Category: Israel- South Africa relations

ARREST WARRANTS BY THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Goebbels would be proud of the ICC

By Neville Berman

Under what is known as the Oslo Accords, Israel left Gaza in 2005 and handed the entire territory over to the newly created Palestinian Authority led by Yasser Arafat. Two years later Hamas overthrew the Palestinian Authority and forcefully took control of Gaza.  Since then, Hamas has fired over 27,000 rockets at southern Israel. On October 7, 2023 Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages. They proudly filmed themselves committing rapes, murdering families, beheading and burning babies and other atrocities. Every one of these actions are without any doubt crimes against humanity. To this day the United Nations has refused to pass a single resolution condemning Hamas for the crimes it has committed. 

Instead of commending the State of Israel for defending itself after the atrocities committed by Hamas, the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to issue international arrest warrants for Bibi Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the Prime Minister and former Defense Minister of Israel. Amongst many accusations, they are being charged with committing crimes against humanity, including the crime of starvation against the Palestinians in Gaza. The warrants are a grotesque inversion of what international law and justice should be.

Court of Injustice. Seeking warrants of arrest of Israel’s leaders at the ICC was less the expectation of actual arrest and more the demonizing of Israel as evident by posters such as this appearing in Birmingham, UK,

Immediately after the arrest warrants were issued, Josep Borrell, the High Representative of Foreign Affairs of the European Union, announced that all 120 countries that are members of the ICC are obligated to arrest those charged, if they enter any member county. As there are 193 countries that are members of the United Nations, the remaining 73 countries that are not members of the ICC have no such obligation. The United States of America is one of those 73 countries. Emmanuel Macron, the French President, has already announced that France will not arrest the Israeli leaders if they visit France. France is a member of the ICC, and this really shows that the antisemitic pronouncements by the ICC and Josep Borrell are beyond the pale. To make matters even more ridiculous the ICC has attempted to show its evenhandedness by issuing a farcical arrest warrant for one Hamas leader who is no longer alive.  

Topsy- turvy Tehran. Following shameful rulings by the ICJ and ICC, even the world’s biggest sponsor of global terrorism, Iran, feels free to hypocritically display huge banners in Tehran depicting Israel’s leaders as war criminals. (Photo:Fatemeh Bahrami – Anadolu Agency)

According to its own website the ICC has a budget for 2024 of over 187 million Euros. It employs approximately 900 people who are supposed to gather evidence and investigate serious crimes against humanity. Since its inception in 2002, the ICC has issued 59 arrest warrants, 21 people have actually been detained, and 11 convictions have been issued. What this means is that just over a third of those charged actually end up standing trial, and nearly half of those are found not guilty, and that on average the ICC has actually achieved one conviction every two years.  These facts are quite amazing when one considers that in the 22 years of the existence of the ICC, millions of people have been killed in wars, and millions more have become refugees. Clearly the ICC is a political farce.

Israel has been singled out by the ICC for defending itself in a war initiated by sworn enemies that have demonstrated their absolute determination to eradicate the State of Israel. Every government has the obligation to defend its country. The singling out of Israel by the ICC is a decision that will, to borrow a phrase by President Roosevelt, “live in infamy.”  It is most unlikely that Bibi Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant will ever stand in the dock of the ICC in the Hague. The question that now arises is why is the ICC issuing arrest warrants against the leaders of Israel?

Blood on his Colar. The ICC’s devious issuing of warrants deliberately fuels global antisemitism painting the picture of Israel’s wartime leader as a Mafia-type mass murder as reflected in this ‘WANTED’ poster during a demonstration in Lisbon, Nov. 30, 2024. (Photo: Armando Franca / AP)

The answer is clear. The ICC is deliberately promoting the demonization of Jews and Israel. This demonization is not something new. The church has been demonizing Jews for over 2,000 years. The United Nations and the liberal press have been demonizing Israel ever since its inception in 1948.  Major Arab oil exporting countries are using their wealth to promote Islam all across the world and to undermine Israel and the West. Qatar has financed the establishment of Middle Eastern Study departments at many major American universities.

Qatar on Campus. Qatar has become the largest foreign donor to American academia in the two decades since 9/11 resulting in US campuses become incubators for Doha’s interests. This ‘Stop the Genocide’ anti-Israel demonstration at Harvard University should rather read ‘Stop Antisemitism’. (Photo: Joseph Prezioso / AFP)

They have used the American constitutional right to free speech to spread hatred against Jews and Israel. They have turned American campuses into battlegrounds for Jewish students. The TV Channel Al Jazeera, broadcasting from Qatar, has hundreds of millions of viewers that are subjected to a constant demonization of Israel. Social media is aimed largely at gullible young people. They are easily influenced by the constant one-sided view of the war in Gaza. The International Court of Justice recently heard a case in which South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide. The whole purpose of the trial was to get the word “genocide” associated with Israel. They succeeded. The latest actions by the ICC are further steps in trying to demonize Jews and Israel. It has nothing to do with justice.

Tuition of Terror. Qatari money flowed into U.S. universities resulting in fueling violence against Jews. Only one week after the genocide in Israel by Hamas on October7, this anti-Israel rally at Harvard University on October 14, 2023 is already accusing Israel of ‘genocide’. (Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP)

The result of all of the above is a tsunami of protests across the world calling to stop Israeli genocide and the replacement of Israel by a Palestinian State from the river to the sea.  Goebbels would be proud of the worldwide actions that are now taking place. Many of the people protesting are not evil. They are simply ignorant.  What a shame that they have no idea about what they are protesting about.

Nazi Legacy. Following the transparently antisemitic rulings against the Jewish state at The Hague to the arson attack at a synagogue in Melbourne Australia, would make Goebels proud. (Photo: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

President Biden has announced that the decision of the ICC is outrageous. Come January 20th Trump will become the American President. Karim Ahmad Kahn, the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, will then need to face the consequences of his actions.   



About the writer:

Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award.  In 1978 he immigrated to the USA  to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel.  He is married with two children and one granddaughter.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

FAILURE OF THE ‘BIG GUNS’, ANTISEMITES MOBILIZE LANGUAGE

If the executive arm of antisemitism was once in Germany, its judicial arm is today in the Netherlands

By David E. Kaplan

“Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never harm me,” hardly holds true for Jews and the Jewish state.  Never mind the truth, just package in words the most damaging accusations again the Jewish state and hope the tide of animosity  will ultimately rise submerging those infuriating Jews who just stubbornly refuse to disappear. What’s more, Jews have the nerve to actually fight to defend themselves. How infuriating that they are damn good at it. It’s embarrassing that so small in size a people and that so tiny a state will just not vanish into “a footnote of history,” as historian Arnold J. Toynbee so predicted for the Jewish people or hoped.

So, if the proverbial “stick and stones” don’t work, frame false charges, and attack with virulent verbiage. The most lethal verbal ordnance today are words like “genocide”, “Apartheid” and “colonialist”, all misused to stigmatize Israel and by association, Jews everywhere. Such accusatory methodology was successfully executed throughout the Middle Ages right up to Nazi Germany, so it was now time to remodel and charge Jews not personally but their national state – facing attack from 7 fronts, none of which it initiated.

