Support South Africa’s Call for an End to Genocide Against the Palestinian People

By Arley Salimbi Gill

On December 29, 2023, the government of the Republic of South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hear its case—charging the state of Israel with genocidal acts against the Palestinian people. The ICJ began hearing the case this week.

The government and people of Grenada will be on the right side of history by joining regional governments and the international community in supporting South Africa’s petition and by calling for an immediate end to the war on the Palestine people.

Grenada has always been at the forefront—fighting for justice and freedom for oppressed people across the world. In his 1979 speech to the United Nations General Assembly— former prime minister Maurice Bishop stated: “We express our firmest support for and solidarity with the struggles of the people of Palestine.’’

Drawing inspiration from this decades-long commitment to supporting the Palestinian people—I call on the Dickon Mitchell administration to issue a statement of solidarity with the government of South Africa and offer a show of support for the people of Palestine in their struggle for justice, equality and human rights.

As we celebrate our 50^th anniversary as an independent nation, we must never forget the occasions on which we have called and received support from international allies. This is a moment in history for us to join the international community and declare— that genocide will not happen—again—under our watch.

The survival of the Palestinian people is at risk and their survival is up to each of us. We can choose to be bystanders to genocide or choose to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. I am convinced that the actions taken by the government of South Africa— in support of the Palestinian people—were guided by the soul and spirit of their fearless son-of-the-soil, Nelson Mandela, who was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation.

We, too, should let our actions and commitment on this matter be guided by the actions of our heroes who paved the way for the Grenada we have today.

I call on the government of Grenada to act swiftly in expressing Grenada’s unequivocal and unambiguous support of South Africa’s case against the Israeli government and to strongly affirm Grenada’s support for the Palestinian people.