My report back from the PSA,PSG, PSC event held in lenasia on January 27 2010 - Lenz Civic Centre
by Ilan Solomons on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 11:15am
My experience and conclusions after attending the Gaza Freedom March report back, which was hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance(PSA), Palestine Solidarity Committee(PSC) and COSATU, in Lenasia at the Lenasia Civic Center on January 27 2010.
I heard about this event a few days before it was scheduled to happen. A friend of mine on facebook sent me the following message that described what the event would be about:
“Description The Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA) together with the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and COSATU will provide a report back on the successful South African Delegation's participation in the Gaza Freedom March. The team was instrumental in fostering international unity leading to the drafting of the Cairo Declaration that created the platform for a global anti-Apartheid Israel movement. The will be presentations by freedom march delegates and COSATU on the way forward. In addition there will be presentation by a member of the legal team pursuing the 'Gaza Docket' which has seeks to prosecute those involved in Operation Cast Lead with war crimes. The momentum is increasing both on the local and global front”.
My curiosity was aroused to say the least. The last time there was a similar event in Lenasia the former deputy foreign affairs minister Fatima Hajaig, landed her self in hot water for making some statements that were deemed to be offensive and anti-Semitic. This resulted in her and the government having to make an official apology and state unequivocally that the government took the issue of anti-Semitism very seriously.
It was not only the venue that was interesting but also the content of the talk regarding the report back on the delegation from South Africa that was part if the Gaza Freedom March (GFM) delegation, and the report back by Firoz Boda on the so called ‘Gaza Docket’, which focus’s on trying to prosecute South Africans that were allegedly involved in the war that took place between Hamas and Israel.
I am not going to focus on the details of who the speakers were, which consisted of the GFM,PSA, PSC and executive members of the South African Communist Party(SACP) and COSATU( which included Bongani Masuku – who once again stated he wanted to see the end of Zionism and ‘ Amandla Intifada’). What I would like to focus on is the content of what was said, shown, or handed out in the form of ‘information’ and ‘solidarity material’.
Let me just describe the set up of the Lenasia Civic Center main hall for those that have never been there before. Its basically a huge room that I would guesstimate can take between 500 and 600 people sitting, it has a stage area and several entrance and exit points on either side of the hall. So I would say it’s a rather big venue. On the night there were tables set up just inside the venue with pamphlets, information booklets, paper flags with the south African and Palestinian flags on them back to back, T-Shirts that the PSA had on sale, and some containers for people to donate money to the organizers (I assume to eventually send to Palestine, but I am not sure if the funds were for the organizers general fund raising purposes).
Inside the actual hall was covered in imagery and signs. There was one sign that particularly caught my sign as one entered the venue that had in big red writing ‘End ZioNaziism’. There were several posters on the wall that had massive swatikas along side or the Magen David (the Star of David), trying to equate the Jewish States symbol to that of the Nazi swastika. There were various signs that stated ‘End Israeli Apartheid’, and similar banners were to be found. There were also gruesome images of Palestinians that had been killed during the war with Hamas, and often alongside Holocaust imagery or Apartheid era photos. Its was already clear that the organizers viewed the situation in the Arab/Israeli conflict as mix between the ultimate evils of the Shoah( Holocaust), and the Apartheid era South Africa. All this imagery was very eye catching and no doubt had a significant impact on the mood of the actual event.
There was a conscience effort by the presenters to try say they were not against Jews but Zionists. They lauded the likes of the Neterei Karta and other Jews against Zionism, who were also part of the Free Gaza March in Egypt. This is not an exceptionally progressive statement as it is an old tactic of hiding anti-Semitic sentiment behind the veil of anti-Zionist views. It did not take long for this smokescreen to fade, as soon one of the speakers said that although they found anti-Semitism unacceptable they truly sympathizised the rise in world anti-Semitism, resulting from the actions of Jews in Israel.
The calls by the speakers to end the siege were not the main message of the evening, but rather the end of Zionism and in particularly the Jewish state. Although there were posters a signs calling for the end of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territories – which are noble humanitarian calls in my opinion at least, the main message was the end to Israel and Zionism. This is neither a liberal nor a progressive call. It was clear that the end game of the calls for Boycotts, Divestments, Divestments (BDS), are to ultimately not only end the Occupation of the territories but to eventually bring the Jewish state to its knees.
The Cairo Declaration as they referred to the document which calls for the global ‘anti-Apartheid Israel movement’, basically calls for the total isolation of Israel and ultimately its intent is to end Israel’s very existence.