Contrivance at the Court. The South African legal team during a hearing on its genocide claims against Israel at The Hague before it was revealed that South Africa’s ruling ANC government – near bankruptcy – received major donations from Iran and Qatar after filing the claim in December. (Photo: Reuters /Yves Herman)

If Germany led this nefarious way in the 20th century, it passes this 21st century the baton to the Netherlands, where stands located the UN’s ICJ and ICC, which enthusiastically have their marching orders. What happens to Jews in the streets of Amsterdam receives its cue from what happens in the county’s judicial centre – The Hague.

While Israel faces down the charge of “genocide”, the only major genocide in the Middle East in recent times occurred on October 7, 2023 and it was perpetrated against the Jewish state. In a case of perverted inversion, the victims are characterized as the perpetrators, while the perpetrators are presented as the victims.  

Douglas Murray expressed it spot on when he writes that the accusations against Israel are:

 “…an absolute inversion of the truth. Hamas invaded Israel, so Israel attacked Hamas. Hezbollah has spent the past year sending thousands of rockets into Israel, so Israel has responded by destroying Hezbollah. The Houthis in Yemen – now so beloved of demonstrators in the UK – sent missiles and drones hundreds of miles to attack Israel, so Israel bombed the Houthis’s arms stores in Yemen.”

In summation, Murray writes:

“Israel’s enemies have spent the past year trying to destroy it, as they have so many times before. But it is they who have gone to the dust, with the regime in Tehran the only thing that is, for the time being, still standing… Sometimes you need war to make peace. Sometime there is a price to pay for trying to finish the work of Adolf Hitler.”

Jaundiced Justice . While UN courts today in the Netherlands are obstructing the Jewish state’s ability to effectively defend itself, Jewish lawyers are seen here lining up in Berlin, Germany in April 1933 to apply for permission to appear in court following new regulations purging Jews from various state professions.

Hear that, the protestors in cities across Europe and the Americas whose grandparents may have fought the Nazis are protesting in support to finishing “the work of Adolf Hitler.”

There are occasional welcome surprises. Countering the false accusation of “genocide” came recently from the unexpected source of Poland! The country’s new ambassador to Israel, Maciej Hunia, had it right when during his confirmation hearing in the Polish parliament to the question if he believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, answered:

 “… military actions causing unintended civilian casualties cannot be characterized as genocide.”

He followed up by emphatically affirming his statement with “We saw this in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Every now and again, the truth is revealed. But when it is supportive of Jews and Israel, it has to be squeezed out like the very last bit of toothpaste in the tube.

Writing in the prestigious British journal The Spectator on October 4, Douglas Murray began his article: “Why Israel was right to ignore international advice” by characterizing the picture of recent events in the Middle East as purveyed to the UK public:

“If you follow most of the British media, you may well think that the past year involves the following events: Israel attacked Hamas, Israel invaded Lebanon, Israel bombed Yemen. Oh, and someone left a bomb in a room in Tehran that killed the peaceful Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh.”

‘Murdering’ too their Memory. Mostly ignored by the British media are photos like these of the dining room in kibbutz Nir Oz, where survivors have placed stickers on residents’ mailboxes with the red ones saying “murdered” in Hebrew; black marking the hostages taken and the blue signaling those who have been released.  

Global acceptance of the “absolute inversion of the truth” as it pertains to the Jewish state was so evident on the 25 November when  Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei declared in response to the ICC’s actions that “…an arrest warrant for Netanyahu is insufficient; an execution order must be issued.” Where is the worlds abhorrence or international media interest when those who commit acts of violence and threaten the extinction of other countries remain secure and avoid scrutiny, while leaders of a democratic state fighting terrorism and leading his country in an existential war on seven fronts, faces trials and an appeal for “execution”? Meanwhile, the world courts and global media glosses over:

  • That Iran may be the most dangerous country in the world today
  • that it seeks to spread its radical Islamic ideology across the Middle East – and beyond
  • that it is also one of the principal sponsors of world terrorism, with its tentacles spreading from the Middle East to Europe, Africa and South America and
  • that most worrisome of all is its illegal pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability and its repeated threats to annihilate Israel.

Where are the mobilized wordsmiths from the media and the world courts on the case against Iran or even Russia for that matter? As Syria descends again into civil war, Russia joins in the fray with its jets striking the rebel-held city of Idlib where around four million people live in makeshift tents and dwellings. Residents said one attack on the second day of raids hit a crowded residential area, including hospitals, killing civilians. Where is international concern or media interest? Are there any accusations of genocide or frenzied protestors taking to the streets? No, that is reserved when only Israel can be blamed. That is the nature of antisemitism – always finding a way to blame the Jews and that is what is happening again in Syria as  Russia blames Israel and the US for the war in Syria. Russia bombs civilians and hospital and blames Israel.

Go figure!

Selective Morality. “Syrian and Russian forces have been deliberately attacking health facilities in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But what is truly egregious is that wiping out hospitals appears to have become part of their military strategy,” said Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International in 2016. They are doing so again in 2024 and the world shows indifference, too focused on trying to trip up Israel as it faces implacable enemies in its fight for survival.

Is the ancient disease of antisemitism – today at pandemic level -incurable? Are Jews stuck for eternity with what Salman Rushdie expressed in his 1981 novel Midnight’s Children:

“What can’t be cured must be endured.”

In the meantime, what they fail on the battlefield, they will try, “Killing us Softly” with words!





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

SOUTH AFRICA EXPOSED

Instead of moral crusader, South Africa is revealed to be the contract gunslinger for Iran and Qatar with Israel as the target.

A new report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) reveals allegations of financial and political involvement by Iran and Qatar in South Africa’s December 2023 case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

Lay of the Land invites readers to read first the commentary by way of introduction followed by the report. In the words of ISGAP Executive Director, Dr. Charles Asher Small, the report “underscores how South Africa’s leadership, under the ANC, is aligning with some of the world’s most dangerous actors, based on a culture of corruption,” and  marks an abandonment “of the of the ANC core values” associated under the leadership of Nelson Mandela by deepening ties with international designated terrorist organizations and their state sponsors.

David E. Kaplan
Editor Lay of the Land




The South African ANC Government’s Dangerous Alliances with Iran, Qatar, and Hamas:
 Report Reveals How South African ANC ICJ Bid Against Israel is Part of a Broader Strategy to Advance the Interests of Terror-Linked States, Undermining Global Security and Democratic Governments.

The South African ANC Government’s Dangerous Alliances with Iran, Qatar, and Hamas:
 Report Reveals How South African ANC ICJ Bid Against Israel is Part of a Broader Strategy to Advance the Interests of Terror-Linked States, Undermining Global Security and Democratic Governments
NEW YORK – November 15, 2024 – The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) released a landmark report revealing the extent of the ruling political party in South Africa African National Congress (ANC)’s deepening ties with international designated terrorist organizations and their state sponsors, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Qatar. Entitled, South Africa, Hamas, Iran, and Qatar: The Hijacking of the ANC and the International Court of Justice, the report sheds light on how the alliance of terror and radical Islam are using South Africa and the people’s valiant historical legacy of struggle, as a critical node in global terrorist financing networks.

