PROTEST MARCH AGAINST THE DTI: STATEMENT BY PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP AGAINST NEW PRODUCT LABELLING REQUIREMENTS TO BE IMPOSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY ON PRODUCTS IMPORTED FROM ISRAEL, Pretoria, June 28 2012
The Inkatha Freedom Party joins this march with a clear and unambiguous message. We oppose our Government taking sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly in an atmosphere of escalating tension that threatens to boil over into violence.
The IFP supports the two-state solution. We believe that both Israel and Palestine have a right to exist as sovereign states. We advocate a negotiated settlement and are vehemently opposed to violence, regardless of its origin.
We therefore view as gravely serious the public statement by the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces on 20 May 2012, that the cause of his nation is, and I quote, "the full annihilation of Israel". We also reject the inciting statement of the Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution, that, and I quote, "The Zionist regime is a real cancerous tumour that should be cut and will be cut."
The IFP is cognisant of the heated nature of the debate even within our own country, where opposition to Israel is gathering pace and exposure.
We note that the University of KwaZulu Natal bowed to pressure to retract an invitation to the Ambassador of Israel to address students. We note Archbishop Desmond Tutu's public call for a boycott against Israel. We note that when Members of Parliament were invited to the second Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism, not one responded. We also note that Government was barely represented at the Israeli Embassy's celebration of the 64th anniversary of Israeli independence.