Take action now! Urgent Appeal to Cease Coal Shipments to Israel
details
Take action now! Urgent Appeal to Cease Coal Shipments to Israel
Ports should be gateways of solidarity, not harbours for genocide. Coal shipments to Israel fuel apartheid, occupation, and genocide and we have the power to shut them down.
Demand that Alan Waller, the CEO of Richard Bay Coal Terminal in South Africa takes a stand and bans these deadly exports.
Raise your voice, send this letter, and be part of the movement to end genocide!
📢 Demand an End to South Africa’s Coal Exports to fuel Israel’s Genocide and Apartheid
✉️ Click on Send Email Button OR Copy, Paste, Send to communications@rbct.co.za – It’s That Simple!
SAMPLE LETTER
To: Alan Waller, CEO of the Richard Bay Coal Terminal. (communications@rbct.co.za)
Dear Alan Waller,
I am writing to urgently request that you prohibit the systematic transfer of coal coal to Israel on vessels departing from Richard Bay Coal Terminal, as these exports directly support its illegal occupation and the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people
As part of the systematic and repeated supply of coal, most recently, two vessels—Algoma Value (Self-Discharging Bulk Carrier, IMO 7926148) and Schinousa (Bulk Carrier, IMO 9662409) — departed RBCT last month. They are currently en route to Israel with South African coal with Estimated Time of Arrival on April 3 and April 9, respectively.
The coal transported on these vessels, akin to transfers since October 7th 2023, is used to power military facilities that enforce settler-colonial expansion and suppress Palestinian resistance. In the midst of this genocide, with over 50,000 Palestinians killed and countless others deprived of their most fundamental rights, including the right to food, water, electricity, and medical care, it is unacceptable that South African resources continue to fuel the machinery of illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.
South Africa remains one of Israel’s key coal suppliers, having exported 496.4 KT of coal since October 2023. While this accounts for only 0.3% of South Africa’s total coal exports, it represents nearly 15% of Israel’s coal imports. This systematic practice is evidenced by repeated shipments, including 170,000 tonnes that arrived at Israel’s Hadera (al-Khodeira) port as recently as February 11.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has reaffirmed that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is a violation of international law. Furthermore, the ICJ’s ruling on the South Africa v. Israel case underscores the duty of third states to prevent complicity in genocide. Continued coal exports contradict South Africa’s longstanding commitment to justice and human rights and risk implicating the country in the very crimes it has denounced on the global stage.
Therefore, I respectfully urge your office, in your capacity as CEO of the port terminal, to take immediate and concrete steps to uphold your legal and ethical obligations to prevent and not render assistance to genocide and other grave breaches of international law:
- Prohibit the departure of vessels transporting coal to Israel to ensure that South African resources do not contribute to violations of peremptory norms of international law.
- Extend the port’s obligations of abstaining from participating in the transfer of coal destined for genocide or illegal occupation by informing relevant shipping owners and operators. Operators such as Minerva Marine, Greece; Mano Marine Ltd Israel; Golden Union Shipping, Greece and Colden OCean Group, Bermuda are repeat offenders and the RBCT’s conduct of business with these owners/operators is in breach of the legal obligations set out under the ICJ judgement.
- Align port operations and trade policies with South Africa’s international obligations conducting due diligence of contracts that RBCT has signed with private coal companies in light of the ICJ judgment to ensure that the port is not aiding not profiting from fueling genocide or illegal occupation.
South Africa has long been a leader in the struggle against apartheid and colonial oppression. Its ports should serve as spaces of connection, solidarity, and justice—not as gateways for sustaining Israel’s illegal occupation and genocide. Now is the time to reaffirm this commitment by taking decisive action to sever economic ties that enable these grave crimes. I look forward to your response outlining the concrete steps that will be taken to address this urgent matter.
