{"id":101129,"date":"2025-10-07T12:41:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=101129"},"modified":"2025-10-07T12:41:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:41:31","slug":"israels-genocide-in-gaza-two-years-on-south-africans-renew-calls-for-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/israels-genocide-in-gaza-two-years-on-south-africans-renew-calls-for-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Genocide in Gaza: Two Years On, South Africans Renew Calls for Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read | 07 October 2025 | 12:30 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Demonstrators protest in support of Palestinians as they march to the Cape Town City Hall, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Cape Town, South Africa November 1, 2023. REUTERS\/Nic Bothma<\/p><\/div>\n

As the world marks two years since Israel\u2019s onslaught on Gaza began on 7 October 2023, South Africans are once again amplifying their calls for justice and accountability. What began as a \u201csmall picket outside Durban City Hall,\u201d according to South African Palestine Movement (SAPM)<\/em> spokesperson Saydoonisa Sayed, has evolved into an unrelenting campaign of resistance and awareness across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the 8th of October 2023, when Gaza was bombed and the genocide began, we have been active for more than two years trying to make civil society and our own government realize what apartheid is, and how we, as a leading country, can assist the people of Palestine,\u201d Sayed told Radio Islam International.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The United Nations has now confirmed what Palestinian activists and global solidarity networks have long asserted that Israel is committing genocide. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, with entire communities displaced, starved, and denied access to basic needs.<\/p>\n

Sayed described the two-year milestone as \u201ctraumatic and painful,\u201d drawing comparisons between the current atrocities and the Rwandan genocide. \u201cIt\u2019s so traumatic to me as an activist, someone who\u2019s not part of this horrific murdering situation. We empathize and sympathize with people who don\u2019t have to be of any particular faith, this displacement and destruction have taken us out of our comfort zone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The South African Palestine Movement continues to organize weekly pickets across the country and to participate in global solidarity actions. Last week, they held a protest at Durban Harbor in heavy rain to condemn Israel\u2019s interception of the Global Samud Flotilla<\/em> – an international convoy attempting to break the siege on Gaza. \u201cWe had one solidarity boat in the harbor amplifying our voice as we stood in the rain,\u201d Sayed added.<\/p>\n

She also raised concerns about South Africa\u2019s complicity in exporting coal through Durban and Richards Bay to Israel, which she said \u201cfuels the genocide.\u201d Despite this, she praised the growing unity among South African organisations. \u201cSome good things have come out of the bad, our solidarity organisations have come together to address many challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the two-year mark is commemorated, SAPM calls for intensified boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. \u201cOrdinary people have come out and said enough is enough,\u201d Sayed affirmed. \u201cWe hope, insha\u2019Allah, that this genocide will end soon and that we won\u2019t have to add another year to our banner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and South African Palestine Movement<\/em> spokesperson Saydoonisa Sayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 07 October 2025 | 12:30 CAT As the world marks two years since Israel\u2019s onslaught on Gaza began on 7 October 2023, South Africans are once again amplifying their calls for justice and accountability. What began as a \u201csmall picket outside Durban City Hall,\u201d according to South African […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":101130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995,4998,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa","category-ummah","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-years-since-October-7.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qj7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 20:50:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}