Crucially, the report connects South Africa’s political and financial alignment with Iran and Qatar – both leading supporters of global terrorism – with its campaign to bring a legal case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ANC’s decision to pursue this legal battle appears to be part of a broader geopolitical strategy orchestrated by these terror-linked states to undermine Israel under the guise of international law. The report illustrates that this legal action is intended to mask South Africa’s domestic challenges while allowing Iran and Qatar to push their anti-Israel agenda using South Africa’s historical image of social justice as a convenient front.

The ISGAP report provides well-documented, evidence of the ANC’s support for Hamas, marked by formal agreements and frequent high-level engagements between ANC leaders and Hamas officials. In a disturbing trend, South African organizations purportedly engaging in humanitarian work have actually channeled financial and logistical support to Hamas and also Hezbollah, solidifying these dangerous ties.

Dr. Charles Asher Small, Executive Director of ISGAP, said: “This report underscores how South Africa’s leadership, under the ANC, is aligning with some of the world’s most dangerous actors, based on a culture of corruption. This marks an abandonment of the of the ANC core values under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu who were committed to establishing a democratic South Africa for all South Africans. The ANC’s alliances with Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Qatar not only destabilize the region but also position South Africa as a key player in the global web of anti-democratic terror financing. The decision to bring a case against Israel before the ICJ must be seen in this broader context, where international terrorism and political manipulation converge, in which these Jihadist entities attempt to delegitimize Israel in order to destroy it and to undermine democracy and related institutions. It is incumbent on the international community to take a strong stance against the ANC’s troubling partnerships with terror-linked states and organizations and expose the moral and political rot that endangers South Africans and all people committed to democratic principles“.

The report raises concerns about the timing and financing of South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ. It highlights how, in early 2024, shortly after the South African government announced its case against Israel, the ANC mysteriously managed to stabilize its finances with an influx of money, despite being on the verge of bankruptcy. This sudden financial turnaround came without explanation, raising suspicions of foreign financial influence, potentially linked to Iran and Qatar, as this occurred after high-level meetings with Hamas, Iranian and Qatari leaders with ANC ministers , both of which have vested interests in challenging Israel on the global stage.

Beyond that, the report raises critical flaws in South Africa’s case at the ICJ. This notably includes the lack of any mention of Hamas’ crimes, such as their use of the civilian population in Gaza as human shields to maximize collateral damage, or that the Hamas Charter and leaders consistently call for the dismantling of Israel and the murder of Jews around the world. The report also exposes the nature of the South African legal team at the ICJ, which is composed of
individuals and organizations with a record of vehement anti-Israel bias, and direct links to terror organizations.

The report also brings attention to South Africa’s strategic partnership with Iran and Qatar, both of which have been implicated in supporting terrorism. South African government plays a critical role in facilitating Iran’s entry into the BRICS group of nations, thereby granting the country enhanced political legitimacy and access to an influential economic bloc. Similarly, Qatar’s influence in South Africa has grown significantly, particularly through substantial investments in the energy sector and close collaboration on international political issues, including the Palestinian cause.

Significantly, the report also discusses Russian financial influence in South African politics. It details how the United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK), partly owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, has become a major ANC donor. Despite U.S. sanctions against Vekselberg for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he retains substantial ownership in UMK, allowing him to continue financing the ANC. This raises serious questions about potential Russian leverage over South Africa’s foreign policy, especially regarding its increasingly anti- Israel stance.

The report also demonstrates how South Africa has become a strategic hub for terrorist financing, with sophisticated networks funnelling money to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Using systems such as hawala, these groups benefit from South African infrastructure, often with the tacit approval of local authorities. Furthermore, the report delves into a classified South African intelligence document from 1998 that highlighted the already growing presence of radical Islamist organizations within the country, including Hamas and Hezbollah. These groups, it said, use South Africa as a base for fundraising, media operations, and even military training. This disturbing trend has only intensified, with the ANC’s leadership continuing to deepen its ties with these actors. The report urges the international community to reassess South Africa’s role in global security and calls for a stronger stance against the ANC’s troubling partnerships with terror-linked states and organizations. ISGAP emphasizes that South Africa’s aggressive legal campaign against Israel appears to be part of a broader strategy to deflect attention from the ANC’s domestic crises, including widespread corruption and economic failure.
  The full report can be accessed here.

For media inquiries contact Raoul Wootliff at raoul@number10strategies.com





CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

SINWAR WAS NO HERO

False comparisons of Hamas’ late killer-leader with moral icons Mandela and King risks tarnishing their reputations and legacies.

By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe

It was deeply concerning to see many people on social media liken Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, to figures such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. This comparison is not only misguided, but fundamentally wrong. Unlike Mandela and King, who organized their societies through peace, tolerance, and non-violence, Sinwar has used hatred and violence to create chaos, not just against Israelis but even against Arabs in Gaza.

Murder on their Minds. Two years before the October 7, 2023 massacre, Yahya Sinwar mobilizes his supporters at an anti-Israel rally in in Gaza City in 2021(Photo: Shutterstock)

Mandela and King never resorted to violence or hatred, even when faced with intense adversity. Their influence and leadership were rooted in peaceful resistance to end the systemic injustices that marginalized Black people in South Africa and the United States. Despite some calling for violence in the 1990s, neither Mandela nor the ANC ever attacked white civilians as part of their liberation struggle. Instead, they sought justice through international bodies like the United Nations, emphasizing diplomacy over bloodshed. If Sinwar and his allies were genuinely committed to the Palestinian cause, they would have embraced non-violent mechanisms to seek reforms, just as Mandela and King did.

Offensive Comparison. To liken Sinwar, the orchestrator of a massacre of Jews to Nelson Mandela is an insult to both the character and the legacy of one of the most revered personalities of the 20th century.

Sinwar’s legacy, however, is far from heroic. Known as the “Butcher of Khan Younis”, he brutally murdered Palestinian-Arabs whom he accused of collaborating with Israel. His violent reputation instilled more fear among the people he claimed to lead than among his enemies. Late last year, he initiated a bloody war against Israel, knowing full well that it would be the people of Gaza who would bear the brunt of the suffering. Meanwhile, Sinwar and the Hamas leadership would hide safely in tunnels built at the expense of the people of Gaza.

Israel believes that Sinwar, alongside Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, orchestrated the horrific October 7 attacks, where over 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 abducted. Today, approximately 101 hostages are believed to be held in Gaza’s tunnels, prompting Israeli forces to wage a war aimed at securing their release.

It’s important to recognize that this war is between Israel and Hamas, not against the Palestinian people. While Palestinians are tragically suffering the consequences, Israel’s primary objective remains the release of hostages and the protection of its land from future threats.

Sinwar likely underestimated Israel’s response, believing that international scrutiny would prevent retaliation. However, no sovereign nation could witness the slaughter and abduction of its citizens without taking decisive action. Like any other country, Israel has the right to defend itself.

