Last week, the Nelson Mandela announced that it was hosting an event called “Shabbat Against Genocide” with a group known as South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP). Precipitating this event, the ANC government made shameful accusations of genocide against Israel. These are founded in ignorance, malicious antisemitism and plain old greed – as the likelihood that the ANC was paid to take Israel to the ICJ is not unlikely.
South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) is a movement that has risen to media prominence once again after the Hamas Massacre of October 7th 2023.
Pitching themselves as a useful tool for supposed “balanced” media reporting, they spew their humdrum repetition of genocidal slogans and conspiracy theories that are so common among pro-Palestine activists. This is unfortunate, as their viewpoint most certainly does not reflect that of the absolute majority of Jews in this country. Yet the prominence of the term “Jews” in their organisational name creates confusion in the minds of everyday South Africans.
The SAJFP has actively been leading a misinformation campaign against Israel, appearing around the country, albeit in small numbers, to back anti-Israel public campaigns. Before a single IDF boot had touched Gazan soil, they were already yelling about genocide. They continued with this line even after the International Court of Justice ruled clearly that they were not able to find Israel guilty of committing genocide, and dismissed the ANC government’s demand for a cease fire. Notably they have not taken the courts demand that Hamas release the hostages seriously.
A closer look at the SAJFP’s rhetoric shows that it operates on the fringes of respectable discourse in general and on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict in particular. At a recent protest the group blamed the conflict on “elite controlled governments” and “neo-capitalism” disregard of democracy, while “financial elites” ensure that war continues. A common trope of antisemitic conspiracy theories. The organisation has described Israel as participating in “settler colonisation of Palestine since 1948”. An absurd and ahistorical statement.
There have been Jewish communities in the Levant for thousands of years. The Ottoman Empire, which owned the area up until 1918, sold property to Jews, and recognised their right to ownership of the land. Jews are not settlers to their historical homeland. Jews acquired land legally and ethically in the region. That is, except for the Jews who had never left Israel despite millennia of persecution.
Today, despite accusations of being an Apartheid state, Arabs are the largest ethnic minority in Israel, filling many positions in government, media, civil society, the parliament, sports teams and even the Israeli defense forces. Just one example is Khaled Kabub, an Arab Muslim who was elected to the Israeli Supreme Court in 2022.
SAJFP viewpoints go beyond the fringe. They have called for “the whole entity [Israel] to be unsettled” – a sinister call disturbingly reminiscent of the way that Hamas sees the conflict. Israel is inhabited by Jews whose families have lived there for centuries. Where are they supposed to go? Their nationality, history, culture, origin and religion are all in Israel. They are not settlers. So, to unsettle them would necessitate their ethnic cleansing. Hamas is at least honest about this fact.
Further SAJFP seem to ignore the fact that the Palestinians themselves have rejected a two-state solution, and their own independence, over five times. Instead they advocate for the destruction of Israel “from the river to the sea”. It would need to be established on Israel’s grave, and the deaths of Jewish people. But that’s exactly what Hamas and other anti-Israel groups want. Is it any wonder SAJFP have issued just the faintest condemnation of Hamas, whilst repeating the falsity that Israelis were not beheaded on October 7th. Unsurprisingly nothing has been said about the fact that people were systematically raped, tortured and executed and kidnapped.
SAJFP follow up their words with actions that support violence. When Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled visited South Africa, she was hosted as a guest of honour at one of their events. This so-called “revolutionary” was responsible for the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the attempted hijacking of Flight 219. Her crimes involve her rolling a grenade into the passenger section of the plane.
SAJFP member Ronnie Kasrils praised the attacks on October 7th and disgustingly tried to compare Hamas to Umkhonto we Sizwe. This is despite the fact that the MK under Mandela took extreme care not to kill civilians.Mandela took exception to terrorist activities saying that it ”reflected poorly” on those that engage in them.
Yet, despite all this, the SAJFP has the gall to imply that they have a better claim to represent the Jewish people than organisations such as the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) or the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).
The SAZF and SAJBD are far better equipped to represent the South African Jewish community. The SAJBD is 112 years old, with the SAZF being over 125 years old. They are two institutions that have protected the Jewish people of this country through its darkest days.
On top of that, both organisations are on record about their activities, holding regular AGMs attended by large numbers of people from the community and allowing scrutiny of their elected officials. They also both have broad support for their mandate, as the vast majority of South African Jews support Israel.
The SAJFP, by contrast, has never published a membership list, never had a public AGM, are not transparent about their leadership, their sources of funding, or their allegiances. It is certainly possible that SAJFP receives its support from the same sources that seems to have allowed the ANC to suddenly become solvent after the ICJ case. It seems SAJFP is more an ANC proxy to blunt criticism of its antisemitic partnerships than a formation with any interest in protecting the rights and interests of Jews, or even Palestinians.
The bigger question is: why is the Nelson Mandela Foundation creating events with such a marginal organisation?
Certainly it can't be because of the values espoused by Mandela himself. It is worth remembering that Nelson Mandela, whilst being sympathetic towards the Palestinains, never called for the destruction of Israel. In fact Zionisit writings helped him inform his own political strategy and he said that:“As a movement, we recognize the legitimacy of Palestinian nationalism just as we recognize the legitimacy of Zionism as a Jewish nationalism.”
He also rejected the extremist view that Israel should be destroyed saying that: “We insist on the right of the State of Israel to exist within secure borders, but with equal vigor support the Palestinian right to national self-determination”.
Far from boycotting Israel, Mandela not only visited the country and met with the prime minister Shimron Peres, he also accepted an honorary doctorate from Ben Gurion University, whose students disproportionately bore the brunt of the rape and murder on October 7th.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has, in the last few years, had to endure uncomfortable assaults to its public reputation. It would be a pity if it added an association to violent extremist groups to this list in contradiction with the values of peace and reconciliation that Mandela stood for.
Nicholas Woode-Smith is an author, economic historian, and political analyst. He has written extensively on the Israel-Hamas Conflict and South African foreign policy.
