The South African BDS Coalition has called for Constitution Hill to boycott the two-day conference planned for Wednesday and Thursday at the former prison complex.
Ivor Chipkin, director of African Global Dialogue, convened the conference titled “Narrative Conditions Towards Peace in the Middle East” at Constitution Hill.
According to Roshan Dadoo, the coordinator at BDS Movement, the conference is an attempt to down-play the current situation affecting the people of Palestine.
Speaking on Tuesday in Newtown, Johannesburg, Dadoo labelled the conference an “attempt at genocide-erasure” and called for a boycott of the conference.
“We called this conference today in order for us to be able to put our narrative across and explain in more detail why we are protesting the fact that we think the Africa Dialogue’s Conference should not be allowed to go ahead in South Africa at this time. The conference is clearly an attempt to white-wash the crime of genocide. There was no mention of genocide in the conference information,” she said.
She said the conference was being held under the guise of promoting so-called “dialogue” in South Africa without the inclusion of those being oppressed and killed by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.
“This conference is aimed at demonising the right of Palestinians to resist 76 years of settler colonialism, occupation, ethnic cleansing and genocide. It talks about peace. It talks about justice when there are no Palestinians invited. So basically, they are having a conference talking about the so-called peace and pro-ceasefire objectives without the colonised being present at the table. It is clear this was an attempt to white-wash genocide,” she added.
The BDS Coalition has called out Chipkin for attempting to discredit South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in March.
“In January, immediately after South Africa’s opening statement to the ICJ was published, Chipkin made public statements attempting to discredit the South African legal team, questioning the fact that Israel was committing genocide (which the court subsequently ruled as ‘plausible’) and argued that the Palestinian people had no right to resist occupation.
“It is without a doubt not just genocide washing, it is not just Israeli apologists, it is spitting on the struggle of Palestinian people, on real progressive Israelis like Ilan Pappe who are not trying to defend their government.
“African Global Dialogue has attempted to lend credibility to the conference by listing a number of people as speakers, participants and invitees, most of whom have no intention of attending, disagree with the aims of the conference or have no knowledge at all of the event.”
The stand-off between the BDS Coalition and African Global Dialogue comes just as South Africa will be filing its memorial to the ICJ next month.
According to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office, South Africa intends to provide facts and evidence to prove that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in Palestine.
“This case will continue until the court makes a finding. While the case is in progress, we hope that Israel will abide by the court’s provisional orders issued to date.
“The case represents a growing global effort towards ensuring peace in the Middle East. Several countries, namely, Nicaragua, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia have all joined the South African case against Israel,” said Vincent Magwenya.
In a statement ahead of the conference, CEO of Constitution Hill Trust, Mbali Baduza, said the institution has no direct involvement with the conference.
“The Constitution Hill Trust – also operating as WE THE PEOPLE – is an independent organisation that promotes knowledge and understanding of human rights and the South African Constitution.
“Following numerous inquiries, we would like to make it clear that the Constitution Hill Trust has no involvement in the conference entitled ‘Narrative Conditions Towards Peace in the Middle East’ being organised by the African Global Dialogue. It has not been discussed by the Trust. Venue approval is not in the mandate or powers of the Trust,“ she said.
The Star