COSATU: SA Apartheid a Sunday Picnic

COSATU president Willy Madisha attended the Palestine Solidarity Campaign's Trade Union conference in London on Saturday where he lifted off into a characteristic hate induced frenzy of serpentine Israel bashing.

...the COSATU president declared that South Africa’s apartheid policies had been ‘a Sunday picnic’ compared to the state of Israel’s brutal treatment of Palestinians. ‘Apartheid was characterised by killings, hangings, disappearances, arrests, exile, confiscations, inferior education, rapes and the creation of bantusans. 'All this was a Sunday picnic compared to what is happening to the Palestinians. I say with confidence that Israel is an apartheid state’ said Mr Madisha.

Did you get that? The killings, hangings, disappearances, arrests, exile, rape, etc etc of apartheid was like a Sunday picnic if you compare it to the only DEMOCRACY in the Middle East. A place where Arab citizens of Israel have full equality by law. A place where Arab's are enfranchised with the vote, where they can form political parties and become members of the Knesset. A place where their language, Arabic, is one of the national languages of the country. A place where Arabic schools receive equal funding to Jewish schools. A place where road signs are written in both Hebrew and Arabic. A place where there is an Arab member of the Israeli Supreme Court who often rules in disputes between Jews and Arabs. A place where all people share the same busses, the same toilets, and the same park benches. Aplace where all citizens receive equal healthcare in the same hospitals. A place where all people can pursue the same employment. A place with a vibrant and critical free press which often exposes any discriminatory practices.

Just what has the president of COSATU been smoking? (Smelly Socks?)

‘Why are all the things done to apartheid South Africa not being done to Israel?’ he asked. ‘The trade union movement must move beyond resolutions, otherwise history will look back on us and spit on our graves’ he warned. Mr Madisha proposed a concerted international boycott campaign along the lines of the one that ended apartheid in South Africa. His speech was greeted with rapturous applause at the day-long event, which brought together dozens of activists to discuss the role that trade unionists can play in winning justice for Palestinians.

To quote the South African ambassador to Israel and former commander in the armed wing of the ANC liberation movement, Major General Fumanekile (Fumie) Gqiba:

"The accusations are unfounded, the term "apartheid" is uniquely South African and devalues the struggle of the black population against one of the worst forms of oppression known to man." ("Negotiation is the way", Sowetan, March 2005)

Comments

[Katherine]

holocaust, apartheid, nazi, with these types of idiots around soon none of these words will mean anything...

[dave]

quite right. words have been hijacked to serve specific causes and there is nothing we can do about it.

amazing. now calling it apartheid is not enough. now its something far worse than apartheid ever was.

screw the f±ck3rs from cosatu.

[gersh]

I agree with the sentiment that the use of these words cheapens the singularity of apartheid and/or the holocaust.

The same ofcourse appplies to the words nazi and ss. Did we not see those used ad-infinitum at Gush Katif and Amona by the settler lobby?

As an aside - The older ANC generation should seriouslly discipline Matshida. He insults them more than anybody else with his comments.

[Gary]

Gersh writes: "As an aside - The older ANC generation should seriouslly discipline Matshida. He insults them more than anybody else with his comments."

It's not going tyo happen
The sad truth is that everyone in the ANC from the President down to each last member agrees with Madisha and want's to see Israel dissapear.

[Anti-UN]

Gary I agree with you that it wont happen but i know for a fact that its not true that every last member wants Israel to disappear.

If you knew what I know you would be very surprised.

[mike]

I agree anti-UN. not all members of our government are anti-Zionists. There are some that are even friends.

I just wish they would distance themselves from such undiplomatic statements. A press release saying those are not our views would really help allay Jewish fears

[Gary]

mike wrote"I agree anti-UN. not all members of our government are anti-Zionists. There are some that are even friends.'

The last friend of Israel was Mangosutho Buthelezi , former Minister of home Affairs , who was axed from the Cabinet in 2004.

Can you name any friends of Israel in the government today?

[mike]

Minister of Defence Patrick Lakota is one that comes to mind.

[Anti-UN]

Gary, u originally referred to the ANC members and now you have narrowed the scope to members of the government.

It simply isnt true that "every last member of the ANC agrees with Madisha".