Hundreds Create Human Chain in South Africa’s Cape Town to Support Palestinians

CAPE TOWN, Xinhua: Hundreds of people formed a human chain in Cape Town, South Africa’s legislative capital, on Saturday to protest Israel’s actions in Palestine on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The rally, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and supported by pro-Palestinian organizations and political parties, also expressed support for people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and other regions facing crises.

Near the iconic Nelson Mandela glasses sculpture in Cape Town’s Sea Point area, activists called for the release of Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti — widely regarded as Palestine’s Mandela — along with those still held in Israeli prisons, many without charge.

Participants in the human chain also lifted a 2,000-square-meter quilt in the colors of the Palestinian flag, with each square representing and honoring Palestinians killed during the Gaza conflict.

Organizers urged the South African government to enact the Apartheid Bill, officially titled the Implementation of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid Bill, 2025.

According to a statement released ahead of the rally, the landmark legislation currently before Parliament would give South African courts extraterritorial jurisdiction to prosecute apartheid crimes committed anywhere in the world.

The rally also called for comprehensive boycott, divestment, and sanctions measures against Israel, along with a halt to coal and arms exports to the country and the closure of its embassy in South Africa.