The Gaza Docket relates to specifically those south Africans which are alleged to have taken part in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), during Operation Caste Lead was rather vague and it seemed as if the case was based on photos of that people had put on facebook and other circumstantial evidence, like status’s which indicated that people had been involved with the operation in Gaza. It seems that this docket also has broader aspirations, the speaker Mr. Boda, spoke of having found information regarding Machal having active cells in south Africa to recruit young South African Jews to serve in the IDF, and mentioned them and the youth movement Betar, which had according to his research had a history dating back to the Israel’s war of independence for recruiting people to join the IDF and he believed that all records that Machal and other organizations had regarding the names of south Africans that have served in the IDF should be given over to the authorities so they could be prosecuted under the Rome Statute and possibly even south African law specifically if need be! It seems that they have a very clear goal of pressuring specific Zionist activities and institutions, which may lead to some very serious repercussions for the community should they be able to transform their rhetoric into political and legal realities.
The images of swastikas and the equation of Zionism with Nazism was nauseating to say the least which is why my friend and I decided to leave a bit early. This is when things started to get very tense because the Muslim security agency – something similar to the Jewish communities CSO I assume – followed us out of the venue. When I got to my car I found that one of my ties had been let down quite significantly, I decided not to make an issue out of it as all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there, as by this time the crowd had started to get riled up and the COSATU representatives and the audience had began chanting about phanzi Zionism, phanzi Israel (away with Zionism away with Israel). Then all of a sudden as I was about to get out of the parking I realized that my car that been surrounded by the security guards, and it was impossible to get out without driving over them. At this point one of the senior guards – well he was older and looked to be heading up the team – came up to my car and banged on the window. He told me to switch off my ignition and wanted to ask me a few questions. He had asked me a few brief questions when we arrived like where I from was and where I had heard about the event. Which I thought was fair enough, as my friend and I were the only white members that night( besides the English trade unionist from England that had come with COSATU), I was used to these type of questions which were standard questions asked by CSO at events which they marshalled so I was not surprised. However this post questioning and the manner in which it was done was unusual and intimidating to say the least. He told me to role down my window and asked me a few questions, again asking me where I was from, how did I hear about this event, he then asked me whether I was Jewish (my friend and I were wearing camps on the night and no indication of our religion whatsoever), I answered yes and asked if that was a problem? He replied by saying “absolutely not, you saw we have nothing against Jews……. Look at the good Neterei Karta Rabbi that we spoke about and all the Jews like him, I mean you could also be reform, orthodox or a Jewish sect against Israel…...’ He did however eventually let us go but gave us a warning tell your Zionist friends and leaders that life for them is going to get a lot harder, we will no longer tolerate you lot, you saw tonight we meant business! And on that lovely sobering note I drove off, got my tire bumped at the first garage and got the hell out Lenasia.
We were able to get most of the ‘information booklets and pamphlets’ that were on the tables. They contained some of the most vicious anti-Semitic liabalist comments, like things that spoke about Jewish money controlling world politics, various cartoons depicting Jews and more specifically the Israeli leadership and people as Nazis, Apartheid security officials, murderers, and on had a list of Jewish owned companies that supposedly support Israel which have been targeted by the PSA and PSC to be boycotted. I gave all the stuff I got to a friend in the Jewish community media team, as I am not expert on such materials, but I found most of the materials distasteful and vile to say the least. I hope he writes a report on it soon, so it can be published, so people are made aware of what groups like the PSA, PSG and especially the PSC distribute at their events!
In conclusion I would just like to state that I do not recommend that Jewish people go to such events especially in Lenasia that carry incredible security risks. Many senior members of the Jewish community begged me not to go, for that exact reason. They were not wrong; I felt that I needed to go for myself to find out what these types of events entail especially in a place like Lenasia. Not once in the event was the word peace between Israel and Palestine mentioned, not once! The end game is not peace in their mind, its annihilation of the Jewish state plain and simple. If not by armed terrorism, then by political actions like BDS campaigns. Its no just the Jewish state that is the target of these groupings, it’s the Zionist in the Diaspora; it’s a much broader campaign.
I still believe that there are moderates out there that believe in peace between Israel and Palestine, and broadly between the Jewish State and its Arab and Muslim neighbours, and counterparts throughout the world. I have no intension of going to another rally like this; it was an experience and a very important one at that. I still believe strongly in constructive engagement and will continue to seek common cause with moderates from all sides. However what is clear is that there are no moderates in the senior leadership of the PSA, PSG or the PSC for that matter.
