Kasrils Bullies SA Jewry

"We appeal to the Jews of our country, members of a community that has played an important role in the history and life of South Africa, to understand that while we know that it is hard for most Jews to accept it emotionally, the state of Israel is in the wrong." "[T]he interests of the [Jewish] community are best served by speaking-up in unison with our government and nation."

These are the latest bullying statements spilt from the pen of South African Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils, in part 2 of his recent Umrabulo (Umrabulo is an official ANC journal) article entitled "Who's Who in the Middle East." (This interesting title is just a trick, for the 30 page treatise focuses exclusively on Israel.)

Einstein once said that you should make things as simple as possible, but not simpler. He would surely scold Ronnie Kasrils's gross oversimplification of this conflict. Unfortunately for Kasrils, his hatred of Zionism has ignited such a fury within his heart that it has caused a blindness upon his eyes.

Mike reviewed part 1 of this, what he termed, "pseudo-academic treatise" here: SA Minister engages in Israel denial.

Denial of Victimhood

Part 2 carries on from where part 1 left off. After denying the basis for Israel's existence by rewriting Biblical history, Kasrils proceeds to deny Israelis and Jews any aspect of victimhood, demanding a monopoly on it for the Palestinians.

He clumsily turns Palestinian suicide bombers into martyr bombers. Scare quotes are employed to deny and mock any Israeli perspective, such as, a Palestine "suicide" or martyr bombing. Outrageously "Kasrils" then compares them to the Biblical Jewish hero Samson, who took his own life after receiving a final blessing from God, enabling him to crush the Phillistines who were holding him captive. (Curiously, he calls him Sampson, not Samson as the original Hebrew would be pronounced. A Google search on Sampson shows nothing, though the first result is an Internet Condom Store.)

Kasrils patronises Jews by urging them to succumb to Islamic rule. He does this by making the age-old morbid relativism argument that the Jews actually thrived under Islamic rule compared to the harsh Christian rule. This is true. Historically Jews faced less persecution from their Muslim rulers than from their Christian rulers. This argument however, is akin to asking black South Africans to succumb to white English South African rule, because Blacks under apartheid were treated better by English South Africans than they were by Afrikaans South Africans.

As the final insult to the Jewish victims of this conflict, Kasrils argues that it is the Jews themselves that are to blame for today's anti-Semitism.

"It also needs to be understood that Israel's unacceptable treatment of the Palestinian people and actions in the region equates Jewry with Zionism and fuels anti-Semitism among those who do not see the difference."

Wild Accusations

As bad as the energy Kasrils placed into robbing Jews of their share of victimhood, is the rabid creativity he uses to fabricate wild accusations against Israel.

As always, the common theme of his accusations are to call Israelis child murderers and to equate them with Nazism. Just as the Nazis tried to exterminate Jews, so too Kasrils suggests, Israel is perpetrating a "creeping genocide" against the Palestinians. Kasrils alleges that the very survival of the Palestinians is at stake.

Genocide is a serious accusation to make. An accepted definition of genocide is "the systematic, planned annihilation of an ethnic, racial or political group." But Kasrils himself writes that "in the period between September 2000 and September 2006 … 1,058 Israelis and 3,645 Palestinians were killed." Is that genocide? The truth is that Israeli Arabs and Palestinians have one of the highest population growth rates in the world!

The genocide charge is a prime example of "Kasrilsspeak". First he charges that a genocide is taking place. Then, in a separate discussion he warns that the Palestinians will soon outnumber the Jews in the Holy Land. He thus makes two contradictory charges, under separate discussions, purely because they serve a propaganda purpose in the context of those discussions. It is humiliating paradox of hypocrisies.

Another tip-top example of "Kasrilsspeak" is when he accuses Israel of acts that their enemies are guilty of. Writing of the Lebanon war (which he claims was started by Israel in order to control the Litany river waters) he claims

"We blamed the racist policies of a corrupt government that cynically placed its own people in the firing line."

Speaking to South African Jewry

The most disturbing aspect of this treatise is the way he preaches to the South African Jewish community, always speaking in the plural. On whose behalf is he speaking when he says "we appeal to the Jews of our country…to understand…that Israel is in the wrong"? Is he speaking on behalf of our government? Is the government pressuring the Jews in this country to accept their ideological world views?

Even more serious is the way Kasrils patronisingly informs the South African Jewish community how best to protect their interests.

"It follows that the uncomfortable tensions experienced by Jewish communities everywhere, can be neutralised by a just resolution of the Middle East conflict, and that the interests of the community are best served by speaking-up in unison with our government and nation."

