The Israeli Embassy said on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres’ scheduled address at the South African Institute of International Affairs had been cancelled because police got word of planned violent demonstrations.
Embassy official Daniel Pinhasi said police had informed him of planned large-scale demonstrations by anti-globalisation groups that were understood to be violent and that there was fear of bloodshed.
”Sadly the threat of violence has deprived South Africans of the chance to learn at first-hand the complexities of the Middle East conflict and to work with the peoples and leaders of the region in advancing peace.
”It is unfortunate that a major opportunity to hear the speech of an internationally recognised statesman who has dedicated his life to the cause of peace in the war-torn Middle East has now been lost,” Pinhasi said.
Meanwhile the SAIIA said it cancelled Peres’ address ”in the interests of the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development”.
The SAIIA refused to comment further and said only that the very important discussions held at the WSSD would most likely have been eclipsed if they had allowed Peres to address their institute.
On Monday, Peres, a moderate in the right-wing Israeli government, was greeted by some 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who picketed outside Wits University’s Linder Auditorium ahead of his address to the Jewish community.
Several protesters, journalists and policemen were seriously injured during the unauthorised protest which saw police water-bomb the crowd and protesters throw stones and glass bottles at guests. – Sapa