By Howard Sackstein
This week the South African ambassador to Israel was summoned by his hosts for a severe reprimand. Our government’s increasingly aggressive stance on Israel has caused relations between Jerusalem and Pretoria to implode.
One by one we have watched our despotic friends in the Middle East tumble from power and we watch silently as tens of thousands of Syrians die at the hands of Bashar al-Assad and that country spirals towards civil war.
At the end of August SA will attend a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, seat of one of the most oppressive theocracies of the modern era. Oil and political donations triumph over policy!
Despite our manifest indifference to human suffering, Israel features prominently in our foreign policy.
When Israel stopped a Turkish flotilla from illegally breaking the blockade on Gaza, South Africa, Nicaragua and Ecuador were the only countries, other than Turkey, to withdraw their ambassadors from Tel Aviv.
In March South Africa granted entry to renowned Hamas terrorist Abdul Aziz Umar to visit. Umar was given seven life sentences for taking part in the Café Hillel suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem, which killed seven people. Hamas denies Israel’s right to exist and calls for the expulsion of Jews from the Middle East. Ironically, Umar was dispatched to South Africa to promote Israel Apartheid Week.
On August 22, cabinet approved a plan promoted by pro-Palestinian advocates “to require traders in South Africa not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory as products of Israel”. Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies denied the move was politically motivated. But he was soon contradicted by the deputy minister of international relations, Marius Fransman, who said “economic diplomacy could be one of the most effective weapons of change in the Palestinian situation. I am glad to inform you that our government released a government notice, as a strategy to apply economic pressure on Israel”.
So sympathetic has South Africa become to the anti-Israel cause, that terrorists last month plotted a foiled attack on Israeli targets in South Africa.
When a group of South African Jewish organisations and business leaders attempted to address the poor service-delivery record of our government by training South Africans in Israel, Deputy Minister of International Relations Ebrahim Ebrahim applied pressure to scupper the trips.
Over the past 60 years Israel has been training people throughout the continent. Under the leadership of the Israeli trade union movement black South African civic leaders, trade unionists and NGOs have been trained in Israel since the 1970s. Yehuda Paz was banned by the apartheid government from entering South Africa. Today a post-apartheid government attempts to ban South Africans from travelling to Israel to meet Paz.
Last week Ebrahim informed South Africans that Pretoria discourages all South Africans from visiting Israel. He said “because of the treatment and policies of Israel towards the Palestinian people, we strongly discourage South Africans from going there”.
Probably the most scathing criticism of the deputy minister came from the chief rabbi of South Africa, Dr Warren Goldstein, who described the deputy minister as unfit to hold public office and demanded he resign. Goldstein said: “Your actions hark back to apartheid-style control of information and censorship. For the sake of peace and justice, we need more information, not less; we need more dialogue, not less; we need more connections with other societies, not less.”
Officials in Ebrahim’s own department told the City Press that Ebrahim was old and sometimes did not understand policy.
Israel has little to gain from its contributions to South Africa. In the mind of Israel, South Africa is underdeveloped, battling with corruption, spiralling unemployment, chronic under-education and crippling service delivery.
South Africans must worry that Israel may take action to restrict its technology from being used in South Africa. Many farmers in rural South Africa have moved from subsistence farming to commercial farming based entirely on Israeli know-how and technology.
South Africa’s bona fides have been further dented by the MTN-Turkcell court case in the US. Turkcell alleges that South Africa protected Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency in return for awarding a cellular licence to MTN. Assisting Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, not only destabilises the entire Middle East, but puts South Africa on a collision path.
South Africa has abandoned its desire to play any meaningful role in Middle East peace. Its failure to take any moral stand on international conflicts other than Israel/Palestine has undermined its own credibility. Its pronouncements are mere platitudes to gain domestic Muslim votes in the Western Cape and while service-delivery protests spread across the country fewer and fewer South African government officials will receive the training in Israel they desperately need.
Howard Sackstein has a degree in law and international relations, a post-graduate law degree and a masters in political advocacy and international conflict resolution. He was one of the founders of the Jewish anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and was executive director of South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission. He led the only ANC delegation to ever visit Israel and took Nelson Mandela to Brussels on behalf of the World Jewish Congress.
Lennon – You are right – I have confused the two wars in trying to analyse why the Turkish Sultan changed sides on the edge of war!
