South Africa: Honest ME Peace Broker?

I don't know how this got through the Star editor Moegsien Williams, but the Star has published a masterly guest editorial by one Patrick Laurence (editor of Focus, the journal of the Helen Suzman foundation).

The editorial focuses on South Africa's role as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians given the recent meeting between South African officials and Likud. In what has become an increasingly rare occurrence, the editorial actually gives a balanced explanation of Israel's concerns.

Laurence correctly argues that the strong ties between the ANC and the PLO, place the ANC in a unique position whereby they can influence the PLO to take a proactive stance against the suicide bomb attacks in Israel.

The Likud have told SA that they don't trust them as a fair mediator, and Laurence explains why.

One is the failure of an incumbent South African president to visit Israel, in contrast to several visits by Nelson Mandela during his term of office and, subsequently Mbeki to Arab states. Another is the ANC`s acceptance of money from Arab states for its election treasury. A third is the failure of South Africa to support an Israeli-proposed resolution to the UN expressing concern at the plight of Israeli citizens who suffer at the hands of suicide bombers, the vast majority of them civilians, as against its repeated support of Arab-sponsored resolutions expressing disquiet at the sufferings of Palestinian civilians at the hands of Israeli soldiers or police officers. But more controversial than either of these manifestations of preference for the Palestinian cause has been South Africa's vocal condemnation of Israel's construction of the separation barrier, or (as the Palestinians have dubbed it) the apartheid wall.

The Star will need to deal with a gargantuan number of complaints from the radical left after Laurence's impartial description of the security barrier.

Situated within Palestinian territory but parallel to the border, the barrier-wall, only part of which consists entirely of concrete, is Israel's response to repeated incursions into its towns and cities by suicide bombers with a predilection for targeting civilians. The construction of the barrier-wall is a desperate measure, prompted by the wanton murder of nearly 1000 Israelis, most of whom were unarmed civilians. As Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard University has noted, the tally of dead would have been far higher had Israeli security forces not been successful in thwarting a large number of the attempted suicide bomber excursions.

Laurence defends SA's rights to condemn the security barrier, but he also points out that SA's stance as a fair broker would have been better off had they also been more understanding of Israel's security needs.

And then, this bombshell, which no South African newspaper has ever had the guts to suggest:

A corollary follows: if it succeeds in reducing the ferocity of the suicide bomb offensive, it might actually contribute to the resumption of settlement negotiations.

Perhaps the SA press doesn't actually want settlement negotiations to resume.

Another aspect missed by the majority of the SA press was the inclusion in the recent talks of the partisan Minister of Intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils. Laurence picks up on his inclusion.

South Africa's Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils has written about the wall of shame (to use his phraseology) in the South African press. He includes details of its height (eight metres along some sections) and length (730 kilometres by his calculation). But he does not explain that the decision to build the barrier-wall was a reaction to the brave but reckless and ultimately murderous odysseys by these suicide bombers. Kasrils is, of course, only one member of the cabinet. His article is presumably a personal interpretation, not an official South Africart government account. But it may reflect a general mindset that is hardly conducive to South Africa's stated aspiration to serve as an honest broker in what is one of the world's most dangerous conflicts.

The last point made is perhaps the most infrequent point seen in the SA media. The forgotten offer at Camp David and Taba.

If South Africa is serious about acting as a mediating, reconciling force in the Middle East. it needs to do more than routinely condemn the suicide bombers and their fanatical mentors. It needs to hold PLO chairman Yassir Arafat to account for his actions or nonactions in the same manner that it points accusing fingers at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Arafat's role in rejecting the December 2000 deal offered to the Palestinians by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak (with prompting from former American president Bill Clinton) is as much to blame for the present crisis as any single alternative factor. The deal could have resulted in the Palestinian state consisting of 97% of occupied Palestine, with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital and an international military presence in the Jordan valley Its rejection has led, instead, to the election of the hardliner Sharon as Israel's generalissimo and a renewed cycle of violence that continues to plague the Israeli and Palestinian people.

Send the Star and Patrick Laurence your compliments.

Comments

Hi,
Came across this post and there are some interesting things which in light of your post are on topic with regard to SA being an "honest broker" in the Israeli/Pali conflict.
"New South African Ambassador to Israel"
http://www.telfed.org.il/showpage.php?pageid=183

"It receives no credit for its unique contribution during the apartheid years in providing intensive programs for training Blacks in leadership skills to use in a future new democratic South Africa. Of necessity these Community Development and Leadership programs under the auspices of the Histadrut. were held covertly so as avoid the attentions of the apartheid government. Some two dozen graduates went on to become mayors of cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Randburg, George, Grahamstown and Port Alfred. Hundreds of members of local government councils and at least twenty members of parliament and ministers of provincial councils passed through Beit Berl at some time."

There are other points made which should be part of the general discussion but somehow are never acknowledged.

[Steve]

Many thanks for the link. I will be sure to post the link on the main site after Rosh Hashanah.