EFF leader Julius Malema has compared Hamas to struggle icon and former president Nelson Mandela.
Malema was speaking to hundreds of supporters in solidarity with the Palestinian people being killed by Israel in Gaza during a picket outside the Israeli embassy in Tshwane on Monday, 23 October.
The war escalated when Hamas bombed Israel on 7 October.
"When you are oppressed, you have no choice but to fight, and that's what Hamas is doing. They are fighting for their freedom. Mandela did the same thing. He took up arms and fought for the freedom of the South African people," he said.
He mentioned other icons of the struggle such as Oliver Tambo, Steve Biko, Chis Hani and Winnie Mandela, saying they were labelled terrorists, just like Hamas, but now they are seen as heroes. Malema said that Israel is killing the children and women in this war.
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"When people are sick, children are there and pregnant women are there, you bomb the hospital and say you are looking for Hamas, but you are killing innocent children,” he said.
Malema said that the Middle Eastern country is stealing the land of its neighbours.
"They have taken the Palestinians' land and every year they expand their occupation. If you look at the map, there's nothing left of Palestine," he said.
He said that when they get into power, they will provide arms to Hamas.
In the 1960s, at the height of apartheid, Mandela led the formation of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) as the armed wing of ANC.
The deputy ambassador of Palestine, Bassam Elhussiny, welcomed the protest and told supporters of EFF that more would be taken up in his home country.
He said some 160 000 homes were destroyed. The march was attended by leaders of political parties such as Al Jama-ah and African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance (Areta).
Areta leader and former spokesman for MK, Carl Niehaus, called on the ANC to kick out the Israeli ambassador and stop doing business with them.
He accused the ruling party of being hypocritical for marching to the embassy last week while still doing business with them.
