Crawford-Browne heads for Jerusalem on activist mission

Old-school lobbyists such as Terry Crawford-Browne don’t need irritating noise-makers like Twitter or Facebook to create a stir around their egos.

A buzz of interest usually follows them because of what they do best; simply getting on with the job. Crawford-Browne (66) doesn’t seem like he needs much of an ego stroke, anyway.

Over the years, he has gained notoriety with South African government officials for hounding them to open an inquiry into the alleged corrupt arms deal concluded under the former administration. His book, Eye on the Money, aimed to unravel the alleged lies.

On Friday this week he starts a new activist mission. He leaves for one of the world’s oldest cities to confront one of the strongest armies and the most troublesome conflict of our times. Crawford-Browne is joining the World Council of Churches in Jerusalem as part of ongoing programmes to monitor Palestinian-Israeli tensions.

‘I’ve never been to Israel or Palestine before but I’ve always wanted to go there,” he says, while waiting for his group of American students at the St George’s Cathedral in Wale Street, downtown Cape Town.

He’s about to take the students on a tour of three religious sites in central Cape Town. They will visit a mosque in Bo-Kaap, the Jewish holocaust memorial centre and wrap up at the cathedral. His teaching stint with American students has taken him on trips to various countries, he says.

The Jerusalem trip will place him in front of Israeli checkpoints alongside other foreign recruits. They will log daily observational reports that would be published on the internet.

‘I’ll be there for three months as a peace monitor. The intention is to observe what is happening and simply calm the situation. We report back what we see. We also establish contact with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists,” says Crawford-Browne.

‘We want the international community to remain aware of what’s happening with house demolitions, the [Israeli-built] wall, the settlements, the [Israeli] occupation. We are there to cool the situation. The checkpoints aggravate the situation. The experience of having a foreigner there calms both sides. It works.”

Other foreigners have been sent home in coffins but Crawford-Browne says that ‘there are differences— some take a shield and intervene”.

‘We don’t intervene physically or put ourselves in the way of a bulldozer,” he explains.

Crawford-Browne will join a list of about 50 locals who have done the same work with the church body. But he doesn’t intend to be as quiet about the experience as most others who have returned.

‘I’m going to come home and talk about the experience. Churches have tended to be silenced on this issue because of the holocaust era.. The Israeli lobby has been clever in maximising the Christian sense of guilt about its involvement in the holocaust,” he says. ‘The Israeli lobby in South Africa has always been very strong, so people are weary to stick their heads out.”

It’s this sort of talk that has probably developed Crawford-Browne’s thick skin in the face of controversy. It has not always done him good despite friendships with some of the most likeable world figures such as the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (Crawford-Browne’s wife also worked until recently in Tutu’s office in Cape Town.)

His persistent allegations that former finance minister Trevor Manuel may have been corrupt in signing off taxpayer’s money in the arms deal landed him a restraining order earlier this year. The Cape High Court ruled in favour of Manuel, ordering Crawford-Browne to back off and end his public attacks on Manuel.

It will be interesting to note the opposition he faces upon return from Jerusalem.. He already holds strong opinions that won’t sit well with fervent Israelis.

‘The Jewish community should be at the forefront of human rights issues. Sadly the victim became the perpetrator. The Israeli government throws out the anti-Semitic issue very easily. It’s a human rights issue and Israel should be held accountable against human rights laws,” says Crawford-Browne.

‘I believe that the large majority of the Israeli society wants peace, but they’re shunted aside by a war lobby. Israelis will realise they’re damaging their own society. We know in South Africa that traumatised soldiers come home and beat up their families.”