Jewish bodies on Thursday hit back at the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) following its call for boycotts against Israel.
The union federation, along with the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and South African Communist Party (SACP), also denounced Israel’s military incursions into Gaza.
These statements were based on a ”a highly distorted view” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, read a joint statement by the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) and South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).
They ”reveal[ed] an unacceptable level of prejudice against the state of Israel and its people”, they said.
”The SAZF and SAJBD unequivocally reject the statement … denouncing the Israeli military incursion into Gaza and calling on South Africans to boycott the State of Israel.”
Statements by Cosatu, the SACP, SACC and other organisations ignored ”despicable” acts committed by the other side, said SAZF chairperson Avrom Krengel and David Saks, acting director of the SAJBD.
”Since Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, in the process uprooting thousands of its own citizens who were living there, the Palestinians have used their freedom … to launch hundreds of attacks and kassam rockets against Israeli population centres.
”In addition, there have been numerous cross-border raids, culminating in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, whose life now hangs in the balance.”
The Jewish organisations said Israel has continued to use a minimal amount of force in confronting those deliberately targeting its citizens. ”That Israel has waited until now to enter Gaza is testimony to the enormous amount of restraint it has exercised in the face of unending Palestinian aggression.”
The organisations said while many Palestinian civilians have been negatively affected by Israel’s operations, it is a direct result of ”Palestinian terrorists continuing their cowardly tactics of operating from civilian areas”.
This led to them using their own civilian population as human shields, in direct contravention of international law. ”Indeed, it is the Palestinians, and the hard-line, extremist Hamas government they have elected to office, that are guilty of multiple breaches of international law”.
Bombing
Israeli jets bombed the Palestinian foreign ministry in Gaza on Thursday, causing heavy damage and wounding 10 children, ratcheting up the pressure on the Hamas government over the abducted Shalit.
Warplanes fired two missiles into the building, targeting Foreign Minister Mahmud al-Zahar’s offices and causing serious damage to the recently renovated five-storey building, the neighbouring finance ministry and 15 other houses.
The attack came just hours before Israel bombed Beirut’s international airport and killed at least 40 Lebanese, opening a new front in the Middle East crisis after Hezbollah captured another two soldiers on its northern border.
Israel confirmed the attack on the offices of Zahar, who an army spokesperson branded ”one of the most extreme leaders of the Hamas terror organisation” directly responsible for planning ”terrorist attacks”.
Faced with the twin Israeli offensives, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a stark warning against the eruption of ”regional war”.
Ten children, including babies aged four and six months old, who lived in nearby homes badly damaged in the powerful blast, were wounded in the foreign ministry attack, witnesses and doctors at Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital said.
Rescue workers battled to control the fire that raged after the air strike.
Seventy-five Palestinians have now been killed since Israel stepped up its ground offensive just more than a week ago, moving troops into areas evacuated less than 10 months ago as part of an historic pull-out from Gaza after 38 years.
Abduction
What has become the worst Israeli-Palestinian crisis in months was sparked by the June 25 abduction of Shalit on the Gaza border.
The armed wing of Hamas, together with two other Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for his capture, and, like Hezbollah, is demanding the release of prisoners in exchange for their hostage.
Israeli ground troops are still based inside the Gaza Strip, and artillery routinely battered rocket-launching sites in the north and south.
Israel has flatly refused to negotiate with Hamas or free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, vowing the assault will continue ”in places, in time, in measures” at its convenience.
Aid groups have expressed concern about the difficulties of providing assistance to 1,4-million people living in Gaza following months of financial crisis and the suspension of direct Western aid to the Hamas-led government. — Sapa, AFP