S. Africa's ruling party endorses Israel boycott

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel on Thursday.

Adopted a series of resolutions blasting the Jewish state at its 53rd National Conference, the ANC adopted policies urging South Africans to support any Palestinian campaigns that "pressure Israel to end its violations of international law, respect Palestinian human rights and engage in fair negotiations for a just peace."

Another resolution affirmed that “The ANC is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel.”

The ANC also strongly condemned the Israeli "state-sponsored xenophobic attacks and deportation" of African migrants. The resolution cites comments from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and MK Miri Regev as examples to Israeli racism.

In August, the South African cabinet approved a plan to require special labels on products coming from the settlements so that they do not read "Made in Israel."

The government's approval came some three months after the plan was first made public, and despite a flood of protest from South African Jews and other pro-Israel supporters in the country.

The cabinet issued a statement saying it "approved that a notice in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 be issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry requiring the labeling of goods or products emanating from IOTs (Israel Occupied Territories) to prevent consumers being led to believe that such goods come from Israel. This is in line with South Africa’s stance that recognizes the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognize occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel." JPost