Cape Town - A Pro-Palestinian protester, holding a placard along the route of the Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, says she was assaulted by one of the runners.
Since last week’s attacks, an estimated 1 million Gazans have been displaced, according to the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees, as aid groups said the situation in the besieged enclave is “catastrophic”.
Communicare CEO Anthea Houston was admitted to hospital on Sunday for a head injury.
Her sister Lorna Houston said: “Anthea builds affordable housing and we just wanted to support the Palestinians whose homes are being bombed.
“On Sunday, we went to support the cause of the Palestinian people, the cause where there is so much brutality and violence that is taking place, and then to have one of the runners at the Salt River Circle, where so many of the runners were also supportive, shouting: ‘Free Palestine’ and some of them had T-shirts that read ‘Free Palestine’ and had flags … It was such a joyful morning to see that support.
“And then you always find people that take things too far. This man hit her twice, he was very purposeful, because if you run and then accidentally knock someone, that is one thing but he hit her with both his arms on the chest, and she fell, and hit her head on the ground.
“The police didn’t arrest the man, they gave me an explanation I didn’t understand and they said it was going to end up being a she-said, he-said situation. He continued on his way, people tried to stop him but he ran off.”
Lorna added that Houston was rushed to hospital.
“We don’t know the extent of the injuries; she’s had a CT scan and it indicated injuries but the doctor will inform us.”
Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith said: “It’s good that the person was identified and the law must take its course and he must be charged and prosecuted.”
Meanwhile, in Cape Town Jewish Community Centre a Pro-Israel gathering with more than 1 000 supporters took place.
SA Zionist Federation Cape Council chairperson David Cohen said: “We got together to show our support for Israel after what can only be described as the most tragic and murderous day in the history of the Jews since the Holocaust. Hence there was a need and a real desire from the community, not just Jews, but people in Cape Town, to be able to come together and feel the support around them so they don’t feel alone.
“I think our government would be surprised that the average South African is not anti-Israel, they just want to get on with their lives and have no idea about this situation, they have a lot more pressing issues than this.”
Cohen said most of the people murdered by the Islamic resistance movement were not conscripted.
“I don’t think what happened over the last week is something that needed to be argued about or thrown into the deeper grey area, who’s right and who’s wrong, Palestinians or Israelis. There was murder, a massacre and beheading of children.
“How can we sit and talk about democratic values when we have apologists for what can only be described as genocide of Israelis because they are Jews or because they live in Israel. Most people who were killed were not in the army.”