The relocation of U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sparked protest movement on the Gaza border by Palestinians who’ve shown their dissatisfaction since President Trump announced last year December 6, 2017, his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Heavy clamp down along the border resulted in the deaths of 55 people and 2700 injured by live rounds, tear gas and other means by Israeli Defense Forces.
In response to this indiscriminate killing of protesters, South Africa’s Foreign Ministry has taken the decision to recall its ambassador to Israel.
The foreign ministry issued a statement explaining that decision ”Because of the grave and indiscriminate nature of the latest Israeli attack, the South African government has decided to recall Ambassador Sisa Ngombane with immediate effect”.
The diplomatic row is a fallout of the violence emerging from the highly controversial move by the United States to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Turkey in solidarity with the Palestinians joined South Africa in recalling its own envoy to Israel because of the U.S. decision. Though the move has been criticized by other Western allies, twelve African countries sent representatives to witness the opening event of an American embassy in disputed Jerusalem.
In December of last year, a UN General Assembly rejected the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by a large majority, prompting President Trump to lash out on Twitter.
Hoping to establish a state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinians are seeking East Jerusalem as their capital. Meanwhile, Israel claims all of the city, together with the eastern section captured in 1967 during the Middle East war. The annexation has not been internationally recognized.
Many countries of the international community see the status of Jerusalem as being sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. They consider its status to determine in peace settlement talks. Relocating their embassies at this time jeopardizes any negotiation for peace.
Neba Benson,
BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst
5 comments
STUPID AFRICANS ARE ONLY CONCERN WITH ISSUES HAPPENNING OUTSIDE THEIR CNTINENT, HOWEVER THE MOST PRESSING ON WITHIN THE CONTINENT LIKE THE OUTRAGEOUS THINGS TAKING PLACE IN SOUTHERN CAMEROON.
DEAL WITH YOUR OWN PROBLEM IN YOUR CONTINENT MAN!!!!
You Africans care about other people’s problem ignoring yours forgetting that these people are arabs anyway who will discriminate against you when things are going well with them
Please let us be careful how we criticize. South Africa is not Nigeria (Buhari). Our pain is real, but we must act with restrain else by our own actions we will end up antagonizing everyone.
But my dear brother Tah Mekong, how can anyone let this go and not be befuddled? There is the ongoing slaughtering of precious human beings in Southern Cameroon by own government that preaches peace and unity in a one and indivisible nation, to the utter silence of African nations particularly those (Nigeria and South Africa) we look up to for leadership.
Shouldn’t the proverbial ‘charity begins at home’ hold true? Are Palestinians lives more precious than Southern Cameroonians?
A few years back, I recall, France invited selected African leaders to Paris for a summit on security and how to effectively contain the threat by Boko Haram. And guess what? Buhari and other lackeys of France jumped in a plane and headed to champ d’elysee for the meet. Let me repeat; A meeting about security in the sub Saharan region of Africa, took place and was presided by Paris, France in the continent of Europe and NOT in Africa. Not long after that, Obama invited African Heads of State to DC for a meet where he handed them peanuts as development aid to counter Chinese encroachment on the continent. Like a herd of cows they each and collectively prostrated in gratitude for the chance to wine and dine at the White House.
When the affable Thomas Sankara of blessed memory preached and practiced a policy centered on Africa and Africans (emphasizing production of goods in Africa, transforming them in Africa, consuming them in Africa and shunning World Bank and IMF loan sharks) his pleas fell on deaf ears at the Adis- Ababa OAU summits. Instead his own African brothers (Blaise Compaoré and Houphouet Boigny) sold him out to be murdered and dismembered like a goat.
It may sound as if I am going out on a deep end, but for the world, and particularly African leadership of South Africa to turn a blind eye to the human carnage in Southern Cameroon and be focused instead on Palestinians, is in my view unfortunate and unforgivable. No matter if South Africa is involved in behind the scenes diplomatic persuasion with Yaoundé, this slaughtering of our people merits a loud and clarion call to STOP, as a matter of priority. It merits South Africa calling for an urgent meet of the AU.
Tah Mukong, I AM TRULY DISAPPOINTED with the leadership of South Africa…….. and Nigeria. There is nothing like alienating them when precious and priceless human life is and continue to be at stake.
Ahhh brother Mbueh please bare with me as I can say I equally share you pain and frustration. Infact, when I watched the video of our brother being brutalized by these low life’s from LRC to say I almost went into a shock will be an understatement. But then I realized that it is situations like this that can make one to become irrational. Hence, I had to contain my anger so as to do what is necessary to be of greater help to our suffering people back home. Although life is not easy out here in the west, we owe it to our people to work hard to fund the resistance. This is our responsibility and we should take it seriously. Whatever the other Africans are thinking about our plight should not distract us from the fact that we have to remain strong and steadfast; for nothing good in this life comes easy.