Day: April 21, 2019

SA At Odds With World Powers And BRICS Nations About Israel

By Rowan Polovin

Hating one Middle Eastern country has never garnered the ANC votes or won it any international favour.

There is something foul about SA’s foreign policy. It stands continuously with the anti-Western bloc of dictators, fascists and human rights abusers. It has a horrendous track record of voting at the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council that is diametrically opposite to post-apartheid’s values of freedom and nondiscrimination.

It votes against measures that sanction human rights abusers and praises the “diversity” of totalitarian dictatorships. It abstains on the appointment of a special rapporteur on violence against the LGBTI community and on resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Syria.

It keeps consistently but deafeningly silent about all the horrors and atrocities committed in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as well as on the mistreatment of women, minorities and children. It sits Janus-faced on the international stage, facilitating the work of despots offshore, while proclaiming the values of human rights back home.

There is but one country at which South Africa directs all its opprobrium and judgment. It is the most undeserving country of such hostility but is so targeted because the governing party irrationally believes this will win it votes locally and power internationally.

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Speak Of The Devil. While separating from the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel, South Africa embraces one of the world’s worst human rights abusers and prime promoter of instability in the Middle East, Iran, as seen here with SA’s Deputy Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Reginah Mhaule (right), expressing this past March in Cape Town before Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi (left), “we remain committed to continue to support the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The ANC is dangerously wrong on both accounts: hating Israel has never garnered it votes in any election, and targeting Israel internationally only isolates South Africa itself. It carries out an inverted foreign policy that bashes the ‘Jew of nations’ and applauds the scoundrels.

The ANC owes the public an explanation about why it does this.

Last week, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, recklessly steered into dangerous territory when asked about her country’s relations with Israel. She spoke of removing the South African ambassador to Israel and of kicking out the Israeli ambassador to SA. She even declared that the ANC will dictate university policy on Israel.

She forgot about SA’s esteemed constitution and rule of law, and that the ANC sits below, not above it.

Our constitution was carefully written by wise people who recognised that freedom of religion, speech, association and academia are fundamental values that ensure the longevity of a democratic state. Any unjust attempts to undermine those values, as Sisulu and her faction seem intent on doing, will unravel the very structures of the democratic state her predecessors fought for.

On the issue of cutting ties with Israel and allowing the antisemitic BDS fringe movement to capture foreign policy, Sisulu and the ANC should proceed with extreme caution. South Africa is focused on rebuilding its standing in the international community and hoping to be taken seriously on international affairs.

While still a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) bloc, it parts company with every other member on Israel. Every BRICS country besides South Africa is constantly improving ties and friendships with the Jewish state. South Africa stands at odds with these world powers, including many African and Arab countries that work more closely than ever with Israel.

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India Has Other Ideas. While South Africa considers ‘downgrading’ with Israel, its fellow BRICS’ member, India, opts for ‘upgrading” as seen here with India Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the India-Israel Business Summit in New Delhi. January 15, 2018 (MONEY SHARMA/AFP)

Moreover, South Africa needs Israel’s help to solve local problems such as water scarcity, access to electricity and agricultural solutions that would take millions out of poverty and turn our deserts into fields of plenty. Millions of South Africans would not take kindly to their future being stolen by petty short-term interests. Nor will they appreciate the negative effect this will have on local job creation and our already struggling economy.

Cutting out Israel only cuts out SA’s future.

If South Africa attempts to throw out the Israeli ambassador, it will send a signal that it wishes to disconnect the proudly South African Jewish community from their spiritual, religious and historical homeland. The government should take heed that Jews will never allow their bond with the Jewish state to be broken. Nor will committed Christians, who make up the majority of South Africa’s religious communities.

Antisemites may be pleased that their irrational hatred of Jews has resulted in a downgrade in relations with Israel, but the majority of South Africans will not be pleased with the uncertainty and instability it will bring.

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Red Carpet For Killers. While threatening in 2019 to “kick out” the Israeli ambassador to South Africa, its ANC leaders has no problem embracing Hamas as seen here with terrorist mastermind Khaled Mashaal being honoured in Cape Town in October 2015. (AFP/Rodger Bosch).

It is time for principled business people, government officials, political parties and civil society to stand up to the ANC’s desperate and hypocritical obsession with the Jewish state. Our future depends upon it.

 

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Rowan Polovin is chair of the SA Zionist Federation’s Cape Council.

ISRAEL TODAY

Reflecting on the challenges of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

By Harris Green

Many of Israel’s enemies challenge her right to exist as the Nation State of the Jewish people. They deny the historical rights of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. They deny the archeological evidence that justifies our claims to this land. They deny the irrefutable links of the Jewish people to Jerusalem. They deny our right to self-determination.

I’m not referring to isolated individuals.

I’m not referring to minor league academics who believe their warped and failed political agendas give them the right to change the historical facts and to recreate a narrative that conveniently ignores the context.

I’m referring to organizations within the international community including the General Assembly of the United Nations, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and UNESCO. These organizations are in flagrant violation of the mandates under which they were established and have dedicated themselves to delegitimizing Israel’s right to exist.

