Cape Town, South Africa - 13 January 2024: Thousands of people descended on the Sea Point Promenade in Cape Town for a global protest in solidarity with Palestinians to call for a ceasefire. The protests come two says after South Africa made submissions to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to bring genocide charges against Israel.

Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman from the humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers said the conflict did not start on 7 October 2023 but was rather a continuation of something that started in 1948. Gift of the Givers is South Africa’s largest humanitarian aid organisation and has been instrumental in providing aid to the people in Gaza for years.

Anti-Apartheid cleric and activist Dr Allan Boesak called for the support of the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. He stated that South Africa’s struggle against apartheid would have taken much longer if it were not for the support of the global community and boycotts against Apartheid South Africa.

Large scale protests across South Africa have taken place since 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel and the Israeli government responded with retaliatory attacks which have caused large scale displacement of the Palestinians and which South Africa has described as genocidal in nature.