Once again South African Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils and the official representatives of the South African Jewish Community have become embroiled in a public slinging match. Kasrils’ unqualified support for the Hamas dominated Palestinian government and his controversial invitation to Ismail Haniyeh to head an official delegation to visit South Africa has sparked this latest round.
Both the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) have issued strong statements condemning Kasrils. The SAZF charged that Kasrils’s invitation ‘contradicts the (South African) government’s stated policy vis-à-vis Israel and the Middle East’ and the international consensus on dealing with the Hamas dominated PA.
| ‘The ruling given by the Quartet – the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States of America – concerning any relationship with Hamas is clear and unequivocal: there will be no acknowledgement of the Hamas government until it recognises Israel’s right to exist, renounces violence and accepts existing peace deals. This week, however, according to the Pakistan Daily Times of 3 May, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the programme of the proposed unity government between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction “will not recognise Israel and will not include accepting the two-state solution … We reject the two-state solution, which is the vision of US President George Bush, because it represents a clear recognition of Israel,” Barhoum said. ‘ |
The SAJBD went even further and accused Kasrils of betraying the non-racial ideals that underpin South Africa’s new democratic dispensation. Michael Bagraim, National Chairman of the SAJBD, said that
| ‘the Jewish community viewed the invitation as an indication of South Africa's solidarity with an organisation whose racist ideology, openly genocidal agenda against the Jewish people and record of having perpetrated some of the most barbarous terrorist atrocities in modern times had made it an international pariah. Expressing support for an organisation whose very founding Charter describes the Jewish people as fundamentally evil enemies of humanity and calls for their total annihilation fundamentally contradicts both the ideals of South Africa and of the ruling ANC itself.’ |
Today Minister Kasrils hit back, denouncing his critics as short-sighted and oblivious to South Africa’s own experience in defeating Apartheid. His official statement reads
| ‘Those who myopically object to such invitations merely show that they have learnt nothing from South Africa's transition. Such logic as they espouse would not have allowed (apartheid era president) PW Botha to have met with the imprisoned (Nelson) Mandela nor his release by (former president) FW De Klerk as a partner in negotiations.’ |
Minister Kasrils fails to understand the distinction between dialogue and naked support. South African engagement with Hamas that is aimed at moderating their position would be welcomed. But Kasrils’s behaviour has signalled the opposite. The purpose of his visit was to show solidarity with the beleaguered Hamas dominated Palestinian government. He made this perfectly clear in his press conference with Ismail Haniyeh last week when he proclaimed that 'We stand by you and support you'.
Moreover his official invitation to Haniyeh to visit South Africa (and possibly even have a photo opportunity with former President Nelson Mandela) was designed to alleviate the international pressure on Hamas to renounce violence, recognise Israel’s right to exist and adhere to previously signed agreements. Kasrils explained that he South African government views the international embargo as wrong: to be exact, they view it as a ‘collective punishment by those who were not happy with the result of a democratic election’.
Despite the South African government’s appetite for a role in brokering Middle East Peace, its unconditional support for the Palestinians has demonstrated time and again that it cannot be an impartial facilitator. The best we can hope for is that South Africa will act as a moderating influence on the Palestinian leadership. But given South Africa’s track record with Robert Mugabe, Sadam Hussein and now Ismail Haniyeh, it’s obvious that we are deluding ourselves.
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