As ordinary citizens of South Africa we have observed with utter disdain the continued atrocities against the people of Palestine. We would like to condemn with the strongest of terms the gruesome violation of human rights that are meted against Palestine people.

We have therefore come to the difficult conclusion that we should petition the South African Government under the leadership of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to:-

1)Expel the Israel Ambassador to South Africa and to end diplomatic ties until Palestine is free.
2) Impose relevant sanctions on Israel and urge other African countries to do the same in solidarity.

This conclusion has been propelled by the fact that as South African citizens we have suffered from a similar apartheid system and therefore refuse to fold our arms when our brothers and sisters who stood on our side are now similar victims of this policy of discrimination. In 14 years of air, sea and land blockade, hitherto 15 000 Palestinians (including innocent children) have been killed in these atrocities which marks a human calamity that the world cannot continue to ignore.

The last straw on the camel's back is the bombardment of a building which houses a plethora of media associations which include the Aljazeera offices in Gaza. This is an evil act of terrorism, an attack on international media freedom and violation of international law. We therefore call on other citizens of the world to do the same in their countries forthwith until Palestine is free.

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