So what is your explanation for why he did so? He was definately pals with the Brits, and encouraging Jewish return from the Diaspora to Israel, before the First World War.
@Mack Nyati
What a waste of a comment? Did you just write it to see how many Thank yous you would receive in return?
Please elaborate on on this how the comments of the pro-Israel group did ourselves disfavour? You can not say a statement and not provide proof to substantiate the statement, you do know that is debate suicide.
You have not one leg to stand on, if you did you would be able to refute the statements said by many of us, however you do not. Instead you squirt out hot air and bring nothing relevant to the debate.
I double dare you to try and debate and lets see how you cope with a proper debate. unless of course you are just one of the many rabble-rousers.
I must admit a brave and sincere comment has nothing to stand on compared to a factual comment. By that statement I can only deduce that emotive comments are what get you to make up your mind.
I await for you to try and discredit anything I have written I quadruple dare you if you have the balls
@Lennon,
The Balfour declaration is a waste of paper, IF you read it you will see how vague it is. I do not think the balfour declaration back fired. You must remember that 31 years past from the signing of it until Israel was declared a state. If was really that important you would have seen a declaration sooner and the British would have never been given the mandate. More Jews would have escaped from the Nazis and and and…
However the reason why Israel is hated so much stems from jealousy pure and simple. If the activists actually cared about the well being of the Palestinians then how come you never see these activists who stand chanting death to Israel, chanting death to Syria or Lebanon or Australia? All those governments are complicit to Palestinian deaths to this day. Deaths of Palestinians that were in their country or as in the case of Australia territorial waters.
Unfortunately the jealousy has transformed into pure hatred and without a true reason. following this same logic we come to the realisation that it is pure Anti-Semetism. For the fact is if another country does the same thing as Israel does and does not get criticised the same as Israel, that can only point to those people hating Israel for different reason and that reason is because they are Jewish. For if only the Jewish officials are criticised that just strengthens my point.
@ Lyndall: The Zionist Federation was trying to secure a safe haven for world Jewry and the Holy Land seemed to be the logical choice, given the religious / cultural attachment (not sure if this is the right word). Considering Jews have pretty much been an easy target since they were scattered after the Simon bar Koba revolt, it doesn’t surprise me that they would want this.
As I’ve mentioned before, Balfour’s reasoning would’ve been to agree to this in the hopes of getting the Jewish lobby to talk the USA into entering WW1 and possibly turning the tide.
@Chopper 4
“American Chopper (season 4) – Wikipedia, – The American Chopper series consists of several main seasons and also types of episodes (specials, etc.). The purpose of this guide is to organize the episodes …”
Thanks Chopper 4 for your inputs on this blog. I will keep up with your show via the TV guide.
Lennon
You have the wrong motive – the Brits did not have the MONEY to fight a war and needed the Jews to raise it for them (in both America, and ironically, also in Germany), which the Jews would only agree to do (exactly as they had raised the money for the Napoleonic Wars) if they got a deal on Israel.
But my question was why did the Turkish Sultan change sides?
Lennon
The same International Jewish Family raised the money for Britain to fight the Napoleonic Wars, and both the First and Second World Wars, but in the last 2 the deal was the Jews would get Israel back!
If I am remembering correctly it was the Rothschilds, who themselves had escaped from the Jewish Ghetto in Germany. I read the biography a long time ago!
Lennon
Jews and Black Americans were both persecuted because they were MINORITIES not because of either religion or skin colour! Those were just the excuses given!
Because both Marxist Communism AND Democracy worship the concept of THE MAJORITY having ALL power and ‘RULE OF THE PEOPLE”
Lennon
ALL International Experts are ALWAYS wrong because they all follow the SAME formula of:
(1) This is how WE Historically became successful, so that
(2) If you copy our History you will be successful.
The formula NEVER works because:
(1) ALL of these Experts have been educated in school History which is always nationalistic jingoist myths and not reality! AND
(2) All cultures/tribes/nations are different and must find the answers that suit THEM!
@Chopper4: I’d have to disagree there. It has backfired in the sense that, while a Jewish state was established, it hadn’t been without loss of life; and it could get worse of Netanyahu decides to go ahead and order a full-scale strike against Iran (with or without consent / support from the USA). While the IDF is certainly not to messed with, Israeli civilians will be killed when Iran retaliates.
