South Africa's Opposition to Israel's Genocide in Gaza Must Not Falter
The position adopted by Chief Rabbi Goldstein to be Israel’s main cheerleader, is not only boringly repetitive but frankly speaking, of no consequence for South Africa.
Defence of Israel's bloodbath in besieged Gaza may appeal to a small minority of people, but certainly will neither find favour nor blessings among the country's overwhelming majority.
As South Africans we are aware of the terrible slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza as well as the overbearing oppression faced by their brethren - Muslim and Christian, in the illegally Occupied West Bank.
Though we are physically disconnected by thousands of kilometres from Gaza, we feel the pain and share the grief of the millions who have been herded like cattle into so-called "safe zones".
Just as the illegal creation of the Zionist apartheid regime has been built upon a lie, so too is it evident that the myth of "safe zones" is a lie.
No amount of spin or misleading information will conceal this fact.
In fact many spokespersons from various United Nations agencies have constantly raised their alarm on this. So too has Israel's main political, economic and military lifeline in the White House, warned about it.
But as is known and demonstrated by the ongoing genocide, the Netanyahu regime disregards these warnings. As the modern reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, Netanyahu is blinded by his pursuit of killing every living Palestinian including babies.
As South Africans who have empathy for the Palestinians and the pain they endure at the hands of Netanyahu's murderous thugs, we proclaim our undying support and solidarity for Palestine.
We are committed to not only exposing Zionist Israel’s lies, but also to fearlessly challenge the liars.
Zionism as a racist colonial project has been the root cause for the displacement of Palestinians from their homes and lands since and before 1948.
It is thus a misnomer and a false narrative to be told that Netanyahu’s "War on Hamas" was due to Oct 7, when Hamas launched its heroic operation.
The correct narrative which the Zionist regime does not want the world to hear, is that the battle of the Palestinian people against occupation and colonialism started 105 years ago.
Palestine resisted British colonialism for 30 years and 75 years of Zionist Occupation.
To bluff the world into believing that Palestine was barren land, the Zionists created a myth: "People without land for land without people".
In parroting this lie, the architects of Zionism hoped that their crimes which resulted in the NAKBA (Great catastrophe) would be concealed.
They hoped their scorched earth policies of ethnic cleansing that wiped out more than 500 Palestinian villages and towns, displaced over 700,000 Palestinians through plunder and massacres, would be forgotten.
How wrong they've been and continue to foolishly believe that generations later, the old would die and the young will forget.
Oct 7 with the launch of "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" proved them wrong: not only have the youth not forgotten, they have awoken the conscience of the world.
South Africans must continue to raise their voices in condemnation of the ongoing genocide as well as the blatant hypocrisy and double standards of the West, particularly the Biden administration for directly aiding and abetting ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
In addition we must not waiver in declaring our full support for all lawfare initiatives including in particular the historic initiative by the SA government at the International Court of Justice.
Iqbal Jassat
Media Review Network
Johannesburg
