Spokesperson for South Africa at the International Court of Justice posts antisemitic and anti-Israel statements

Chrispin Phiri is the spokesperson for current Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in South Africa. He made several antisemitic statements that call into question his suitability for his role.

Phiri was part of the delegation that presented a controversial “genocide case” against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, and he moderated a press briefing by the South African and Palestinian delegations, which included a known terrorist.

On October 7th, during the Hamas attacks and massacre of Israeli civilians, Phiri posted #FreePalestine on social media platform X, which suggests that he supports those attacks. A review of his activity on the platform reveals that he advocates for the end of the state of Israel and promotes the slogan “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” A genocidal chant developed by the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1960s.

An older post from 2019 has also emerged, in which Phiri referred to “The zionist [sic] Delusional Mentality,” and linked to a blog post that denies a Jewish connection to the land of Israel, calls modern Jews “European invaders” and “colonizers,” and dismisses the Torah as “Talmudic fairytales.”

He also published a disgraceful post attempting to explain why Hitler hated Jews.

Chrispin Phiri’s statements and actions are incompatible with the responsibilities of his position. Immediate action should be taken to remove him from his role. It is unconscionable that the South African government are employing an antisemite as their official spokesperson.

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