Israel crisis: SA must stand firm against banning and maligning of dissenting voices and humanitarian aid

30 October 2024  

Over the past week, the integrity of two of South Africa’s most prominent voices advocating for justice, human rights and humanitarian aid in Palestine have been singled out for attack.

First, in a letter published in a prominent newspaper in Israel, former chair of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Lawrence Nowosenetz, smeared the names of Dr Imtiaz Sooliman and his humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers, claiming they were channelling money to groups blacklisted as terrorists by the US.

Second, the UK declined to grant Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela a visa, and said it was unlikely to do so in the future, claiming he was too close to Hamas. Mandela is the grandson of former President Nelson Mandela, who himself led an organisation designated “terrorist” by the West.

These events preceded this week’s decision by Israel’s parliament to ban the United Nations’ providers of humanitarian aid in Palestine, UNRWA, from operating in Israel or in areas under its control (read, Gaza).

South Africans with relatively long memories know these tactics well. We learned in our own struggle for liberation that people can be banned, but not their ideas. You can kill and imprison and malign your enemies, but in situations of injustice, the yearning for justice doesn’t disappear.

We also remember how NGOs which sought to aid the anti-apartheid movement and provide comfort to victims of serial state abuse were called terrorists and communists, and treated as enemies... how a handful of courageous community doctors treated the injured to avoid their having to go to hospital, and being reported to police.

It is said that what we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.

With Israel doubling down on its resolve to complete the annihilation of Gaza and its people, and broader Middle-East conflagration loading, South Africa must double down on its efforts to have Israel held accountable.

It was good to see delivery of the truckload of evidence South Africa submitted to the ICJ this week in support of its Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

The case is important for South Africa, both as an expression of its support of Palestine’s struggle for liberation, and as an expression of our own historic reputation as a global symbol of reconciliation and human rights.

Given developments over the past week, we call on President Ramaphosa and Minister of International Relations to defend South Africans with different views to Israel’s, and to join Norway in seeking the ICJ’s opinion on Israel’s decision to outlaw humanitarian aid.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General, 30 October 2024