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Israeli Apartheid Week connects Gaza with South Africans, Palestinians in exile

Israeli Apartheid Week connects Gaza with South Africans, Palestinians in exile
Everything in Gaza testifies to its deep-rooted culture of resistance against a ruthless system that continues to besiege, murder, and expel the Palestinian people who, instead of lamenting their endless losses, refuse but to find life in its fullest sense.

As Israel’s F-16 aircrafts dropped its bombs on whoever it deemed a “terrorist,” including a twelve-year-old boy, Palestinians still went to work, schools, universities, and even wedding parades were still to be seen in the streets.

Gaza’s Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) also went ahead, and on its first day, the first-ever musical collaboration between Palestine and post-Apartheid South Africa was launched. “The New Black” is the name of the eight-minute video clip, a name that accurately depicts the oppressive reality of the Palestinian people.

Mohammed Omar, a Palestinian oud player based in Gaza, and the South African band The Mavrix coordinated their efforts, despite siege and distance, to produce this powerful account that identifies the struggle of the Palestinians with that of the South African apartheid regime until it was torn down in 1994.

“We salute every Gazan and every Palestinian; we will remain committed for the liberation of Palestine,” said Siphiwe Thusi, a former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist.  About the video clip, he said, “We wanted to make sure the issue of Palestine becomes a daily basis in our people’s lives. We will take up your struggle to the government, to the media, until Palestine is liberated.”

Thusi spoke to us from Soweto, the South African township and heart of the South African intifada against the oppressive white supremacist regime in 1976. Although the Skype connection with Soweto was somewhat difficult due to Gaza’s fragile Internet network and sudden power cuts, Thusi’s talk ended with a standing ovation from over fifty IAW participants.

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