Hamas and Hezbollah perhaps thought they could stretch the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to their limits, but the IDF has remained focused on neutralizing the masterminds of the October 7 attacks while prioritizing the rescue of hostages. Their actions send a clear message:

Future attacks will not be tolerated, and those responsible will be held accountable

Contrary to what some believe, Sinwar was no hero. A true hero is admired for their courage, noble character, and positive achievements. Sinwar’s legacy is stained by the blood of his own people in Khan Younis and the Israelis he despised. A real hero would never drag his people into a war they were unprepared for, knowing full well the devastation it would bring.

Cultivating Killers! Inspiring kids to kill Jews, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza City with a young child in May 2021 (Photo: AFP).

What Palestinians truly need is a leader who can rise above the cycle of hatred and teach their children to cherish life, rather than being brainwashed into believing that martyrdom is a noble end. The real path forward for the Palestinian people lies in rejecting the poisonous ideology that promotes hatred toward Jews and instead embracing a vision of peace and coexistence.

Unfortunately, there are powerful figures behind groups like Hamas and Hezbollah who profit from the ongoing conflict and have no interest in seeing the Israel-Palestine issue resolved. Every step toward progress is undermined by those who prioritize their selfish financial gains over the well-being of millions. Until these vested interests are dismantled, the suffering will continue.



About the writer:

Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher based at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

QUACKS LIKE A TERRORIST

With the company they keep, South Africa’s ANC leadership are conveniently confused who are the real killers!

By Lawrence Nowosenetz

To recoin an old cliché – if it walks like a terrorist, talks like a terrorist, quacks like a terrorist it probably is a terrorist. This homespun truism is not embraced by the Department of International Relations and Co-operation of South Africa (DIRCO).  In an ‘un-momentary’ lapse of reason and disregard for international law, DIRCO has issued a statement on behalf of the government (28 September 2024) expressing:

“…its profound concern regarding the recent escalation of extrajudicial killings in the Middle East, most notably the tragic assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and other leaders in Lebanon.”

Beauty and the Beast. In sharp contrast to the beauty of the building housing South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO),  the policies emanating therein are beastly in its support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

The statement went on:

“The scale of injuries caused by these indiscriminate explosions is deeply troubling and warrants strong condemnation from the international community. Such attacks on civilians constitute a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

Oh really?  

The following incontrovertible data can be gleaned from the IDF website:

Over the past forty years, Hezbollah has been responsible for several large-scale terror attacks against Israeli and Western targets which include:

  • The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, killing 241 US servicemen.    
  • The 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires killing 29 and wounding 242
  •  The 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish cultural center, which killed 85 and injured over 300
Partners in Terror. Firemen and rescue workers walk through the debris after a terrorist attack on Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 17, 1992 that killed 29 and wounded 242 . What South Africa ignores is that both its friends, Iran and Hezbollah, are held responsible of perpetrating the attack and also of orchestrating the 1994 suicide bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 and injured hundreds. (Photo: Don Rypka/AP)

Until 9/11, Hezbollah was responsible for more American deaths than any terror organization in the world. Hassan Nasrallah became Secretary General of Hezbollah in 1992. 

Wearing the black turban of a sayyed, Nasrallah theatrically – often wagging his finger – used his addresses to rally Hezbollah’s base but also to deliver carefully calibrated threats, as he did so. The conflict with Israel largely defined his leadership but he morphed into an increasingly divisive figure in Lebanon and the wider Arab world as Hezbollah’s operations widened beyond, notably Syria where it fought in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war. Is it any wonder that many Lebanese and Syrians celebrated the elimination of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Traditional Tirade. Wagging his finger while threatening Israel, Hassan Nasrallah speaks from an undisclosed location in Lebanon. (Photo taken from image on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV on July 10, 2024)
 

Saudi influencer Abdullah Al-Shaikh wrote that the joy at the news was “indescribable.”

“He was a leader of violence, extremism, terrorism, and betrayal,” he said, expressing his hope that Nasrallah’s death would mean “stability and peace in the region.”

In 2005, Rafiq Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon was assassinated by a huge bomb explosion as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel in Beirut. A further 23 people were killed in the explosion. While Nasrallah predictably denied any Hezbollah involvement in the assassination, a UN-backed tribunal indicted four members of the group.

Targeting Terrorists. The scene in the aftermath of the bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983. Ibrahim Aqil, a Hezbollah commander, who was among those recently killed in an Israeli targeted airstrike was a principal member of a terrorist cell that carried this attack. (Photo: Jim Bourdier/AP)

With the egregious exception of South Africa, Hezbollah is recognized as a global terrorist organization by several countries, including Arab states and the major democracies.  These include the United States, the Arab League, Canada, Argentina, Bahrain, Colombia, Germany, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Honduras, Israel, the Netherlands, Paraguay. While Israel does not accept there is a difference, the UK, Australia, the European Union and New Zealand recognize the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. 

Like other terrorist organizations, beyond Iranian support, Hezbollah is deeply involved in funding from drug trafficking.   The DEA first targeted Hezbollah with Operation Titan, intercepting multi-ton cocaine shipments. 

It should be clearly understood that within the scope of international humanitarian law, terrorism and terrorist acts are prohibited under all circumstances, unconditionally and without exception. This is the stance of the International Committee for the Red Cross, no friend of Israel. The persons targeted by the Beirut bombing attacks and indeed the pager explosions were no civilians but identifiable Hezbollah operatives. Israel is at war with Hezbollah and such attacks are lawful under international law. Disguising combatants as civilians is a war crime called perfidy – a strategy much adopted by Hamas and Hezbollah.  South Africa should carefully distinguish between targeted attacks on legitimate military targets and bona fide civilians. It would also bode well if DIRCO condemned the targeted rocket attack on the Golan Heights Druze town of Majdal Shams on 27 July 2024.  A children’s playground was directly hit resulting in the death of 12 people, most of whom were children. This was the deadliest attack on civilians of Israel since the 7 October 2023 Hamas massacre.

With Iran directly supporting and suppling Iran-made weapons to Hezbollah, it was hardly surprising to learn that among those killed in Israel’s air strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut, was Deputy Commander of Iran’s IRGC Quds Force, Abas Nilforoushan. These are the ‘inconvenient truths’ for DIRCO which completely rubbish its statement condemning civilian attacks.   

Plotter of Evil. What was Iran’s Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, the Deputy Commander of Operations for the IRGC doing in Lebanon when he was killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes in Beirut? (Photo: (Elaheh Javan, Fars News Agency via AP)

DIRCO also self-righteously states that it stands in solidarity with the people of Lebanon. Which people of Lebanon? Hezbollah is an unlawful state within a state and most certainly does not represent the people or the government of Lebanon. Indeed, all across the Middle East there have been celebrations by Muslim Arabs at the demise of Nasrallah. 

With South Africa on its pitiful roll in its ongoing contrived assault on international law against Israel, it is time to blow the whistle on this foul. 



About the writer:

Now retired, Pretoria-born human rights and labour lawyer, Lawrence Nowosenetz practiced at the Pretoria and Johannesburg Bar. Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, Nowosenetz completed an internship in the USA and served as a part-time Senior Commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) as well as a panellist at Tokiso Dispute Settlement – the largest private dispute resolution provider in South Africa. He has also served as an Acting Judge of the Hight Court, South Africa.  






