“Mobilise for the boycott of Israeli goods” - Former President Thabo Mbeki 11 Aug 2014 - Former President Thabo Mbeki has called for mass mobilisation to boycott against Israeli goods. In response to a question from a student of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI) on his views on the conflict in Gaza, former President Mbeki said recalling Ambassadors from South Africa and Israel would not solve the issue while negotiations were underway. The former President was speaking during the orientation of a new intake of TMALI students at the University of South Africa. Below is the full transcript of his response on the conflict in Gaza Question: My question is with regards to South Africa’s position on the on-going attacks in Gaza. Don’t you think that South Africa is being too diplomatic on the Israeli/Palestinian issue? I am saying this because to this day we have not yet recalled the South African Ambassador to Israel and we have not yet expelled the Israeli Ambassador to South Africa. It seems that our position is that we are trying to satisfy both sides. If you remember during the liberation struggle [in South Africa], we were supported by the international forces to boycott apartheid South Africa, but today do you not think that we are too diplomatic on that one [Israel]? Response by former President Thabo Mbeki You know that President Jacob Zuma appointed two special envoys to deal with this matter: Zola Skweyiya and Aziz Pahad. The two of them have been to Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian Authority and al Fatah. They have been to Tel Aviv to meet with the Israeli government. They have been to Egypt to talk to the Egyptian government and they have been to Doha to talk to Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas who is resident in Qatar, Doha. These envoys were basically conveying the message that the South African government wants the fighting to stop and that it wants genuine negotiations to take place to resolve this whole Palestinian issue. In both instances, what these two liberation movements are saying to the South African government is that it [the South African government] needs to be actively involved in trying to find a solution to this matter. Therefore, one of the things that the South African government must do is to engage the Israeli government in the first instance, to stop that terrible war that it was waging in Gaza, but also to encourage it to move towards a just and permanent solution, which respects the sovereign rights of the Palestinians. I am saying that the Palestinians themselves are saying that the South African government needs to engage the Israeli government, but you cannot engage by withdrawing Ambassadors. You need those Ambassadors to be part of your machinery to engage the issue. As I say, this is a specific request from the Palestinians. We may be very happy with recalling the South African Ambassador from Tel Aviv and kicking out the Israeli Ambassador here and applaud for one day and then what happens after that? I think that the Palestinians are correct to say that South Africa has an obligation to engage the Israelis and to see what can be done to move as quickly as possible towards a just solution of this conflict. At the same time, I think that the demand is correct that indeed, we the people of South Africa must engage this matter by, for instance, heeding the call to boycott Israeli goods and divesting from Israeli companies etc. I think that call is correct. It is not the responsibility of government to mobilise people, we must mobilise ourselves. We need the political parties, trade unions, religious bodies etc. We need to mobilise so that indeed Israel does pay a price for the position that it is taking. I think that we should go out and mobilise for the boycott of Israeli goods, but I do not think that we should boycott Ambassadors. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv needs to do what needs to be done as suggested by the Palestinians.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 20:43:11 +0000
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