/ 15 March 2013

Israel has done a lot of good for SA

Israel Has Done A Lot Of Good For Sa

The goal is to promote a campaign of boycott, disinvestment and sanctions against Israel by delegitimising it just as apartheid South Africa was once delegitimised.

I wish to turn to the ideological enthusiasts who sponsor this counterfeit event – BDS South Africa and the Palestinian Solidarity Forum. Notwithstanding the fact that they cover for Islamist groups such as Hamas, whose counterparts in Somalia, Darfur, Nigeria and most recently in Mali are murdering Africans in large numbers, they should be placed in the dock for their actions against the poor in South Africa.

They know full well that trade with Israel is skewed in South Africa's favour. The R4.5-billion in South African exports to Israel in 2012 represents thousands of jobs whose loss would be devastating given our jobs crisis. Apparently BDS's telescopic philanthropy blinds them to the misery and want under their noses.

Israel is a world leader in development and supplies technological know-how to scores of rural South African communities in the fields of agriculture, Aids prevention and water purification. These projects have alleviated poverty and suffering in villages throughout the country.

Two models, a five-hectare collaborative model and a two-hectare model for individual farmers, have been highly successful. An example is a small rural community whose income was boosted from R30000 a year to R400000 a year in 2012. Even the two-hectare model creates jobs by enabling individual farmers to employ seven to 10 people.


Activities such as Israel Apartheid Week put these projects at risk. The organisers seem not to care that the withdrawal of these projects would exact a terrible price from the poorest of the poor. This is unconscionable. They should be held to account by all who care for South Africa and the most vulnerable of our people. – Chuck Volpe

 The Israel Apartheid Week is under way across 250 cities worldwide. South African universities have been involved, and so are more than 35 cities, towns and communities, yet our so-called "neutral" and "independent" media is not bothered.

It makes one wonder whether the media is really nonpartisan and standing for justice as it claims. If it is, why then do we not see reports pertaining to this campaign against apartheid in Israel? The truth is, if this campaign had the backing of the United States and Britain it would have received massive media space.

It should not be forgotten that people of the world mobilised for us as we struggled against apartheid South Africa. We must give solidarity to the oppressed in other parts of the world. As recently as January, the United Nation Human Rights Council found that Israel and its occupation discriminates against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel Apartheid Week must take root in our media. – Thabo Thwala, Bothaville