The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] notes the passing of the former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, otherwise known as the "Butcher of Beirut". We congratulate the South African government for not sending any high profile delegation to his funeral and not releasing any official message as some other Western and Imperialist countries have.

We further condemn attempts by South African Zionists and Israeli supporters that are, in celebrating Ariel Sharon’s legacy, essentially honouring and celebrating a war criminal, a murderer who used chemical weapons obtained from the USA against Palestinians.

We, together with other peace-loving peoples of the world choose to rather solemnly commemorate and stand in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinians and others that have been murdered and displaced by Sharon’s war actions and settlement enterprise.

 

The YCLSA stands in solidarity with the thousands of victims of Sharon’s war crimes and policies. In this vein, the YCLSA Moses Kotane branch in Soweto, together with the Palestinian solidarity organisation "Boycott Divestments and Sanctions South Africa" (BDS South Africa) will hold a memorial service in honour of the victims of Ariel Sharon.

 

DATE: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
TIME: 18h30
VENUE: Vilakazi and Makhetha Street, Soweto, Johannesburg

CONTACT: 0711154619 (YCL SA), 0785563392 (YCL SA), 0849843078 (BDS South Africa), 0842119988 (BDS South Africa)

 

 

The memorial service in solidarity with Sharon’s victims will be held at the same time as the Israeli Embassy, South African Zionist Federation and Chief Rabbi will be shamefully holding a service to “honour” Sharon, the war criminal. In a statement, these pro-Israeli organisations refer to Sharon as a “brave and courageous soldier, brilliant leader and true son of Israel”.

It doesn’t surprise us that South African defenders and supporters of Israeli human rights abuses speak with pride of Sharon as a genuine leader of the apartheid state. His record of human rights abuses and war crimes is long and fits the profile of an Israeli leader perfectly. All Israeli leaders, but Sharon in particular, have the blood of innocent people on their hands. Right until his last days in office Sharon refused to repent for his crimes, in fact, Sharon was central even in his final days of offices, in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise.

Sharon’s death comes as the world continues to mourn comrade Nelson Mandela and remember his greatness as a revolutionary, militant and statesman. There can be no greater contrast between the legacies of Cde Mandela and Sharon. The former Israeli prime minister is remembered for his slaughter of Palestinian civilians and aggressive colonial and apartheid policies. Our Mandela is remembered for his support of the Palestinian people and all other peoples of the world struggling against oppression, including, what Nelson Mandela termed “Israeli colonialism” (https://ymlp.com/zWwflb).

We join the call for all peace loving peoples to reject any attempt by apartheid Israel supporters in South Africa to honour war crimes and war criminals such as Sharon and instead join us in standing in solidarity with the victims of his brutality. We stand in solidarity with the victims of the holocaust; we do not honour the Nazis that perpetrated those crimes. We stand in solidarity with the victims of Apartheid; we do not honour the Apartheid leaders who perpetrated those crimes. Likewise we stand in solidarity with the victims of Israeli oppression, occupation and violence; we do not honour those Israeli leaders that perpetrated these crimes.

Issued by the YCLSA Head Office