Update on the picket at parliament at noon today (28th July): First an apology for those who came after 1pm as we decided the leave early due to harrassment by the police (minor but we decided not to defy them, after all, we managed a 1 hour picket at parliament without permission :) ) but more importantly to proceed to the Caledon Square police station, where, it took a hard battle to get the police to open up a case against a SA citizen who is currently in Israel with the IDF. We succeeded. The case number (an inquiry at this stage) is 5/7/2014 and there is now a full investigation into the activities of Dean Goodson, who we know is in IDF and in Israel, right now. He is being investigated for contravening the 1998 Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, on the grounds of 1. not having permission from the SA govt to operate in a foreign military, and 2. assisting drectly or indirectly with human rights violations in Gaza, namely with the targeting of civilians. Contraventions lead to a fine and or imprisonment. We are going to campaign for a life sentence (or multiple, consecutive life sentences). We were sent from Central to the Legal Dept of the Provincial police command who sent us back to the Central. What was so shocking is the way the white cops from the old aparthied era are still running the show and who were actually protecting the perpetrator. What we can say is that the old apartheid apparatus is still alive and kicking (Thanks Joe Slovo and the Sunset clauses!). Eventually one of the heads of the Legal dept of the police assisted us and instructed the Central police station to take a statement and begin the investigation. When we got back to the Central police station, we were kepy waiting for another hour and then, after we kicked up a fuss, they eventually took our statement. We will post up the wording we used when opening up our case, so that anyone in SA, who has the name of a SA citizen who is in the IDF, can open up a case. We spoke to the Muslim lawyers Association who has agreed to work with us, and anyone who has similarly opened a such case, to make sure it goes forward. Tomorrow, at the picket line, we are expecting more names and will again follow the process. We will publish the names and we encourage everyone to publicize these names, especially in Israel, West Bank and Gaza, so the word goes out that no longer can Israel act with impunity. This is our small gift to the Palestinian cause, on this day. We also received good news that the zionazis postponed their rally on the past Sunday, which in itself is a victory for the struggle against fascism. The zionazis are planning to have their rally this coming sunday and we should similarly mobilise buses and the masses in numbers to show them that on this soil, fascism will not pass. Please share widely as we prepare for a daily /vigil/picket on the parade, from Tuesday, until the genocidal attacks are ended. [bring old shoes, bring candles, bring your poster, lets build the momentum until the Israeli ambassador is expelled and our other demands are met] We are motivated by the love of humanity. That is why we act. Even if our numbers are small, Every fire begins with a spark.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 20:26:24 +0000
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