Pahad slams 'apartheid wall' in Israel

Independent Online

The wall that Israel is building for security reasons is an "apartheid wall," says Essop Pahad, minister in the president's office.

He was speaking this week during the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, which is marked on November 29 but was celebrated at Unisa in Pretoria on Thursday.

Pahad said the world objected to East Germany building the Berlin Wall. That wall became a focus for dismantling what the West saw as the "horrific" nature and character of the communist state.

"I believe that on this day of solidarity, we have to call the (Israeli) wall what it is: it is an apartheid wall," Pahad said.