigation, stating that it would not co-operate with any such investigation.

The SACP reiterates its solidarity with the people of Palestine in their gallant fight for their right to self-determination, including the right of return for all those who were forced out of their land. The SACP calls upon the African people to unite in the fight against Israeli apartheid and stand in solidarity with the fighting people of Palestine.

In uniting the African people against imperialist occupation, the SACP will deepen its work to strengthen the African Left Networking Forum (ALNEF). The fight against imperialism, including the oppression of people beyond the African continent, will not be possible without a united revolutionary front against imperialism.

Statement issued by the SACP, 6 August 2021