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

OUR NOBLE, PROGRESSIVE, ANTI-ZIONIST JEWS

Trying to buy acceptance by selling their souls

By Stephen Schulman

Many moons ago, in fact in 1963, I had the dubious honour of being called up for compulsory military service in the South African Defence Forces. Basic training took place in Potchefstroom, in a large camp, 1200 km away from my birthplace of Cape Town. Recruits came from all sectors of SA society: Afrikaners, English speakers and a few Jews. We were all shapes and sizes, straight-laced and oddball, roughnecks and cultured. Most I have forgotten, but one particular individual remains in my memory.

Frankie hailed from Durban. He was short, to put it mildly, not good looking and a singularly unpleasant character. He also had, as he deeply felt, the misfortune to having been born a Jew: a sad state of affairs to which he set about to actively correct. Frankie would take great pains in declaring to all and sundry that not only did he not identify with his religion but disassociated himself from its practice. On Friday nights when the Jewish soldiers were taken to the synagogue for the service and then often invited for supper at the homes of the congregants – a welcome short break from army drudgery – Frankie out of solidarity with, and trying to be ‘one of the guys’ would stay on the base. To the best of my recollection, even when Passover arrived, forfeiting more than a week’s holiday leave, he demonstratively remained there.

Did he succeed in being accepted as ‘one of them’? Did he manage to slough off his born identity and meld with the greater group? Did this concerted effort boost his popularity? Not really. His toadying and groveling were of no avail and his efforts to ingratiate himself with the non-Jewish majority earned him no respect and no exalted status. Frankie’s nickname was ‘Ikey’, the little Jew who was seen by all as a bit of a curiosity. He was a sad, pitiable individual.

Why write about such an insignificant person? Simply because today, with this avalanche of wide spread antisemitism engulfing all Jews irrespective of their views and affiliations, there are many little ‘Ikeys’ running around, hoping for acceptance, and seeking to prove to one and all that they, unlike their co-religionists: are progressive, liberal, anti-racist, enlightened anti-Zionists, endowed with an elevated moral status and heightened sensitivity.

The Jewish Council of Australia, (JCA) formed in February 2024 is an excellent example of this pathetic genre. It purports to represent a growing number of Jewry and bleats the old hackneyed tropes that:

“The aim of Zionism — as with other versions of settler colonialism in countries like Australia — is to replace the indigenous people on their land with settlers. A lot of early Zionist ideologues were very open about this fact; the point was to conquer the land. The early Zionist project culminated in the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their land during the Nakba”.

Rogue’s Gallery. Says Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) Executive Officer Dr Max Kaiser, an historian and lecturer at the University of Melbourne: “Israel is a rogue state”.

This pathetic and deeply flawed generalization, ignoring history, archeology and the Bible is a typical example of this stunted ideology blinding its believers to reality.

There has been a huge rise in antisemitism in Australia, but one of the esteemed cofounders of this organization in a prime example of warped logic and self-deception claims:  

“The harassment of Jews has come from fervent supporters of the Israeli government among the Jewish community as well as from “more blatant and openly violent” neo-Nazis”

Shortly after October 7th, on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, there was a mass demonstration of Muslims in support of and in jubilation joyously celebrating the massacre with shouts of “Gas the Jews” and other virulently antisemitic slogans. Naturally, in their eyes, the Muslims who were there and the leftist students at the universities harassing and intimidating Jewish students were as pure as the driven snow. And lest we forget, all those Hamas and Hezbollah flags at the anti-Israel demonstrations. Who were their supporters that were waving them? Were they the “fervent supporters of the Israeli government among the Jewish community”?

The Writing is on the Wall. By aligning itself with anti-Zionists, the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) helps sow the seeds of antisemitism in Australia, physically endangering the Jewish community.  The JCA calls for Australia to cut all military ties and sanction Israel. Here we see the result – graffiti painted on a suburban wall in Melbourne that reads  “KILL JEWS – JEW LIVES HERE” .

The organization’s mission statement that “We are committed to the values of tikkun olam (repairing the world), calling out injustice, challenging assumptions and promoting debate” is an exercise in unashamed hypocrisy, blatant bias and pure pusillanimity. Hamas and Hezbollah are universally proscribed terror organizations whose covenant openly declares their aim of destroying the state of Israel. On October 7th 2023, Hamas invaded Israel indulging in acts of brutality and sadism that flew in the face of all civilized behaviour and shocked the world. Twelve hundred innocent people both Jews and Muslims of all ages and gender were murdered in an organized orgy of rape, sodomy, torture, maiming, burning alive and mass shootings. Two hundred and fifty more ranging from infants to infirm old people were kidnapped, held and are still being held in inhumane conditions. They have been starved, subjected to physical and psychological torture and many have been murdered.

What has been the reaction of the enlightened council’s founders to these atrocities? Not a bleat or a squeak in condemnation. The silence of the grave. Do Jewish lives not matter? Where is your much vaunted tikkun olam and calling out injustice?  Where is your social conscience? Is it only limited to finding reasons to besmirch Israel?  The world is rife with injustice and persecution. China persecutes the Uyghur people and is engaged in carrying out their cultural genocide. It persecutes the Falun Gong sect and engages in organ harvesting. It supports the evil regime of North Korea notorious for its human rights violations. Why your silence? But then, pragmatism dictates keeping your mouths shut. After all, Communist China is an important trading partner with big investments in Australia, most sensitive to any criticism and swift to react. We wouldn’t like to ruffle its feathers, would we? What about the millions of children starving in the Sudan? Hamas in clear contravention of norms has used and is using hospitals, schools and private homes as launch pads for attacks against Israel. Its warehouses are overflowing with food and medicines that were destined for and stolen from the civilian population, but never a word said, your only criticism has ever been against Israel. Your actions carry the strong stench of hypocrisy.

South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) is an organization in a similar mould whose lengthy and wearying mission statement/catechism contains an odious concoction of all too well worn poisonous ideological tropes, distortions and deliberate lies that easily outdoes the Australian one. For all of us who do not have the fortitude to wade through this self righteous, verbose swamp, its content can be summed up in a few words: Israel, an apartheid state, is the pawn of Western imperialist, colonialist powers and Zionism is a corrosive force that corrupts and destroys. A few choice examples from the catechism: Zionism “is built on inequality, exclusion, settler-colonialism and violent ethnic cleansing and asserts an ethnic supremacy which is fundamentally racist.”  It also demands that all Jews place the state of Israel at the centre of Jewish existence, distorting and destroying other cherished parts of Jewish identity.”

Israel is also quite obviously an apartheid state, for “it also discriminates against Mizrachi, Arab and African Jews. SAJFP rejects the unfounded assumption that all Jews are white or access white privilege.” – a statement so ridiculous and twisted that it is beneath all contempt.

A prime example of ideological contortionism: “Zionism is not Judaism and the effort to conflate the two is itself a form of antisemitism because it reduces a diverse and dynamic cultural and religious group to a nation state.”