Regarding the hatred of Jews / Israel: There I won’t disagree. Having assisted with ad-hoc security at a local synagogue in 2002, I can understand why you would say this.
Hating Israel as a nation isn’t objective in any way. If I had to take a swing at anyone there, it would be the politicians and not the population – something that many seem incapable of doing because they can’t separate the two. In any case, it would be insane to suggest that the country be disbanded after all this time and I think that people should just accept that a peaceful resolution is in the best interests of everyone concerned – Israeli and Palestinian alike. The same could and should be applied every country.
Lennon
How much of the REAL problems of Iran are the President and the Ayatollah in conflict for the support of the people and the president blowing off to try to claw support back?
Lennon
Countries have different problems as well – Russia, China and India all have enough land but ALL are still peasant farming, and China and India are over-populated with only China doing anything about it, which is why China hangs onto Tibet as a firewall against starving Indians (Malthius was much better in his predictions than Marx)..
Europe also can’t farm anymore because politicians and bureaucrats have taken over in the EU , allowed over development of farmland and ripped out all the stabilising olive groves in the Mediterranean to grow tobacco, which is why all the wildfires in Spain and Greece! (ref: Any of Carol Drinkwater’s books)
“When Israel stopped a Turkish flotilla from illegally breaking the blockade on Gaza”. Totally wrong. Israel is (and was) acting illegally. That is if you take any account of international law – which rogue-state Israel, of course, does not.
One of the least standards of morality is self-criticism. I find it morally pathological that the writer of this article has nothing to say about the oppression of
Palestians in Israel. It also casts a huge shadow of doubt on the moral integrity of Rabbi Goldenstein. Even Afrikaners had the moral integrity to own up to the racial excesses of Apartheid. Here we have a self-destructive delusion which warps and distorts the humanity of those who uphold Zionism.
khayakh
There is nothing racist about the Israel/Palestine conflict – both are neither white nor black but brown Semites.
Khayakh
There was nothing racist about the Irish/Ennglih Protestant/Catholic conflict which went on for 260 years; nor about the Shia/Sunni conflict which has gone on for over 1000 year either.
EVERY conflict is NOT about race!
There was nothing racist either about the two World Wars between the British and the Germans, who were actually related and their royal families inter married..
The Jews were not the reason for either war but Hitler’s excuse to the Germans to explain their poverty – because the real reason was that the Germans had caused their own poverty with the Imperialism of the Kaiser and Bismarck.
Like now the whites are supposed to have disadvantaged the blacks by isolating them in Apartheid Homelands, and their lack of Development is STILL blamed on whites?
Does anyone know what Romney’s policies are on Israel and Syria? I think that one of the reasons that Obama’s ratings have fallen is that his Indaba after Indaba after Indaba policy on both has borne no fruit.
@Lyndall: Considering the Ottomans had a long-standing feud with Austria-Hungary going back centuries, it does seem rather odd. I must admit, my WW1 isn’t up to scratch mostly because I find the idea of trench warfare to be absolutely retarded.
@ Lyndall: Many of the problems facing different countries are, at least, partially the fault of governments. Be it ineptitude; power craving or corporate bribery; all of these influence policy and, more-often-than-not, do not benefit the population at large.
Just take a look at the current maize crisis in the US. Thanks to some nasty drought, maize is set to be in short supply. This probably wouldn’t be as bad if so much of it was not fed to cattle or used for “biofuels”. But, the major producers don’t care as long as there is a huge profit to be had and they’ve got themselves covered thanks to the placement of former employees in the FDA (see the doccie ‘Food Inc’).
Life here might have been better had the Nats decided to forego apartheid during the 50′s and bring the rest of the country into the 1st world instead of holding out.
But, you can’t un-ring the bell.
Lennon
The Afrikaner were farmers, farming was planned – to keep prices stable both for consumers and for farmers – which is what the Meat Board, Dairy Board, Wheat Board, Maize Board etc did. For example they would plan how much maize needed to be planted for the people, and how much for cattle – so there was neither under or over supply. And basic foods, like bread, had prices fixed by agreement between the farmer, bakery and state.No such dramas as Competition Board “collusion” sagas. Also basic staples were subsidised by the state.
