The Israeli occupation of Palestine was high on the agenda when the Foreign Affairs/International Relations Ministers of Brazil Russia India China and South Africa (BRICS) met in Pretoria on Monday ahead of the 10th BRICS Summit to be hosted by South Africa in July.
Criticizing Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there the BRICS ministers reiterated their position that the status of Jerusalem was an issue to be settled in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
The ministers also reiterated their support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) praising the vital role it plays in providing health education and other basic services to over 5 million Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as Jordan Lebanon and Syria. In January the Trump administration announced it was cutting more than half of its funding to UNRWA – a move that could prove catastrophic for Palestinian refugees.
The comments of the BRICS ministers are significant since – collectively – these five major emerging national economies represent over 3.6 billion people or about 41% of the world’s population. Russia and China both hold permanent veto power at the United Nations Security Council.
South Africa is chairing BRICS in 2018 and in March Naledi Pandor South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education called on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to place the Israeli occupation of Palestine on the BRICS agenda.
Pandor suggested at the time that in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s reckless support of Israel’s occupation there was now “a need to identify powerful members of the global community who may give greater impetus to progress in finding a two-state solution perhaps the BRICS countries should be called on to assume such global leadership.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi seemingly affirmed Pandor’s position on Monday when he said: “The world is facing unprecedented changes and there is an expectation for BRICS to play a bigger role.”
His remarks suggest that BRICS may broaden its focus beyond trade investment and development financing and work towards developing common political positions on many of the pressing issues confronting the world today – including the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Source: Afro-Palestine Newswire Service