I can say that I have seen with my own eyes the level of animosity in the sections of SA Muslim community and trade unionists towards not only Israel but to the very concept of Zionism – something that most do not even really understand – and those that actively support the Zionist cause. Although the main message of the talk was that Israel is an Apartheid state according to them, they actually really want to call it a Nazi State. They really believe that the Israeli’s and the German Nazi’s are one in the same. The notion of Zionism is for them truly in-fact is ‘ZioNaziism’ as was displayed on the walls of the venue that night.
The fact that groups like COSATU and the SACP have no problem being co-hosts to such events where such disgusting signs and phrases are openly displayed is for me the most disturbing.
To paraphrase the security officer at the event Zionists/Jews of SA beware we mean business. Do not be complacent, we as South Africans and Jews, need to be the total opposite, i.e. we must seek true peace between Israel and Palestine, support the peace initiatives, recognize that the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories are not acceptable. We need to have our own end game, and its simple one! Justice for Israel, Justice for Palestine, two viable states living along side one another with safe and secure borders!
Shalom and Salaam.
BY
Ilan Solomons
I heard about this event a few days before it was scheduled to happen. A friend of mine on facebook sent me the following message that described what the event would be about:
“Description The Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA) together with the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and COSATU will provide a report back on the successful South African Delegation's participation in the Gaza Freedom March. The team was instrumental in fostering international unity leading to the drafting of the Cairo Declaration that created the platform for a global anti-Apartheid Israel movement. The will be presentations by freedom march delegates and COSATU on the way forward. In addition there will be presentation by a member of the legal team pursuing the 'Gaza Docket' which has seeks to prosecute those involved in Operation Cast Lead with war crimes. The momentum is increasing both on the local and global front”.
My curiosity was aroused to say the least. The last time there was a similar event in Lenasia the former deputy foreign affairs minister Fatima Hajaig, landed her self in hot water for making some statements that were deemed to be offensive and anti-Semitic. This resulted in her and the government having to make an official apology and state unequivocally that the government took the issue of anti-Semitism very seriously.
It was not only the venue that was interesting but also the content of the talk regarding the report back on the delegation from South Africa that was part if the Gaza Freedom March (GFM) delegation, and the report back by Firoz Boda on the so called ‘Gaza Docket’, which focus’s on trying to prosecute South Africans that were allegedly involved in the war that took place between Hamas and Israel.
I am not going to focus on the details of who the speakers were, which consisted of the GFM,PSA, PSC and executive members of the South African Communist Party(SACP) and COSATU( which included Bongani Masuku – who once again stated he wanted to see the end of Zionism and ‘ Amandla Intifada’). What I would like to focus on is the content of what was said, shown, or handed out in the form of ‘information’ and ‘solidarity material’.
Let me just describe the set up of the Lenasia Civic Center main hall for those that have never been there before. Its basically a huge room that I would guesstimate can take between 500 and 600 people sitting, it has a stage area and several entrance and exit points on either side of the hall. So I would say it’s a rather big venue. On the night there were tables set up just inside the venue with pamphlets, information booklets, paper flags with the south African and Palestinian flags on them back to back, T-Shirts that the PSA had on sale, and some containers for people to donate money to the organizers (I assume to eventually send to Palestine, but I am not sure if the funds were for the organizers general fund raising purposes).
Inside the actual hall was covered in imagery and signs. There was one sign that particularly caught my sign as one entered the venue that had in big red writing ‘End ZioNaziism’. There were several posters on the wall that had massive swatikas along side or the Magen David (the Star of David), trying to equate the Jewish States symbol to that of the Nazi swastika. There were various signs that stated ‘End Israeli Apartheid’, and similar banners were to be found. There were also gruesome images of Palestinians that had been killed during the war with Hamas, and often alongside Holocaust imagery or Apartheid era photos. Its was already clear that the organizers viewed the situation in the Arab/Israeli conflict as mix between the ultimate evils of the Shoah( Holocaust), and the Apartheid era South Africa. All this imagery was very eye catching and no doubt had a significant impact on the mood of the actual event.
There was a conscience effort by the presenters to try say they were not against Jews but Zionists. They lauded the likes of the Neterei Karta and other Jews against Zionism, who were also part of the Free Gaza March in Egypt. This is not an exceptionally progressive statement as it is an old tactic of hiding anti-Semitic sentiment behind the veil of anti-Zionist views. It did not take long for this smokescreen to fade, as soon one of the speakers said that although they found anti-Semitism unacceptable they truly sympathizised the rise in world anti-Semitism, resulting from the actions of Jews in Israel.
