Global South should support UN aid agency in Palestine after rich countries withdraw funding: Pandor

Global South countries should try to provide humanitarian support to the UN Relief and Works Agency in Palestine after several rich countries this week suspended their funding of the agency, international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday.

The US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and Finland paused funding to the aid agency, which is the main lifeline for millions of Palestinian refugees, amid Israeli government allegations that about a dozen of the agency’s staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel.

Pandor said South Africa should try to secure humanitarian support to assist the relief agency.

“We should be speaking to the Gulf States, we should speak to the other African countries that have the ability to contribute. We should look to our own resources, we should support the agency to provide humanitarian aid. We can’t leave things as they are and whatever we are able to provide, we should make it available.

“I think there should be a massive drive to say to those powerful countries that have stopped funding even though those accused workers have been suspended and investigations are underway, again you have collective punishment. We need to object to that, but we also should look at working with the world to secure funding from the south to assist this entity,” Pandor said.

Pandor backed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s warning of a “superpower backlash” for taking Israel to court.

In his closing remarks to the ANC NEC lekgotla this week, Ramaphosa said this fightback was likely to manifest in the run-up to the national and provincial elections this year.

“I think the president was in a realistic manner alerting the ANC leadership and the alliance that there will be this kind of mischief. We have seen it occur elsewhere. He said it may even straddle our own national processes in the country, so we need to be alert,” said Pandor.

She said all sorts of negative action against the people of Palestine should be expected after the International Court of Justice ruling in favour of South Africa’s application for provisional measures in its case against Israel.

“There will be different interventions which seek to undermine (the court ruling) hence our conviction that genocide is underway. And whatever means to achieve it are available to Israel which, we shouldn’t forget is an occupying power with a duty to protect those that it has occupied.

“This genocide totally contradicts the role and responsibility of an occupier,” she said.

Pandor dismissed allegations South Africa was getting funding from Iran to pursue its case against Israel.

“There is no funding from Iran, it’s merely an allegation and we expect more allegations to come our way.

“I know from the WhatsApps I get and what is said about me, the onslaught can be very fierce. I have been called an Isis member, I’m a Hamas adherent, I hide under the cupboard, Iran is my master and all sorts of rubbish, and as I have said before, insults are the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

She revealed she has spoken to police minister Bheki Cele because she was concerned about her safety.

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