- South Africa has announced a programme of cooperation with Palestine to share scientific knowledge, technology and innovations.
- It will be focused on the rebuilding and development of Palestinian research and innovation capacity and infrastructure.
- South Africa launched a case at the International Court of Justice in January, alleging that Israel is committing systemic genocide in palestine.
South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation has announced a new cooperation programme between the country and worn-torn Palestine, that will see the two share in science, technology and innovation.
“The programme will also have a special focus support for safeguarding, rebuilding, and developing Palestine’s research and innovation capacities and infrastructure,” explained South African science minister Blade Nzimande on Tuesday.
South Africa has alleged that Israel is committing a systemic genocide on the people of Palestine and launched a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice earlier this year.
According to Nzimande, the programme to build scientific and technological cooperation between the countries was established after a series of collaborations between Palestine and South Africa.
The collaboration includes a joint research project, seed funding for developing “South African-Palestinian knowledge networks,” the hosting of Palestinian scholars and students in South Africa during exchange programmes and the sharing of policy regarding science and system development.
“This new programme will be implemented by our entity the NRF [National Research Foundation] and will be funded from the department’s existing budget for international cooperation,” Nzimande told members of parliament.
The department of science has a budget of just over R10 billion for the 2024/2025 financial year, where a small portion will be dedicated to this international cooperation mission.
Palestine continues to bear the brent of Israel’s war on Gaza, where as of 17th July over 40 000 people have been killed, majority being Palestinians. The war has also seen the Israeli military allegedly commit war crimes on the population of Palestine and recent reports allege that the country is forcing Palestinians to live in 20 percent of Gaza, the now-ruined capital city.
The conflict escalated in October last year when Hamas militants invaded Israel and started killing Israeli civilians indiscriminately, leading to a larger Israeli invasion of Palestinian territory. The international community has condemned Israel for its incomparable usage of force against Palestinians.
In March, the South African government stated that it was on the verge of a “larger collaboration for science diplomacy” with the Czech Republic, a member of NATO and at the time an outspoken supporter of Israel.
[Source – SA News]
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