While the organization states: “SAJFP takes an anti- violence position” they also: “support the rights of the Palestinians to resist their oppression” and since they view: “the occupation of Palestine as violence”, they consequently “support the rights of the Palestinians to rise up against these (and other forms) of violence.”  It doesn’t require much effort to read between the lines and see why the SAJFP, true to form, has shockingly remained silent about and tacitly condoned the October 7th massacre.

 Seeking Acceptance.  Are these Jews in South Africa protesting for a “free Palestine” or Jews protesting to be free of the burden of being Jews?

Amongst other of their organized activities, on the 9th August, the SAJFP dutifully picketed the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre because they felt it did not relate to the “genocide” in Gaza where they likened the behaviour of the Israeli army to that of the Nazis. In keeping with their self righteousness, the members recited the Kaddish (mourner’s prayer) for the Gaza dead. The report on their site of this event ends with: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will soon be free.” – the well-known clarion call, genocidal in intent, for the destruction of the Jewish State.

South African Jewry is currently experiencing a growing tidal wave of institutionalized and violent antisemitism that does not distinguish between the ideologies of the members of the community. SAJFP carries on its banner that: “it is fundamentally opposed to antisemitism.” Has it ever raised its voice in protest?  Does their site mention any activities against or any condemnation whatsoever of this despicable phenomenon? Of course not, but if you are looking for information about BDS, cutting all ties with, sanctioning Israel and its elimination, then you have come to the right place.

Jews for Jewish Destruction. Negating the thousands of years bond of Judaism to the state of Israel, these South Africa Jews support the BDS movement that promotes “cutting all ties with Israel…. sanctioning Israel and its elimination.”

The civilized world swiftly condemned the October 7th massacre and expressed its outrage and revulsion. Tragically, these two Jewish organizations, in their blind adherence to their distorted ideologies, have chosen to remain silent. They have a legitimate right to disagree with Zionism and to their opinions whatsoever. But, to willfully ignore the sadistic murder of twelve hundred of their fellow Jews, man, woman and child and the plight of another two hundred and fifty who were kidnapped and if still alive, are suffering in inhumane conditions simply because they are not on their side of the political spectrum is incomprehensible and unforgivable. It is the silence of assent. They have demonstrated an utter callousness and are devoid of one iota of compassion. They have negated their own Judaism and humanity.

Jewish history is tragically replete with so many instances of obsequious ‘little Ikeys‘bending over backwards to placate others and how they ended. Jewish humour reflects its history, the Jewish condition and its accumulated wisdom. It is mainly in a low key and very often is a ‘bittere gelegte‘ (Yiddish for bitter laughter) containing a poignant message that conveys unpleasant truths. There is a story of two Jews that walked into a bar. One was orthodox and a Zionist, the other was a confirmed atheist and fervent anti- Zionist and the bartender said:

“We don’t serve Jews here!”  

Let all these misguided ideologues read and take heed.





About the writer:

Stephen Schulman is a graduate of the South African Jewish socialist youth movement Habonim, who immigrated to Israel in 1969 and retired in 2012 after over 40 years of English teaching. He was for many years a senior examiner for the English matriculation and co-authored two English textbooks for the upper grades in high school. Now happily retired, he spends his time between his family, his hobbies and reading to try to catch up on his ignorance.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

IN PARIS WHILE SOUTH AFRICA BURNS

In the spotlight of the Olympics, South African leadership attacks Israel rather than deal with problems at home

By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe

I was astonished to see ANC’s Fikile Mbalula and the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture campaigning against Israel at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This happened just as the media broke an international headline that 95 Libyan nationals were discovered in an illegal, non-state military camp in Mpumalanga, posing a national security threat to the entire SADC region.  

Masters and Ministries of Misfocus. South Africa’s leadership typically misdirects its focus away from pressing local issues with ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula (above) and the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture campaigning against Israel at 2024 Paris Olympics.

On Saturday morning, I woke up to the devastating news that eight innocent people were killed in a tavern in the Kanana township of the North West Province. Isn’t this supposed to be the government’s priority? It is increasingly evident that the current political leadership does not prioritize the security and safety of impoverished South Africans.

It needs to be emphasized that more than 84 people are killed daily in South Africa, a number that may have increased in 2024. Between January and December 2023, the SAPS reported 27,368 murders – an alarming figure that accounts solely for murder.

Who sent 95 Libyans to South Africa? 95 Libyan nationals linked to an illegal military training camp in Mpumalanga appeared in the White River Magistrates Court on 29 July 2024 on charges of violating the country’s immigration act. (Photo: Katlego Jiyane/Eyewitness News)

While there are white victims, the majority are black. The tragic reality is that black-on-black violence is prevalent, with murder hotspots identified in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces. Political leaders are aware of these dangers, which is why they employ private security for themselves and their properties, leaving the poor to fend for themselves.

Death by violence – the norm! A mourner holds a photo near the coffin of Luke Fleurs, South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs defender, at the funeral outside the New Apostolic Church in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, South Africa, April 20, 2024. (Photo: Esa Alexander/Reuters)

South Africans deserve diligent service and constant protection within their country. This has not been the case for many years. People live in fear within their communities, while we claim to address complex issues in Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Ukraine. We are failing to secure our borders, which have always been porous. Many undocumented migrants from other countries pose a national security threat to innocent people.

In fact, terrorism experts have previously warned that terror groups carrying out attacks in Africa are using South Africa as a financial (and training) base for their heinous activities, resulting in numerous deaths. The country is dotted with illegal, unregistered spaza stores (small shops operating from private home, selling food, drinks, cigarettes, etc. to local people, especially in a township) that do not comply with tax regulations, yet the government has ignored warnings that this money is being used to finance terrorism. Jihadist financing is flourishing in South Africa due to the complacency and greed of public servants and politicians.

Furthermore, our very own Department of Health has conceded in parliament that 15,000 children are diagnosed annually with severe acute malnutrition, with 1,000 dying directly from it. And this is happening in a resource-rich nation!!! Severe acute malnutrition is one of the three leading causes of child deaths accounting  another 10,000 deaths a year. 

Our political leadership must start treating its citizens as equal by prioritizing them and providing dignified public services. As the saying goes, charity begins at home. We cannot claim to fight for social justice globally while failing to protect our citizens from brutal killings that often do not get investigated, leaving victims without justice. We need to take ourselves seriously.

How does the Palestine-Israel matter become South Africa’s priority when we are the world’s most unequal country? Ten percent of the population which is white owns 80% of the country’s wealth but the political leadership is so obsessed with countries that are more than 6,000 miles away from them. 

Hunger in South Africa. For the ANC’s top echelon of leadership, these South African children are less of a concern than the more international grabbing media attention of the Gazan Palestinians in order to falsely besmirch Israel.  

South African politicians have convinced themselves that the Israel-Palestine conflict holds political significance and can garner electoral support. However, this has not proven true, as the ANC lost 17% of its national votes despite making considerable noise about the Middle East conflict.

The Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture should focus on domestic issues. Our youth are struggling with alcohol and drugs, yet the department is more concerned with Palestine. Why not collaborate with communities to rehabilitate lost youth and create arts and rehabilitation programs to reduce substance abuse? South Africans voted for representatives to deliver quality services, not to focus on distant conflicts. While our government criticizes Israel, there are lessons to be learned from Israel’s experience in handling terrorism and surviving amidst constant threats. We should also learn from other countries’ use of diplomacy to resolve issues and avoid unnecessary tensions.


How Cape Town became a murder capital
(Video)



About the writer:

Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher based at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

AN OPEN LETTER TO NALEDI PANDOR

South Africa’s outgoing foreign minister showed ZERO concern for Israelis that experienced a massacre and whose women were raped and abused by the very people Pandor embraces.

By Rolene Marks

Minister Pandor,

Please permit me a moment to write to you as a woman who grew up in South Africa during the darkest years of Apartheid through to the rebirth of the country onto a proud democracy. A democracy many of us as Jews and Zionist stood beside you and fought for because Apartheid was a violation of our tenets of respect for human rights. As you prepare to leave your office, with the impression that you have achieved much in your personal war with Israel that you extended to your Ministry, please note the following.

I am a proud Jewish, Zionist woman who has the privilege of living in Israel, a country whose Declaration of Independence is not dissimilar to the ANC’s Freedom Charter that declares the state “the beneficiary of all its inhabitants”. Inhabitants that include women. South Africa’s constitution enshrines the rights and protection of women.

I write this on 19 June, which is the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. On 7 October, crimes of sexual violence were committed against Israeli women and girls. Former hostages have shared how sexual violence is still committed against some of the remaining hostages – including some of the males. Nowhere in recorded history can the deliberate and inhumane barbarism of 7 October be equaled, including the crimes against humanity of mass rape. The United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence concluded that there was “clear and convincing evidence of Hamas crimes of sexual violence”. In her remarks to the media while in Israel, a country you have not visited, the envoy spoke about how she and her team were unable to sleep after reviewing the evidence.

Rampant Rape. This is what Hamas did on October 7; this is what South Africa’s outgoing foreign minister Pandor conveniently ignores.

Minister Pandor, you have not only been silent about the rape of Israeli women but in the hours following the atrocities of 7 October, you intimated in a press release that Israel deserved what happened. “The new conflagration has arisen from the continued illegal occupation of Palestine land, continued settlement expansion, desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Christian holy sites, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people,” said the press release from your office. You followed that with a phone call to Ismail Haniyeh the political chief of Hamas expressing your solidarity and then visited Tehran soon after. Iran is the main sponsor of Hamas who committed these atrocities. You were photographed smiling alongside Iranian leaders who have repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel, effectively a genocide.

South Africa’s foreign policy under your stewardship has taken a radical turn away from its purported human rights position to one of close collaboration with authoritarian regimes.

These are regimes where human rights are selectively practiced according to the whim and fancy of the individual ruling party, where certain groups and bodies are deemed less worthy of being treated humanely because of their beliefs or traditions or culture or any other decision.

Regrettably, South Africa falls directly into this category with regards to the unspeakable atrocities committed by terrorist group Hamas which, unprovoked, attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, committing the most savage and brutal atrocities against Israeli women and girls.  This is in violation not only of your party, the African National Congress (ANC) Freedom Charter but South Africa’s noble Constitution.

Minister Pandor, you are not only a political leader, you are a woman. You have daughters. You are part of 50% of humanity and yet you are silent about the rape of Israeli women.

Is it because as Jewish women you do not see them as part of the 50%?

Are Jewish women not part of the sisterhood?

You held a top position in the South African government, yet you are so consumed with hatred for the nation that suffered the Holocaust and vowed “Never again!” that the words and sentiments of Nelson Mandela have had no effect on you.

Mandela was a man of dignity, of forgiveness, of extending human rights to all, yet you have taken upon yourself the mantle of hatred towards Israel and Jewish women.

Minister Pandor, South Africa is a country with among the highest rape statistics in the world. Rape is a scourge and weapon of war acted on across the African continent, and one notable voice has remained silent – yours. You have been silent about the atrocities committed against women in Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea and other countries.

Rape was used as a weapon of war against Israeli women on 7 October. There has not been one word of concern or comfort for the Israeli – JEWISH – women who were so viciously and obscenely molested, violated, assaulted and debased. Not only was there not one word of comfort or even acknowledgement, you chose to put Israel on trial at the International Court of Justice on a bogus charge of genocide. There was only one party to this conflict guilty of genocide and that was Hamas, as evidenced in their repeated proclamations to do it again and again and again.

Selective Sight. Did Naledi Pandor even look at photos like these as Israeli women attempt to flee for their lives during the massacre of October 7, perpetrated by the mass murderers from Gaza that Pandor supports and embraces.

The Women’s Action Committee of South Africa, (WACSA) an independent and non-political group of concerned women of various ages, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds – has circulated a petition condemning rape as a weapon of war across the world.

Would you be prepared to sign it?

Would you use your position as someone who held position in the government to encourage women across the nation to sign it?

Would you have the courage and the responsibility to stand with women everywhere?

Or will you refrain because you believe Israeli/Jewish women fall into some hideous category?

Minister Pandor, on this day of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict will you count Israeli women among the family of nations and among the victims of rape as a weapon of war? If you truly believe that you are at the vanguard of global human rights and if you honour both the Freedom Charter of your political part and the Constitution of South Africa, you will do so.

To remain silent, is to be complicit.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

AN OPEN LETTER FROM ISRAEL TO SOUTH AFRICA’S FOREIGN MINISTER NALEDI PANDOR

If you can vote in Ramallah but not in Tel-Aviv, is South Africa ‘stage-managing’ who it wants to vote and not vote?

By Kenneth Mokgatlhe

I am a South African adult male pursuing postgraduate studies at Israel’s Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). I am writing this letter to request you open our mission in Tel Aviv, to allow me and other South Africans to exercise our constitutional right to vote in national elections.

I was told by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officials that they won’t be conducting elections in Israel, because the government will not be opening the diplomatic mission during elections. In essence, the IEC is ready and prepared to conduct elections whenever the South African government can show political willingness to do so. These officials advised me to go to cast my vote in Ramallah, in the Palestinian territories. Due to logistical difficulties, I am unable to go to Ramallah. I am based in the far South of Israel, in a city called Beer-Sheva. It could be easier

Your actions are extreme and affect South Africans. I do not know how depriving me of my constitutional right will further isolate or punish Israel, as is your intention, nor is it clear to me why stopping us South Africans from voting will help resolve the issue between Israel and Hamas. It is plainly undemocratic to exclude people like us (South Africans residing in Israel) from participating in the democratic process.

As a true Democrat, I understand that elections are a cornerstone of every functioning democracy where both the poor and rich are given the power to decide their fate. I know that there is apathy in our country especially amongst young people like myself, however, I and many other South Africans continue to believe that elections are a viable way to hold people like you accountable, at least once in a blue moon. 

