SAJBD’s response to Dirco’s statement on Ismael Haniyeh which exposes hypocrisy

1 August 2024

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies notes the statement of the South African Government condemning the killing of arch-terrorist Ismael Haniyeh.

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation’s (Dirco) pro-Hamas bias has been evident since former Minister Pandor call to Haniyeh in the immediate aftermath of the Oct 7 atrocities.

The depiction of Haniyeh in Dirco's statement ignores the atrocities he was responsible for, both against the people of Gaza and against Israeli civilians. Haniyeh used his position to amass extreme wealth, living in luxury in exile while the people he led suffered in poverty and hunger. Given Haniyeh’s history, the hypocrisy of the SA government’s statement is frankly ludicrous.

We further note that South Africa has chosen to mention that Haniyeh was part of a negotiating team working to secure a ceasefire. What the statement fails to recognize is that Haniyeh was one of the masterminds of the October 7th attacks that started this current conflict, and the root cause of the suffering of the people of Gaza. Furthermore, by refusing to release the hostages that his movement holds, Haniyeh extended the agonising plight of Gazans.

The statement of our government should be juxtaposed by the same government’s failure to acknowledge the heartbreaking and callous murder of 12 Israeli children, bombed by the Iranian proxy Hezbollah, while playing soccer on Saturday. It appears that there is no compassion for Druze children, if they do not feed into the department’s demonisation of the only Jewish state.

Issued by Prof Karen Milner, National Chair, SAJBD, 1 August 2024