APN| South Africa

May 2024

The South African Anti-Apartheid Steering Committee (SAAASC) invited APN General Manager, Mariam Al Jaajaa, to speak at the first Global Anti-Apartheid Conference for Palestine, which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from May 10 to 12, 2024, and attended by civil society representatives from 45 countries.

Al Jaajaa facilitated a special workshop to develop an action plan for the Arab world aimed at opposing apartheid in Palestine. She pointed out that "colonial indoctrination" within Western governments, media institutions, and academia extends to our own mentality, which unwittingly submits to the dominant social, economic, and political system dependent on foreign industries, aid, and financial loans, leading us to criminalize resistance and liberation. Al Jaajaa urged regional unity and solidarity, emphasizing the need for accountability and genuine participatory action, free from political paternalism.

She explained that imposing sanctions on "Israel", halting normalization, and divesting are necessary, but investments should also be directed towards building local productive sectors in the Arab world, especially in Palestine.

She praised the lawsuits filed in international courts against the occupation and Germany to expose violations and complicity and warned against relying solely on legality without serious action at all levels to stop the genocide.

Following Al Jaajaa's intervention, a fruitful discussion ensued, resulting in a recommendation to allocate a session for developing strategies and tools for collective, regional, and international action.

In the conference's closing session, Al Jaajaa presented recommendations to enhance food sovereignty in Palestine and support agriculture as a means of resistance and confrontation, in addition to cutting off energy supplies to and from the occupation.