Johannesburg – 14 November 2025
South African activist and social worker Nigel Branken has provided a detailed first-hand account of what he describes as a covert, organised and deeply troubling operation to forcibly move Palestinians out of Gaza under the guise of humanitarian evacuation — an operation he alleges is facilitated through the dubious Al-Majd Organization, which is suspected to function as a front for the Israeli government.
Speaking from OR Tambo International Airport after spending hours inside the aircraft with Palestinian families who were prevented from disembarking, Branken gave one of the clearest eyewitness accounts yet of what he calls an unfolding humanitarian and legal crisis on South African soil.
“We have heard instructions from everybody in government… These people are going to be let in and allowed to apply for asylum. But this Border Management Agency is some counter-revolutionary force… How can we not allow people who are coming from a genocide to apply for asylum?”
Branken described quiet arrivals facilitated by Al-Majd, which he says has been transporting Palestinians, whose passports were intentionally left unstamped, leaving them without valid entry documentation, before dispersing them across Johannesburg’s suburbs in what he characterises as an intentional strategy of displacement.
“The first plane arrived… 27 families, 176 people. They booked them across hotels in Johannesburg — Braamfontein, Yeoville, the inner city. They just want to displace Palestinians.”
He recounted visiting some of these families over the past three weeks and witnessing severe malnutrition, especially among children.
Lift Airlines Accused of Participating in “Ethnic Cleansing Transfers”
Branken claims that the commercial carrier Lift Airlines was involved in both flights transporting Palestinians to South Africa — flights he says bypassed standard immigration processes.
“Lift Airlines was involved with the first flight and the second flight. They were involved in ethnic cleansing Palestinians from Gaza… Those people came without documentation, their passports were not stamped out of Israel. They were taken through the border intentionally to not have passport stamps.”
He expressed outrage that this technicality — a lack of exit stamps, which he says was intentionally engineered — is now being used to deny refugees entry.
“We have refugee law. Refugee law demands that people should be able to apply for asylum whether they have documents or not.”
Inside Yesterday’s Aircraft: Babies, No Toilets, No Food, No Ventilation
Branken spent hours onboard the grounded aircraft today and described shocking conditions:
No toilets
No ventilation
No food for the entire day
Babies and young children trapped on the tarmac
“Imagine the airline leaving people on the tarmac for a whole day with little kids — babies on the plane — and there’s no air conditioning. No toilets. They took them off to use the bathroom and then put them straight back on.”
The first food the passengers received was from civil-society groups this evening — not the airline.
“The people on the plane… that was the first food they got today.”
Civil Society Steps In Where Government Stalled
Branken praised the extraordinary mobilisation of South African Muslim organisations and allied groups.
“I have never seen support like this… Muslim people have given generously, provided accommodation, medical teams, dental operations for the children.”
He highlighted the involvement of:
Gift of the Givers
Caring Women’s Forum
Legal teams
Political and diplomatic advocates
He said these groups are fighting at every level to compel the South African state to honour asylum rights.
A Co-ordinated Global Operation?
Branken said Al-Majd’s role is part of a larger international pattern:
“If you go to the media now, you’ll see 16 planes Israel has sent out to the world trying to ethnically cleanse everybody who has any wealth… Doctors, psychologists, teachers — all displaced.”
He insists that what is unfolding is not a rescue mission, but a strategic dispersal of Palestinians stripped of documentation, agency, and rights.
Legal Teams Mobilised
Lawyers representing the refugees are now attempting to force entry into the asylum system. Diplomatic teams are simultaneously pressuring government ministries to intervene.
“We have lawyers working on it… diplomatic and political teams contacting everybody at high levels of government.”
For now, families remain in limbo — some on the plane, others waiting in hotels where they were previously placed, and others already relocated to countries like Malaysia and Australia.
What Happens Next?
Civil-society groups have vowed to continue pushing until every Palestinian is granted asylum safely and legally.
