The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) and the country's Zionist Federation on Thursday strongly condemned a one-sided statement on the conflict in Gaza issued by the ruling ANC party's Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte. "The State of Israel has turned the occupied territories of Palestine into permanent death camps," Duarte had said, adding that the Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip was "barbaric."
"Gaza is the world's largest open air prison with over 1.5 million Palestinians caged in and cut off from the rest of the world," she added. "The Gaza Strip is the world's most densely populated piece of land on this earth, making the Israeli bombing of the Palestinian Gaza strip all the more horrendous."
“The African National Congress condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric attacks on the defenseless Palestinian people of Gaza...As we move towards the month of August and are reminded of the atrocities of Nazi Germany, surely we must ask the people of Israel has the term ‘lest we forget’ lost its meaning.”
The SAJBD and the SA Zionist Federation reacted strongly. In a joint statement, they declared: "Such naked invective is something one expects to find only on the more extreme wing of the anti-Israel lobby; coming from our country’s ruling party, it is nothing short of disgraceful."
The Jewish community umbrella groups went on to state: "In the weeks leading up to the present unrest, not one word of condemnation has emanated from the ANC concerning the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers. Nor did the ANC see fit to condemn the escalating bombardment by Hamas of Israeli population center that preceded the current Israeli military response and was the direct cause of it. Hundreds of deadly missiles have been and continue to be fired at Israel’s cities and towns."
They also lamented that fact that the ANC has been silent on a number of gross human rights violations both in the Middle East and in Africa, including the more than 160 000 deaths in Syria, the atrocities committed against Shiite Muslims by the ISIS terrorists in Iraq and the on-going massacres of Christians in Nigeria. "The ANC’s silence over these issues has been deafening, especially when compared with the sheer viciousness of its attacks against Israel," said the two organizations in their joint communiqué.
They went on to say: "The SAJBD is particularly appalled over the shameful comparisons made by Ms. Duarte between Israel’s actions and the Nazi campaign of genocide against the Jewish people during World War II. Comparisons between Israel and the Nazi regime are obscene, not only because they are so grossly defamatory towards the Jewish state but because they belittle the unspeakable crimes of Nazism itself. It is self-evident that casualties resulting from a necessary and unavoidable military operation – casualties that Israel goes to considerable lengths to minimize - cannot be remotely equated with the systematic mass murder of millions solely on account of their being Jewish. We believe that Duarte is well aware of this, but has chosen to make such a comparison for the purpose of causing the maximum hurt and offense. In doing so, she has dishonored the standing of the party of Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, - a party that has consistently fought against racism and bigotry - as well as grossly insulting world Jewry and the memory of all the victims of Nazi tyranny.
"It is unacceptable in any decent, democratic society for a responsible political organization to propagate such venom and bigotry, let alone a party that has been entrusted with the reins of government. In light of this, the SAJBD demands that the ANC distance itself from the repugnant comments made in its name by its Deputy Secretary General and to issue an unequivocal apology to the Jewish community."
