By Nurah Tape – The Palestine Chronicle  

“I do feel that Palestine is having our South African anti-apartheid moment.”

Palestinian-American political activist Linda Sarsour has said that the rhetorical shifts from the US administration indicate that the protest movement against Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza is on the right track.

“To see the administration engaging in rhetoric that seems to be appeasing some elements of our movement is very important because that tells us that we are on the right track,“ Sarsour told the Palestine Chronicle on the sidelines of the Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine held in Johannesburg, South Africa from May 10 – 12.

“So now we need the actions to match the words,” she added.

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Sarsour stressed that “It has never been in history where the United States has held weapons deals from Israel or has held shipments of weapons or talking about conditioning aid to Israel or even saying things like we think that Israel might have violated human rights of or violated international law in Gaza.”

“These are not things that we have ever heard from our administrations before. So this rhetoric is not natural. It’s not something that the administration is doing on its own,” she added.

Student Protests

Sarsour said the government was “responding” to the student encampments.

“They are responding to the mass mobilization. They are responding to Americans across the country who are demanding a ceasefire and demanding an end to the siege on Gaza,” she explained, adding that “our job is to continue from here to see everything as small, small wins until we get to our vision which is the free Palestinian people.”

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Asked about the sentiment shared at the conference that Palestine was at its ‘South Africa moment,’ she said “I do feel that Palestine is having our South African anti-apartheid moment.”

“This is a moment for global solidarity with the Palestinian people. We have watched 143 nations vote for Palestine to be included as a member state in the United Nations.”

Divestment Demands

Sarsour highlighted the “mass mobilizations across the world, particularly in Europe and in the United States.”

She said “We have watched students rise up in solidarity demanding divestment from the state of Israel and that is incredible because we are watching a similar trajectory that we saw happen when South African apartheid ended.

Sarsour also felt that “We are seeing people being more unapologetic about standing with the Palestinian people because we know now more than ever that we are on the right side of history.”

This is Palestine's Anti-apartheid Moment

Linda Sarsour speaks to The Palestine Chronicle pic.twitter.com/dQ71ZNrkSU

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 12, 2024

The activist said decades from now people will look back and say “We were part of the journey that helped give full liberation to the Palestinian people and we did not do it alone as Palestinians, that we could not do it alone as Palestinians, but we did it with people all across the world.”

She added, “In fact, It was led mostly by those in the global south who have said we will not stand by and watch the oppression of the Palestinian people continue.”

Attended by delegates from more than two dozen countries, the conference concluded on Sunday.

It aimed to “set the basis for the mobilization of a Global Anti-Apartheid Movement to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, and to work to dismantle” the state. #palestineafrica2024

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Nurah Tape is a South Africa-based journalist. She is an editor with The Palestine Chronicle.