Mbeki scrapped the lot, on the basis that “Africa” could not farm successfully, because of “unfair competition” from subsidisation in Europe and the USA.
Then he and Trevor Manuel went trotting off to Doha every year for about 9 years demanding that the rest of the world do the same so that “Africa” could farm successfully. Of course – they all ignored him!
Lennon
I have never been able to work out why the Ottoman Sultan swopped sides either!
Lennon
Now the newest excuse is “Africa” can’t farm because of “lack of infrastructure”.
Surprising isn’t it that Ghana, Zimbabwe and South Africa were all major exporters of agricultural products in the bad old “colonial days” on the infrastructure already there. Including during the 1960s when the exchange rand was 2 rand to the pound?
In Bantu culture MEN DON’T FARM – it is beneath them as womens’ work, and I don’t see how spending trillions on infrastructure will change that culture, do you?
@ Lyndall: You would think the so-called Competition Commission would ensure fair pricing, but it clearly does not. Just look at how prices increase when petrol does, but they never decrease when petrol drops. At best, retailers like Pick ‘n Pay use the infernal sliding scale which seems to keep most people in the dark about above inflation price increases.
Perhaps if Zuma (hoo ha!) or his successor decided to bring the various boards back or force the CC to do something similar, things might improve. It might also be worthwhile to implement some of the land reforms you suggested earlier to increase food output.
@ Lyndall: According to Wikipedia: “The Young Turk government had signed a secret treaty with Germany and established the Ottoman-German Alliance in August 1914, aimed against the common Russian enemy but aligning the Empire with the German side. The Ottoman Empire entered World War I after the Goeben and Breslau incident, in which it gave safe harbour to two German ships that were fleeing British ships.” Apparently the Germans then attacked a Russian port shortly thereafter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire#Decline_and_modernization_.281828.E2.80.931908.29)
… and then there’s this…
“The Ottoman entry into World War I resulted from an overly hasty calculation of likely advantage. German influence was strong but not decisive; Germany’s trade with the Ottomans still lagged behind that of Britain, France, and Austria, and its investments, which included the Baghdad railway, were smaller than those of France. A mission to Turkey led by the German military officer Otto Liman von Sanders in 1913 was only one of a series of German military missions, and Liman’s authority to control the Ottoman army was much more limited than contemporaries supposed.” (Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434996/Ottoman-Empire/44422/World-War-I-1914-18)
Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews. The Zionist movement is one of the most divisive formations that this universe has ever had to contend with. It is a pity that those who are not in the know are painting all Jews with one brush. The sooner ordinary Jews stand up for what is right the better for them. Read Revelations 3:9
@ Lyndall: I guess it depends on the country.
In SA and Zim, large-scale agriculture has been around for decades, if not centuries. The problem is that the infrastructure and support normally handled by government has been allowed to wither. Add to that government policies which have forced farmers to look elsewhere for work and you have a bit of a problem.
Some countries don’t have the right climate for certain crops, but with seeds which are engineered to withstand harsher climates this really shouldn’t be an issue.
Lyndall Beddy
Whatever the Sultan’s reason for changing sides it lost the Turks the Ottoman Empire, which had been in existence for 800 years, because the victorious Allies gave his empire to the Arabs.
Norman Finkelstein has the humanity and integrity and the courage to counter this utter nonsense .
The atrocities committed by this rogue state on the Palestinians is quite honestly abhorrent and as inhumane as the Nazi atrocities.
We need a one-state solution with equal rights for all the people irrespective of race , creed, colour or religion. Barring that , htere should be isolation and sanctions.
@khayakh You say “nothing is said about the oppression of Palestinians in Israel” unfortunately you do not even understand what you are talking about. The Israeli Arabs(which are Israeli and not Palestinians) would rather live under Israeli governance than under the PA. Abbas has an Israeli ID and when he was to retire a few years back he was coming to retire in Israeli Gallilee, and far away from the PA territories.
What oppression are you talking about? You do know that 96% of Palestinians are under PA control. Gaza is fully under PA control. The Israeli military has no rights to be in Area A and B, they can only be in Area C, which I am guessing you are hearing for the first time, you probably did not even know that the West Bank is divided into 3 sections. You probably just regurgitate all the falsehoods that you hear from a broken telephone conversation, because there are so many mistakes in your comment.
