Helen Suzman, the courageous anti-apartheid campaigner, passed away on New Year’s day. A lone voice in South Africa’s parliament against the racist regime, this daughter of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants was hailed by Nelson Mandela, whom she visited regularly during his incarceration on Robben Island, as a “powerhouse against apartheid.”
This is a guest post by Michelle Sieff, Assistant Director of the American Jewish Committee’s Africa Institute.
The South African Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) - which includes several self-described “prominent” South Africans, among them former Intelligence Services Minister Ronnie Kasrils, Professor Steven Friedman of the University of Johannesburg, Patrick Craven of the Cosatu trade union federation, and Eddie Makue, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches - has strongly denounced Israel’s attack on Hamas targets in Gaza. The group has called on the South African government to sever diplomatic relations with Israel and impose sanctions as well.
Continue reading ‘Gaza: From the Apartheid Analogy to “Genocide”’
This is a guest post by Michelle Sieff, Assistant Director of the American Jewish Committee’s Africa Institute.
The formation of a new political party in South Africa, called the Congress of the People (COPE), is the most important event in the country’s history since the first democratic election in 1994.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has released its State of Human Rights Report for 2008 to great fanfare for one reason only: it contains the word “apartheid.”
His last book was entitled, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” His forthcoming book has - at least on the surface - a more anodyne title.
Standby for a statement you won’t often read here; there’s a great article in today’s Guardian. It’s by Alex Stein and, among other things, it says:
The following story was kindly brought to my attention by Ariella Kimmel of the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students. It’s an object lesson in the totalitarian mindset which has taken hold of too many anti-Zionist activists - the same activists who shriek the words “free speech” when their own views are confronted.
Continue reading ‘Africa Event Snubbed Because of “Apartheid Israel”’
Have a listen to our latest podcast, in which I interview author Joel Pollak about his new book The Kasrils Affair: Jews and Minority Politics in Post-Apartheid South Africa“.
Hot on the heels of Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann comes South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who has attached his name to an advertisement decrying alleged “apartheid-style” brutality meted out by the Israeli government.
Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the President of the UN General Assembly, has pushed the delegitimization of Israel at the United Nations just that little bit further. One might also point out that, by claiming that Palestinians “are being crucified” by Israel, he’s pushed something else a little further too. (Or is one of our anti-Zionist detractors going to claim that calling such an invocation antisemitic is “shutting down debate?”)
Continue reading ‘UNGA President: Treat Israel like Apartheid South Africa’
Kudos to David Hirsh for publishing an op-ed in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian which drives a stake into the heart of the apartheid analogy.
Some scholars and activists are making the case that the “mingong” - migrant workers who gravitate to the wealthy cities from poor inland provinces - are subjected to a form of apartheid in the People’s Republic of China enabled by the hukou system.
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