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Digging Up The Truth. Despite UNESCO passing recently another resolution denying Jewish ties to Jerusalem, archeological digs reveal that the ‘City of David’ was originally constructed more than 3,000 ago by King David when he created a small village to be his capital city when he ruled over the Israelite tribes. Within a short walking distance, David’s son, King Solomon, built the First Temple, over which the Muslims built Al-Aqsa Mosque in the 7th century AD.

Around 80% of the resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly condemn Israel!

Does the international community really believe that if Israel ceased to exist, 80% of the world’s most serious conflicts and issues would simply dissipate?

What has permanent agenda item 7 of the UNHRC done to enhance human rights?

Have UNESCO’s outrageous resolutions regarding Jerusalem and its relevance to Jews done anything to change the historical evidence that supports the centrality of Jerusalem to Jewish life? They have however, had some success in creating doubt thereby delegitimizing our right to statehood. These resolutions fuel the wave of antisemitism currently engulfing even the so-called “more affluent countries” of the world.

Israel is the land where our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, lived and interacted with the same God we worship today. This is where they are buried. This is where the visions of our Prophets were inspired. This is where we built our Temples. This is where our language was born. King David established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel 3,000 years ago. This land, its seasons and even its rainfall have been sourced in our century-old prayers long before the emergence of those who claim this land belongs to them.

William Albright, an archaeologist of international repute wrote “there can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition.” To deny Jewish rights to the Land of Israel is contrary to the fundamentals of Judeo-Christian tradition.

We lived in exile for nearly 2,000 years. We were scattered amongst the nations of the world. We weren’t always made to feel welcome. Our heritage was ridiculed. Our loyalties were questioned. We suffered through inquisition. We were the victims of pogroms and blood libels. Only three generations ago we suffered an unparalleled, surgically coordinated genocide that claimed the lives of one third of our people.

For centuries we were the eternal and ultimate scapegoats for the mismanagement and personal greed of despotic rulers. Even today Jewish communities in the diaspora remain soft targets for terror. Their institutions require sophisticated security systems. The number of antisemitic incidents has escalated to an inconceivable level. Who – even just a few years ago – would have believed this sad state of affairs would come about during our lifetimes?

More than 70 years have passed since the establishment of the State of Israel. It seems to me that for too many people, the penny has yet to drop. We’re not going anywhere. We’re here to stay.

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Modern Miracle. Founded on sand dunes in 1909, Tel Aviv today is a thriving entrepreneurial metropolis that National Geographic and Lonely Planet travel guide ranks in the top 10 beach cities in the world, while locals and tourists will attest is really “No. 1”.

At the time of its creation 70 years ago, Israel was home to only 5% of world Jewry. Today 45% of world Jewry resides in the State of Israel. Jews from more than 90 different countries have returned to become useful citizens in a country we can proudly call our own. Our loyalties are no longer questioned. We speak the language of our forefathers – the indigenous language of this land. Our national aspirations could not have become a reality without the belief that this land is our land.

Although Israel has lived under threats of annihilation during her entire existence, we have a strong and resourceful military to protect us. We are now a country that more than pays its way as a sought-after ally and trading partner.

Given the number of failed states that populate our planet, challenging our right to a country of our own is not only an affront to us and our heritage but also to what this country has achieved in the short space of 70 years.

Which country is always the first to provide aid to countries following natural disasters around the world? We don’t only talk about Tikkun Olam. We deliver!

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True Colours. Gloves came off during a meeting of PLO’s Central Council in 2018 with PA President Abbas saying: “Israel is a colonial project that has nothing to do with Jews.” Revealing exactly what he thinks of Jews, Abbas earlier expressed, that “Al-Aksa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They (Jews) have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”

Israeli technology is at the source of everything that opens and closes. From military innovations to cyber security, from medical technologies to life-saving pharmaceuticals, from communications to driverless vehicles, from wastewater recycling to water desalinisation.

 You name it. Israel has done it.

But we can’t afford to rest on our laurels. The military threats remain. We have a responsibility to narrow the gap between the more and the less fortunate amongst us. We have a responsibility to those Jews still living in the diaspora.

The international community may have forgotten its responsibilities to us, but we shouldn’t forget our responsibilities to mankind:

  • Given the chance, we can make this world a better place in which to live.
  • Given the chance, we can advance life expectancy in many African countries by up to 30 years.
  • Given the chance, we can easily replicate in other countries what we have so successfully achieved here in Israel.
  • Given the chance, we can alleviate many of the dangers resulting from global warming.
  • Given the chance, we can provide solutions to the diminishing food supplies for growing populations in developing countries around the world.

There are challenges ahead. We have a responsibility to respond.

 

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The Real face Of Israel. Although Israel and Syria are political enemies, Israeli volunteers have been helping Syrians since the start of their bloody civil war in March 2011. Within a month, the Israeli NGO IL4Syrians began sending sanitary items, food, medications and post-trauma care specialists to Syrian refugees. Seen here is IsraAid’s Rachel Lazry Zahavi helping a Syrian refugee in Greece. (Photo by Mickey Noam Alon/IsraAID)

 

About the Author

image001 (9).pngHarris Zvi Green was born in Cape Town, South Africa and immigrated to Israel nearly 50 years ago. An accountant by profession, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of a number of Israel based hi-tech companies. Harris is a founding member of Truth be Told (TbT), an organization engaged in public diplomacy on behalf of Israel.

 

 

 

 

 

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