How dare you take a swipe at Rabbi Goldstein, if it was not for him many interfaith dialogues would not be around, the bill of responsibilities would not be part of schools. He is a defender of Israel and was one of the first religious leaders to go give comfort to the bereaved families at Marikana.
So better luck next time. Your blind hatred will get you into trouble one day.
@Lennon, I think you are missing the point. Every country that goes to war possibly loses civilians. However from past experience when a lunatic has risen up and says he wants to eradicate Israel or the Jews. The world might laugh it off, however we do not how many times has this threat almost come true? too many times.
The scary thing is everyone makes out that Israel wants a war. which can not be further from the truth. Over the past 60 years plus Israel has never ever waged war, it has always been pulled into them. during the 1st gulf war Saddam tried but Israel practiced restraint.
It is funny how everyone points a finger at Israel but where is the finger pointing at Iran? for the past 4 + years they have tried to sanction Iran, but to no avail, yet Iranian leaders are never sanctioned when they call for another holocaust. However if a Rabbi in Israel says we need to kill Iranians then it makes front page news and then the condemnations fly from all corners of the world.
Iran is about 2 months from having enough enriched uranium to make a nuke, and just last week in the presence of 144 delegates including Ban Ki Moon, Ayatollah Khamanei stated that Israel needs to be destroyed…yet no one said “enough stop your craziness” They all kept quiet including Ban Ki Moon.
Yet a minister from Israel says something derogatory about a Palestinian then within the day their is a UNSC session, a UN Human Rights session and a round of resolutions are passed.
@Lennon,
Israel has never threatened anyone with destruction or wiping off the map. Yet every critic of Israel gets away with this discrimination. While ignoring the true oppression that actually occurs in countries and the oppression is far worse than anything Israel has ever done.
The population want peace, Israel gives goodwill gestures all the time, they invite the Palestinians to the negotiating table all the time. Israel tries and at every corner there is something else that causes the Palestinians to reject the offer.
They were offered 99% of the West Bank and 50% of Jerusalem eventhough most Israelis were against that move, but everyone in Israel knew they would not accept that offer.
Many of the charters indicate that peace will not prevail until all arab lands have been returned to their owners, including Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, the Galilee, the Negev. yet the world acts as if they have not heard that, then demand from ISrael to do this and do that, yet no preconditions have ever been exerted on the Palestinians.
the Palestinians are free to slander Israel, the Palestinians are free to cry foul even when it is proven that Israel is not behind the incident. Yet if Israel says something out of line, then they are scolded.
The politicians are not the problem as you have stated, the problem is the world is scared of the radicals and have chosen the path of appeasement. They rather choose a cowardly stance than actually do anything.
Lennon
Large scale agriculture has been in SA and Zim for centuries? Can you give me your references?
Lennon
What crops did they grow other than maize and sorghum? Anything on bushes or trees? Did they dig them up when they migrated? How did they keep elephants, baboons and monkeys out of the crops without guns?
Africa is not Europe or America – the animals, predators, climate and plants are totally different.
@ Chopper4: How I wish you were right about the politicians.
Reuters reports that Netanyahu wasnt tougher talk from the US: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/09/01/uk-israel-iran-lawmaker-idUKBRE88008320120901
The Times of Israel reckons that he wants to attack Iran (Russia Today has also mentioned this before): http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-determined-to-attack-iran-before-us-elections-claims-israels-channel-10/
Haaretz mentioned a phone call made to Netanyahu by Angel Merkel asking him to postpone an attack on Iran: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/merkel-called-netanyahu-don-t-attack-iran.premium-1.461840
It seems that Israeli opposition parties aren’t keen on the idea either: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3855246.ece
What good would it do Iran to build a nuke? With the US blanketing the entire region, from radar stations to military equipment and personnel, anything launched by the Iranians would be lucky to make over their own border. On top of that, even they aren’t mad enough to risk nuclear annihilation, if not from Israel’s arsenal then certainly the Americans.
You might also want to have a read through this CSM report: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0608/Iran-s-nuclear-program-4-things-you-probably-didn-t-know/President-Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-never-said-that-Israel-should-be-wiped-off-the-map.
@ Lyndall: I said “for decades, if not centuries”.
I suppose I should’ve referred specifically to white farmers.