Johannesburg - South Africans demonstrated in solidarity with
Palestinians on Tuesday, a day after 60 were killed protesting the US
embassy's move to Jerusalem, with anti-apartheid icon Archbishop
Desmond Tutu declaring himself "brokenhearted."
The response in South Africa to the killings has been visceral, with
the country withdrawing its ambassador to Israel on Monday and the
ruling African National Congress (ANC) condemning Israel as an
"apartheid regime."
"I am deeply distressed and brokenhearted by the massacre perpetrated
by the State of Israel in Gaza yesterday," Tutu, a stalwart of South
Africa's fight against racial inequality, said in a statement.
In Cape Town, home to much of South Africa's Muslim community, dozens
marched to parliament. Several senior ANC officials were among the
protesters.
READ: AU condemns Israel's 'disproportionate use of force' in Gaza
"The African National Congress ... once a target of a Nazi-like
Apartheid regime, will never tolerate any system that treats and
regards other human beings as insignificant," the party said in a
statement.
"We would like to express to the Palestinian people that their
suffering will not be in vain, and our freedom and liberation will
never be complete until they are free," it added.
Sixty Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during mass protests
along the border on Monday. The demonstrations were fuelled by a
controversial decision by US President Donald Trump to move the US
Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.