Message of solidarity on behalf of the Republic of South Africa on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 2025.

 

 The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 

South Africa extends its appreciation to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for convening today's meeting. South Africa welcomes the international community’s efforts to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, signalling overwhelming global support for the inalienable right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. We join other Member States of the United Nations in commemoration of this important occasion, which is a reminder every year that much more needs to be done to free the people of Palestine from the bondage of occupation, statelessness, and displacement. We recall that in 1977, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, which traditionally provides an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people have yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced. On this occasion, it is important to reflect on the continued injustice and suffering of the Palestinian people. Since 1948, the Israel has illegally expanded its territories, through military expansion, demolition and confiscation of Palestinian homes, schools, properties, and infrastructure in a systematic way and violating international human rights and humanitarian law. Sadly, the policy of territorial expansion, has resulted in mass displacement, ethnic uprooting, and the death of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, including women and children. They have been denied their legitimate right to their own homes, turning them into refugees in their own land. 2 For many decades, Israel has continued its policy of building settlements in the Palestinian occupied territory in clear violation of international law. These illegal settlements are built on confiscated or stolen Palestinian land and contributes to forced displacement, severely limiting Palestinian access to basic resources including land, water and religious sites. The world had previously shuddered at the atrocities and human rights abuses committed by the Apartheid government in South Africa. For Palestinians, settler expansion and Apartheid has witnessed an amplification of the dehumanisation and gross human rights violations, defiling the dignity of every Palestinian. Israel's enlargement policy in the West Bank, particularly in Area C, focused on expanding settlements, constructing new settlement units, and promoting Israeli control over the region, must be rejected by the international community as a violation of international law. This policy enhanced settlement expansion and construction approval processes, leading to a significant increase in new settlement units. In 2025, 50,000 settlement units are on track to be approved, four times the previous record. In response to this unbridled expansion, it must be recalled that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued an Advisory Opinion stating that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, is unlawful and concluded that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is a clear violation of international law, and that Israel should end its occupation and withdraw its forces from the territories. The international community, including the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, should take firm action to compel Israel to comply with the Courts decision and bring an end to Israel's unlawful presence in the occupied territories. The continuation of the Israeli occupation and its persistence with settlement activities, arrests and detention of civilians, extrajudicial killings of youth and children, home demolitions, repeated attacks by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian people and their properties, and provocations and incitement against holy places go against the principles that all of us have signed up to as members of the United Nations. As UN member states, we should not condone the continued violation of the Charter by a fellow-member state. Failure to act against these violations has only emboldened Israel and has led to further violations. Similarly, it must be underscored that as the occupation continues, the Israeli authorities replace Palestinian streets with Jewish names with the

South Africa condemns in the strongest terms these Apartheid-like practices and inhuman acts committed by Israel for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination and systematically oppressing Palestinians. 3 South Africa holds the view that the selective application of international law undermines the effectiveness of collective responses to global security threats. Israel must be held legally and politically accountable for the structural violence and suffering its occupation inflicts on Palestinians. There must be accountability for all the atrocities, the ongoing genocide, violation of human rights and war crimes committed against the Palestinian people. South Africa, and several other member states have thus opted to resort to international judicial mechanisms including at the ICJ and the International Criminal Court to seek justice for the people of Palestine. South Africa also supports the comprehensive, independent and prompt fact-finding investigation that the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for, following the recent shocking killing of humanitarian and aid workers. Perpetrators must be prosecuted irrespective of who they are, and the international community must act to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure accountability. South Africa would like to emphasise that as the international community, we have a responsibility to work tirelessly towards supporting and calling for the immediate and unconditional end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Our collective human duty to act cannot be avoided. South Africa continues to believe that peace in the Middle East remains contingent on resolving the question of Palestine. Our failure to find a lasting solution to the plight of the people of Palestine and ensure their selfdetermination, security, and freedom, remains an enduring threat to the international community’s core objective of achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East and delivering Palestinian statehood. Finally, we welcome the historic international consensus that reflects the collective solidarity with the Palestinian people and reinforces the recognition of their legitimate rights. 

Thank you.