STATEMENT FOR JEWISH COMMUNITY The SA Jewish Board of Deputies and SA Zionist Federation have issued a statement expressing surprise and outrage over recently reported comments by International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane’s regarding the South Africa-Israel relationship. According to media reports, Minister Mashabane stated on Friday that her government’s policy is not to engage with Israel at the ministerial level until progress has been made in advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and addressing Palestinian grievances. These statements completely contradict previous assurances given by the Minister to the Jewish leadership that her government wished to play a role in helping Israelis and Palestinians to resolve their differences and would engage with both parties to further that end. They are further inconsistent with South African foreign policy in general, which is not to boycott other governments but rather to continually engage with them. For Israel alone to be excluded from such a policy amounts to clear discrimination against the Jewish State. Such a policy serves also to undermine this country’s credibility as a factor in global conflict resolution. While the SAJBD and SAZF condemn the practice by the South African government of not meeting with its Israeli counterparts, statements by Israel Knesset Member Avigdor Lieberman suggesting that this might lead to pogroms in South Africa is alarmist and inflammatory. The SAJBD monitors antisemitism in South Africa closely, contributing local statistics to international bodies for comparative purposes. The reports generated from these bodies confirm that SA has consistently been shown to have very low rates of antisemitism, both numerically and in terms of the severity of the attacks. We have constitutional bodies to ensure that antisemitism remains low in this country. We have not seen the violent antisemitic incidents that are manifesting in Europe and most recently in Australia. It is misguided and irresponsible to assert that their consequences might be so extreme as to lead to actual pogroms against the Jewish community. We are further perplexed by the timing of Minister Nkoane-Mashabane’s comments at a time when the internationally-brokered peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are making encouraging progress and the very week when Israel had released many Palestinian prisoners as a token of its commitment to the negotiations process, causing much pain to the victims’ families. The South African government has often expressed its support for a negotiated, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. South Africa, with its own history of successful conflict resolution both at home and abroad, can potentially play a valuable role in making this a reality. To do so, however, it must strive to engage with and learn from all parties involved. Issued by: Mary Kluk Avrom Krengel Chairman Chairman SA Jewish Board of Deputies SA Zionist Federation
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 13:42:32 +0000
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