His justification for anti-Semitism doesn't worry me nearly as much as the way the above quote warns that our government might share his positions on the Middle East, and that our safety is best served by buying into their positions.

Well Mr. Kasrils, your bullying tactics are nothing new to us. Jews throughout history have been pressured into bowing to the beliefs of their governments. And just as we said ‘no!’ to our Christian rulers who tried to convert us to Christianity, so too we will maintain our own independent views on Israel without succumbing to your bullying tactics.

Finally, Kasrils ends with a series of steps to bring peace to the Middle East. He calls for a renunciation of violence – but only within a particular framework that he describes. Part of this framework is a point calling on Israel to accept the Palestinian refugee's right of return – a euphemism for the destruction of Israel by demographic submersion. So, as long as Israel refuses to be overrun by millions of Palestinian refugees, Kasrils will not support an end to violence.

So there you have it. Kasrils describes Palestinian terrorists as martyrs and only supports an end to violence if Israel agrees to foment its own destruction. I don't see how else to read this except as an affirmation for, and support of, the continuation of Palestinian violence.

Comments

[Joel Pollak]

Congratulations to you on holding Kommissar Kasrils to account!

[Steve]

Thanks Joel. If only the leaders of this community would really hold him to account.

The 'ignore him' crowd have proven wrong. We need to confront the ANC and ask if these are their positions and if not then why, instead of distancing themselves do they elevate his prominence in the Middle East?

[THE DICTATOR / EMBITTERED CORRESPONDENT]

Joel's latest GUIDE TO THE PERPLEXED blog entitled "Kasrils and the
kleptocrats" is a brilliant analysis of
South African foreign policy and should be read immediately!

[Gary]

He is only doing what he learned from his old mentors in the old Soviet Union, who tried to also intimidate Soviet Jewry into taking an anti-Israel position.
If someone like Natan Sharansky nad millions of others could stand up to the Communist tyrants, then so can we.
Millions of Jews, who died at the hands of anti-Semites, from the victims of the Shoah, to the innocent victims of Arab terror in Israel, are crying out to us from their graves not to give in to Ronnie Kasrils and the New Anti-Semites!

[THE DICTATOR / EMBITTERED CORRESPONDENT]

Gary,
I totally with your assessment of Ronno Einstein. We would be pathetic cowards if we did not stand up to a communist bully who is frozen in a Stalinist time-zone. We are witnessing a bizarre quirk of history and should realize that his outmoded ideology is brittle and will inevitably snap.

[THE DICTATOR / EMBITTERED CORRESPONDENT]

Gary,
I totally with your assessment of Ronno Einstein. We would be pathetic cowards if we did not stand up to a communist bully who is frozen in a Stalinist time-zone. We are witnessing a bizarre quirk of history and should realize that his outmoded ideology is brittle and will inevitably snap.

[Gary]

Anthony, we are unfortunate to live in one of the few countries left in the world (together with only 5 or 6 other countries), where this archaic Stalinist mindset is still in favour-to the great shame of South Africa.
Together with Islamic radical regimes, like Iran, Syria and Libya, the South African led Stalinist bloc forms an axis of evil!

Ronnie Kasrils fancies himslef as Stalinist NKVD/KGB Commisar.
It's disgrace that people like this still exist.

[Gary]

Anthony, we are unfortunate to live in one of the few countries left in the world (together with only 5 or 6 other countries), where this archaic Stalinist mindset is still in favour-to the great shame of South Africa.
Together with Islamic radical regimes, like Iran, Syria and Libya, the South African led Stalinist bloc forms an axis of evil!

Ronnie Kasrils fancies himslef as Stalinist NKVD/KGB Commisar.
It's disgrace that people like this still exist.

[THE DICTATOR / EMBITTERED CORRESPONDENT]

Gary,
It is possible that South Africa will soon emerge from this mindset. I
believe that if it is effectively confronted the country can move
forward. We should not fear Kasrils and his totalitarian ilk. Remember
how quickly the Berlin wall collapsed? Well, the same is true of the
South African Marxist ideologues. Their beliefs will inevitably
crumble.

[SnoopyTheGoon]

I would dare to offer two updates to this post: first of all, Samson in Hebrew is (at least in the current lingo) pronounced "Shim-shon".

And re Ronnie's parallel between suicide "martyr" bombers and Samson, I am afraid that the idea belongs to another jerk, see here:

http://simplyjews.blogspot.com/2007/03/conductor-hooligan-and-doing-gibson.html

Cheers.