I find it difficult to be convinced that the mission is closed due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. If the closure was a consequence of the war, then all missions from both sides would have been shut down temporarily until further notice. In the last elections in 2019, only 5 people voted from Ramallah. There are more South Africans in Israel than in Ramallah, so why not allocate some resources to Tel Aviv for a single day to allow us to vote?

Minister, as a staunch supporter of Hamas and hater of Israel, I know that you believe that that those who will be voting from Ramallah will choose the ANC. Conversely, I am sure that you are aware that many of us in Israel are ready to vote against the ANC. Your decision is therefore not premised on a moral or ethical basis. This is a purely electoral strategy to see the ANC maintain its support through morally corrupt ways.

It is possible, Minister Pandor, to love and support Palestine without necessarily hating Israel and its people. As a leader, you have to find the most possible and effective ways to resolve conflicts and seek cooperation. I hope that you use the same energy to help the Nigerians, Sudanese, and Mozambicans who are under attack by the Islam radicals targeting and killing hundreds of black Africans.

All our ancestors fought for the right to vote. Our forefathers died for us to have a voice. It cannot be true that you single-handedly take away the only right that the vulnerable like me can use against the powerful like you. You are suppressing the views of those you do not like. You should learn to be tolerant of dissenting views. Minister, I am not asking you to support Israel, I know you cannot do that, but I am pleading with you to consider your fellow South Africans who, like myself, are currently in Israel pursuing various goals.



About the writer:

Kenneth Mokgatlhe is pursuing a Master of Arts in African Studies, African Sustainable Communities program, at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He is a political writer, analyst, and researcher.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

SOUTH AFRICA’S FOREIGN POLICY MORALLY ADRIFT

Obsessed with trying to undermine Israel at every opportunity, South Africa ignores genuine genocides closer to home.

By Allan Wolman

South Africa recently hosted the inaugural “Global Anti-Apartheid Conference for Palestine” (10th – 12th May) held in Johannesburg, featuring some ‘illustrious’ international speakers renowned for their impartiality, such as Declan Kearney,  the chairman of Sinn Féin, Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, and what would such a conference be without Ronnie Kasrils, the former South African minister of intelligence and longtime champion of BDS who celebrated Hamas’ massacre of innocent civilians on 7 October?

Dressed to Impress. Indifferent to the massacre of Jews, the holding of Israeli hostages and future threats to Israel, South Africa’s foreign minister Naledi Pandor dons a Palestinian keffiyeh to deliver the opening address at the inaugural Global anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, 10 May 2024. 

What was the most heinous slaughtering of Jews since the Holocaust was for ANC’s Kasrils a “damned good”, saying:

“They swept on them, and they killed them, and damned good! I was so pleased.”

In her opening remarks, South Africa’s foreign minister Naledi Pandor, sporting her distinctive keffiyeh draped over her shoulders, said: “The situation in Palestine should be prioritized by the ICC in order to deliver justice to the victims of these grave crimes,” regurgitating those familiar themes of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide while asserting South Africa’s commitment to righteousness and moral leadership, suggesting a global standard they aim to set.

Conference of the Connivers. Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Mustafa Barghouti (left) greets former South African President Thabo Mbeki (right) with Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Naledi Pandor (centre) at the inaugural Global anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, 10 May 2024.

The conference wrapped up with a resolution urging South African Muslim voters to support the ruling party in the upcoming elections, under the theme of unity behind the ANC. The ruling party expressed gratitude, viewing the endorsement as a testament to their shared values and commitment to their world view.

Like many other countries, South Africa has a defence industry producing and exporting arms and military equipment, governed by regulations and export controls. The South African National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) – was created to ensure that weapons sales align with the country’s constitutional values of respect, human rights and democracy. 

The Daily Maverick (14 August 2023) published a report about South African arms exports to Saudi Arabia and UAE, both at war with Yemen, topping an astonishing R9.2bn. 
According to Open Secrets, (a non-profit organisation which exposes & builds accountability for economic crimes), South Africa has previously supplied arms to countries such as Rwanda, Syria, Zimbabwe, Turkey and Libya. 

Selective Sight.  South Africa has only eyes for Palestinians a continent away, while closer to home counties are ablaze like here in the Sudan in aftermath of an RSF attack in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, on 1 September 2023. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sparked controversy, raising ethical concerns when a 2019 court ruling deemed the exports unconstitutional and unlawful, shedding light on fears of South Africa violating of international law.

The war in Yemen has claimed the lives of over 85,000 children and more than 130,000 civilians. After nine years, Yemen faces severe food insecurity, a cholera epidemic, and a collapsing healthcare system, with millions displaced and suffering from malnutrition and disease. The UNHCR identifies Yemen as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 21 million people urgently needing humanitarian aid and at risk of widespread famine.

At the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and neighbouring countries (Paris, 15 April 2024), participants called

on the warring parties to put an end to the hostilities, comply with international humanitarian law and guarantee full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the whole Sudanese territory.

The conflict in Sudan is rooted in tensions between Arab herders and non-Arab farmers over land and its resources resulting in over 2 million refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries. Sudan itself is home to the largest number of internally displaced persons globally, with 9 million affected by the conflict. More than half of Sudan’s population, totalling over 27 million people, are in need of humanitarian aid, and facing acute food shortages. 

Continent in Conflict. While South Africa is ready to host Sudanese leaders and only three months after President Ramaphosa visits Sudan are seen here the wounded people at Bashayer hospital in northern Khartoum, 20 June 2023. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

France, Germany, and the EU condemned the violence, including ethnic attacks, indiscriminate bombings, and gender-based violence, particularly against children. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, described the situation as the worst child displacement crisis globally, while the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, highlighted that the war in Sudan has triggered the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis this year. The head of the UNHCR for the region reported shocking accounts of widespread rape and sexual violence.

There is a fear that was expressed in a press release that the Sudan does not join another “forgotten crisis”.

In an op-ed in the NYT (21 March 2024), the civil war between Ethiopia and Tigray was described as one of the deadliest conflicts of this century with an estimated death toll of over half a million people and the region now facing widespread famine. The report goes on to say that over 100,000 women are believed to have been the victims of conflict-related sexual violence. Ethiopia and South Africa established a Strategic Partnership on February 15, 2024, aimed at political cooperation, economic relations, and deepen bilateral ties.

It’s intriguing to consider South Africa’s foreign engagements amidst arms sales to the Yemen war, President Ramaphosa hosting Sudanese paramilitary leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti in Pretoria, and recent visits to Rwanda and South Sudan, and a strategic partnership with Ethiopia.

South Africa’s obsessive foreign focus on prosecuting – or more persecuting – Israel at The Hague appears to overshadow the tragedy and conflicts closer to home.



About the writer:

Allan Wolman in 1967 joined 1200 young South Africans to volunteer to work on agricultural settlements in Israel during the Six Day War. After spending a year in Israel, he returned to South Africa where he met and married Jocelyn Lipschitz and would run  one of the oldest travel agencies in Johannesburg – Rosebank Travel. He would also literally ‘run’ three times in the “Comrades”, one of the most grueling marathons in the world as well as participate in the “Argus” (Cape Town’s famed international annual cycling race) an impressive eight times. Allan and Jocelyn immigrated to Israel five years ago.





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