HTML clipboard
Press Release
South African Delegation Concludes Visit to the Gaza Strip in Preparation for the World Conference Against Racism
Ref:39/2001
Date: 29 July 2001
A delegation from the South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) has concluded a visit to the Gaza Strip in preparation for the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR), to be held in Durban, South Africa. The visit included meetings with PCHR, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), other civil society leaders, and trips to refugee camps in Khan Yunis and Rafah.
The delegation was composed of SANGOCO President Mercia Andrews and Major Kobese, SANGOCO Project Officer for the WCAR NGO Forum. SANGOCO is responsible for coordinating the forum of non-governmental organisations at the conference, where human rights violations and racial discrimination in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are scheduled to be discussed.
After meetings in the West Bank and Israel, the delegation arrived in the Gaza strip on Thursday night and met with PCHR Director Raji Sourani, as well as the following members of the PLC: Ziad Abu Amro, Head of the Political Committee, Ibrahim Abu El-Naja, Deputy Speaker, and Dr. Heydar Abdul-Shafi, Commissioner of the Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights. Dr. Eyad Sarraj, Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, also attended. During these discussions, participants noted the striking similarities between the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the discriminatory policies of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
On Friday, the delegation visited Khan Yunis and Rafah refugee camps in the south of the Gaza strip. They met with Palestinian civilians who have been direct victims of the Israeli occupation, including the owners of homes demolished by Israeli occupation forces near Al-Tuffah roadblock, as well as Palestinians living near illegal Jewish settlements. The members of the delegation also met in Gaza with Abed El Kreem Aashour, Deputy Director of the Agricultural Development Association, (PARC).
