No freedom for South Africans while Palestinians suffer

Jacob W

We seen widespread protests across South Africa in light of the recent violence and escalation in the Middle East.

In Cape Town and Johannesburg, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian supporters took to the streets to make their voices heard – to stand in solidarity in the wake of the bombardment of the Gaza strip by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) following an attack by Hamas militants.

Before I begin, I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the families on both sides who have lost loved ones in the conflict, and who are suffering.

Israel released a statement declaring that it had dropped more than 6 000 bombs on the densely populated Gaza strip – more bombs in six days than the US-led coalition of 2017.

Gaza is home to some two million Palestinians, many of whom are children – the median age in Gaza is 18, with 65% of the population under the age of 24.

Gaza has been under siege for more than 15 years, but in 1948, Palestine experienced what is known as Al Nakba (the catastrophe) which saw more than 750 000 of its people forcefully displaced.

Avi Shlaim, a British-Israeli historian, details the massacre of Palestinian people, and the destruction of their villages by Israeli extremists during the 1948 Nakba, in the documentary, ‘Tantura’. Tantura (Village) is one of 23 massacres.

I am deeply disturbed by the lack of honest coverage by Western media outlets on the situation in Gaza. Western media characterises Palestinians as “Hamas terrorists” in an attempt to dehumanise them, and to justify Israel’s revenge on innocent civilians.

Worse, the phrase “human shield”' is repeatedly used by pundits to redirect blame (from Israel), and to absolve the IDF from war crimes.

Why should we, the public, accept the US-UK narrative when the same individuals tried to convince us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)?

To this day, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest WMDs ever existed in Iraq, and more than a million Iraqis were killed following the US invasion. The WMD narrative was used as leverage by the US for a planned invasion. The dehumanising process always comes before an ethnic cleansing, and the 75 years of Israeli colonialism has contributed to the violence we see today.

In the Western Cape, a handful of independent analysts are jumping on the bandwagon too, spewing anti-Muslim drivel on social platforms – withholding information about the geopolitical situation.

A known South African journalist residing in Surrey in the UK referred to the Palestinian Embassy in Pretoria as a “Hamas Embassy”.

But this kind of incendiary rhetoric should come as no surprise. In February of 2022, Amnesty International criticised the state of Israel (in a report) for implementing a system of colonial oppression against the Palestianians comparable to apartheid.

It is my experience that the Western Cape is a haven for apartheid sympathisers, and colonial sympathisers – thankfully, a few have moved abroad.

See more citations below from various organisations who have aligned themselves with Amnesty International.

“In a 2007 report, UN Special Rapporteur to Palestine John Dugard wrote: "Elements of the Israeli occupation constitute forms of colonialism and of apartheid, which are contrary to international law.”

“In 2020 – 2021, two Israeli human rights groups (Yesh Din, and B’Tselem), and one Parisian organisation (FIDH) found that the treatment of the West Bank Palestinian population meets the definition of the crime of apartheid under International Law.”

The state of Israel was created by Britain (Balfour Declaration of 1917) when the British promised a homeland to the Zionist Jews in the land of Palestine without the consultation of the Palestinians.

It is important for the reader to understand that anti-zionism is not anti-semitism; this is a myth that must be put to rest. I reject the notion that criticism of the state of Israel is anti-semitic.

According to Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, activist and spokesperson for Neturei Karta, “Judaism is separate from Zionism because Zionism is a 150 year-old secular and nationalist ideology, whereas Judaism is over 3 000 years old.”

The Zionist movement was founded by Hungarian political activist Theodore Herzl in 1897.

“Zionism is antithetical to the teachings contained in the Torah,” Weiss went on to say.

I would like to make an appeal to the indigenous people of the Western Cape. Pay close attention to the province’s political leaders and their “friends” in light of the conflict abroad.

As South Africans, the Palestinian Struggle is one that is close to our hearts. On October 7, 2023, Western Cape DA spokesperson on international relations Emma Powell issued a statement supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, calling the aggression by Hamas as an “unprovoked” attack. No mention at all about the persecution of the Palestinian people (for 75 years), or the report by Amnesty International.

Israel has flouted international law by blocking critical medical aid, food and water from entering Gaza. Cutting electricity, and bombing the Rafah crossing – the only exit out of Gaza.

Then there is the usage of white phosphorus on innocent men, women, children and babies – and the forceful displacement of a civilian population; both are war crimes under international law.

Powell’s proclamation is not only false, and hypocritical, it spits in the face of the Palestinian people, those who have been expelled from their homeland, brutalised and occupied by a British and US-led colonial project in the Middle East. Not giving context is not only dishonest but irresponsible.

As South Africans, our Struggle has put into perspective the importance of the spirit of ubuntu, that is humanity towards others during trying times. However, the DA’s affinity for a regime accused of apartheid crimes has caused me to rethink my vote.

The DA seem to have forgotten that the native people of the Western Cape are the majority in terms of the vote.

They have demonstrated their bias, and have acted insensitively towards the indigenous peoples of the Cape.

I leave you with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Jacob W is a writer and poet residing in the Western Cape

Cape Times