THE Palestinian ambassador to Zimbabwe Tammer Almassri has slammed the international community over its silence regarding the atrocities being perpetrated on Palestinians by the Israeli apartheid regime.
By Darlington Gatsi and Nyasha Rimbi
Speaking at the Nakba day commemorations organised by the Shoulder to Shoulder with Palestine board and held in Harare on Thursday, Almassri said the plight of the Palestinian people calls for unity of purpose among states in the international system.
Nakba Day is observed on 15 May every year and commemorates the displacement of Palestinians when the Israeli state was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Nakba is the Arabic word for “catastrophe” or “disaster” and the occasion remembers the 700 000 Palestinians forced to flee as a result of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria among other countries.
“The international community is not doing anything tangible to support Palestinians’ cause for freedom. Israel enjoys the backing of the world’s super powers and for that reason, they are not openly condemned for their treatment of Palestinians,” said Almassri.
He added that the African society should be commended for expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine and believes that the continued support will go a long way in helping Palestine’s quest for independence.
A number of African countries have called for the withdrawal of Israel’s accreditation as an observer to the African Union which it was granted in July last year by the chair of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat who accepted unilaterally Israel’s accreditation to the bloc, triggering protests by a number of member states.
Speaking at the same event, Shoulder to Shoulder with Palestine board director of communications Tendai Makaripe said the creation of the state of Israel triggered a perpetual crisis in the land of Palestine.
“The hypocrisy of western imperial powers should be condemned in the strongest sense because the deliberate turning of a blind eye to the gross human rights violations, blatant disregard for provisions of the UN charter among other international law provisions is a cause for concern,” said Makaripe.
“The United States and other western powers roundly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but the Israeli apartheid system has neither been slapped with sanctions nor openly castigated by the same powers,” he added.
