Last Friday the ANC set off to protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria to express their outrage towards Israel.
But one wonders where was the ANC voice two weeks ago when 1 500 Jewish civilians were brutally and systematically murdered in the largest act of mass murder against the Jewish people since the Holocaust? Where was the condemnation by the ANC when Hamas parachuted into Israel, to butcher 260 people attending a music festival and rape women? Where was their outrage when whole families including young children and babies were murdered in their homes? And where was the moral outrage when over 200 civilians abducted and taken to Gaza as hostages?
No condemnation. No outrage. No protest. No rallies.
Having heard nothing at all from the ruling party, one can deduce that Jewish lives don’t count. Clearly, murdering Jews simply because they are Jews is not worthy of condemnation or indeed compassion. When the ANC finally did issue a statement, the inference was that the massacre was justified and that Israel ‘had it coming’. For days following the massacre, the ANC refused to offer any modicum of sympathy to the Israeli people or even to their own Jewish community traumatised by the loss of loved ones in Israel.
In place of any support, Israel was now targeted for blame. Use of words such as genocide, concentration camps, Nazis, Holocaust (with a small h) and of course ethnic cleansing are crammed into sentences to exploit the pain of our tragic past. We note how words like ‘genocide’ were not used by the ANC when 1 500 Jewish people were exterminated within a few hours. The ANC also didn’t see it fit to use the term “ethnic cleansing” when Hamas tried to rid the south of Israel of its Jews and make it `Judenrein’. These expressions are seemingly reserved for accusations against Jews.
If the ANC really want to know what genocide could look like, they need look no further than the Hamas charter which is genocidal in its call to wipe out Jews.
To add insult to injury, our DIRCO Minister, Naledi Pandor has acknowledged she made a telephone call to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. It is inconceivable to imagine that a minister of our constitutional democracy is in contact with a leader of a terrorist organisation. By contrast, at no time has the Minster reached out the Israeli government, or even the Israeli Ambassador to offer condolences or support. Sadly, the families of South Africans killed by Hamas haven’t yet heard a word from our government, despite official statements claiming that this has been done.
The ANC protest included chants `From the River to the Sea, Palestine Shall be Free’, which is essentially a call to eliminate Israel and its Jewish inhabitants. This chant is traditionally associated with antisemitic organisations such as the BDS and not the ruling party of a democratic country.
On that same Friday, while the ANC were pursuing this protest, I joined 500 pastors from around Gauteng in praying for the release of over 200 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, in horrific conditions one can only imagine. Our heartfelt prayers were for a resolution to the conflict. I did then, as I do now, extend my personal prayers for innocent victims who have died and who are suffering, be they in Israel, Gaza or Palestine. Why is it so hard for the ANC leadership to do likewise?
Wendy Kahn is National Director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
