Ramaphosa uses African liberation summit to attack Israel

President Cyril Ramaphosa has drawn sharp criticism after using the 2025 Liberation Movements Summit, hosted by the African National Congress (ANC) last weekend, to launch an attack on Israel, accusing it of genocide and starvation in Gaza.

Ramaphosa omitted any reference to Hamas; the massacre of Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023; or the remaining hostages held in Gaza while speaking at the Kempton Park summit from 25 to 28 July, which brought together representatives of six former liberation movements across southern Africa.

He condemned what he called the “deliberate starvation of the people of Gaza”, describing Israel’s actions as “crimes against humanity” and “genocide committed by the apartheid state of Israel”. He urged the international community to act immediately to “stop the killing of children and babies through starvation”, and demanded that Israel freely allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

Ramaphosa’s remarks were made during a high-level session of the four-day summit, themed “Defending the liberation gains, advancing integrated socio-economic development, strengthening solidarity for a better Africa,” which took place at the Radisson Blu Hotel near OR Tambo International Airport. He dedicated a portion of his remarks to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while the summit’s stated objectives focused on reinforcing regional solidarity; defending liberation gains; addressing contemporary African challenges; and charting pathways for regional co-operation.

The president has been criticised for using the platform to promote a one-sided, inflammatory narrative.

Wendy Kahn, the national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, said Ramaphosa’s language was “full of slogans and empty catch phrases which belong in a heated protest march by hysterical activists. It’s unbecoming of a president of a country struggling to get international credibility.

“Instead of peddling this misguided and empty rhetoric in front of a room of liberation movements living off past glory, they should be channelling their energy into peace brokering. Slogans don’t save lives, facilitating dialogue is what brings the end of the conflict closer,” Kahn said.

The summit was dubbed by the ANC as a “critical gathering” to reaffirm the ideological foundations of the six southern African liberation movements: the ANC; Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA); South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO); Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO); Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF); and the Party of the Revolution (CCM) in Tanzania. It intended to affirm their “historical role in securing independence, dignity, and development across the region”, and sought to reassert the relevance of these movements in a rapidly shifting global order.

Sara Gon, a fellow at the Institute of Race Relations, placed the summit in broader historical and political context. “Almost the entire gathering was made up of former liberation movements that were sponsored by China and the Soviet Union in their heyday. Both were represented, even though United Russia is just Vladimir Putin’s vehicle for pretending to legitimise his relentless rule.

“Both countries were – and remain – undemocratic and autocratic,” Gon said. “However, China and the defunct Soviet Union were the sponsors of the liberation movements during the Cold War. The former liberation movements in attendance have largely imposed ruinous policies on the countries they once governed or govern with decreasing popularity, or seek the destruction of Israel, or both.”

She pointed out that attendees included The National Liberation Front (FLN) from Algeria, which waged one of the most violent civil wars in the 20th century; Fatah; the Sandinistas from Nicaragua; the Pan Africanist Congress; and ZANU-PF.

In her view, “In the 21st century most of the liberation movements are irrelevant. They have become political parties that have failed or are failing their populations; enact policies which hamper economic growth; and hold back their people’s development. These entities are anachronistic and irrelevant. They don’t meet the needs of people living in the 21st century.”

Gon said that the summit served as “the ideal opportunity to rail against Israel and accuse it of deliberate starvation. Attacking Israel is the one cause that gives Cyril Ramaphosa any status, and is guaranteed to annoy America. The whole gathering could have been a creation of Monty Python, but its continued existence isn’t a joke. It’s largely sad and, in some instances, tragic.”

While Ramaphosa’s broader remarks covered a range of critical issues, including African development; economic sovereignty; and resisting neocolonialism, his Gaza commentary stood out for its tone and intensity. Other leaders present at the summit expressed general support for liberation causes and anti-imperial solidarity. The summit communiqué reiterated broad support for self-determination, including for the people of Palestine and Western Sahara, but inflammatory language was reserved for Ramaphosa’s podium.

The other delegation with a direct connection to the Palestinian cause was Fatah.

Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub attended on behalf of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, joining summit proceedings in Johannesburg before continuing to Durban for further engagements with ANC officials. Rajoub’s public remarks focused on the urgent need for Palestinian unity.

“Unity is the only way to convince those who hesitate, or those who oppose our right to self-determination, to recognise the very existence of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian state.” Rajoub said during a visit to the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal offices following the summit.

Rajoub also held a bilateral meeting with Ramaphosa. His statements pointed to intra-Palestinian reconciliation efforts and diplomatic strategy.

Despite the ANC’s longstanding alignment with pro-Palestinian causes, the summit’s purpose was to prioritise pressing continental issues and “advance frameworks for inter-party collaboration; regional integration; youth engagement; and sovereign resource governance”. Though Ramaphosa did address several of these topics, his stab at Israel eclipsed more urgent regional matters and the everyday struggles faced by citizens in these countries, his critics said.