The calls by the speakers to end the siege were not the main message of the evening, but rather the end of Zionism and in particularly the Jewish state. Although there were posters a signs calling for the end of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territories – which are noble humanitarian calls in my opinion at least, the main message was the end to Israel and Zionism. This is neither a liberal nor a progressive call. It was clear that the end game of the calls for Boycotts, Divestments, Divestments (BDS), are to ultimately not only end the Occupation of the territories but to eventually bring the Jewish state to its knees.
The Cairo Declaration as they referred to the document which calls for the global ‘anti-Apartheid Israel movement’, basically calls for the total isolation of Israel and ultimately its intent is to end Israel’s very existence.
The Gaza Docket relates to specifically those south Africans which are alleged to have taken part in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), during Operation Caste Lead was rather vague and it seemed as if the case was based on photos of that people had put on facebook and other circumstantial evidence, like status’s which indicated that people had been involved with the operation in Gaza. It seems that this docket also has broader aspirations, the speaker Mr. Boda, spoke of having found information regarding Machal having active cells in south Africa to recruit young South African Jews to serve in the IDF, and mentioned them and the youth movement Betar, which had according to his research had a history dating back to the Israel’s war of independence for recruiting people to join the IDF and he believed that all records that Machal and other organizations had regarding the names of south Africans that have served in the IDF should be given over to the authorities so they could be prosecuted under the Rome Statute and possibly even south African law specifically if need be! It seems that they have a very clear goal of pressuring specific Zionist activities and institutions, which may lead to some very serious repercussions for the community should they be able to transform their rhetoric into political and legal realities.
The images of swastikas and the equation of Zionism with Nazism was nauseating to say the least which is why my friend and I decided to leave a bit early. This is when things started to get very tense because the Muslim security agency – something similar to the Jewish communities CSO I assume – followed us out of the venue. When I got to my car I found that one of my ties had been let down quite significantly, I decided not to make an issue out of it as all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there, as by this time the crowd had started to get riled up and the COSATU representatives and the audience had began chanting about phanzi Zionism, phanzi Israel (away with Zionism away with Israel). Then all of a sudden as I was about to get out of the parking I realized that my car that been surrounded by the security guards, and it was impossible to get out without driving over them. At this point one of the senior guards – well he was older and looked to be heading up the team – came up to my car and banged on the window. He told me to switch off my ignition and wanted to ask me a few questions. He had asked me a few brief questions when we arrived like where I from was and where I had heard about the event. Which I thought was fair enough, as my friend and I were the only white members that night( besides the English trade unionist from England that had come with COSATU), I was used to these type of questions which were standard questions asked by CSO at events which they marshalled so I was not surprised. However this post questioning and the manner in which it was done was unusual and intimidating to say the least. He told me to role down my window and asked me a few questions, again asking me where I was from, how did I hear about this event, he then asked me whether I was Jewish (my friend and I were wearing camps on the night and no indication of our religion whatsoever), I answered yes and asked if that was a problem? He replied by saying “absolutely not, you saw we have nothing against Jews……. Look at the good Neterei Karta Rabbi that we spoke about and all the Jews like him, I mean you could also be reform, orthodox or a Jewish sect against Israel…...’ He did however eventually let us go but gave us a warning tell your Zionist friends and leaders that life for them is going to get a lot harder, we will no longer tolerate you lot, you saw tonight we meant business! And on that lovely sobering note I drove off, got my tire bumped at the first garage and got the hell out Lenasia.
We were able to get most of the ‘information booklets and pamphlets’ that were on the tables. They contained some of the most vicious anti-Semitic liabalist comments, like things that spoke about Jewish money controlling world politics, various cartoons depicting Jews and more specifically the Israeli leadership and people as Nazis, Apartheid security officials, murderers, and on had a list of Jewish owned companies that supposedly support Israel which have been targeted by the PSA and PSC to be boycotted. I gave all the stuff I got to a friend in the Jewish community media team, as I am not expert on such materials, but I found most of the materials distasteful and vile to say the least. I hope he writes a report on it soon, so it can be published, so people are made aware of what groups like the PSA, PSG and especially the PSC distribute at their events!
In conclusion I would just like to state that I do not recommend that Jewish people go to such events especially in Lenasia that carry incredible security risks. Many senior members of the Jewish community begged me not to go, for that exact reason. They were not wrong; I felt that I needed to go for myself to find out what these types of events entail especially in a place like Lenasia. Not once in the event was the word peace between Israel and Palestine mentioned, not once! The end game is not peace in their mind, its annihilation of the Jewish state plain and simple. If not by armed terrorism, then by political actions like BDS campaigns. Its no just the Jewish state that is the target of these groupings, it’s the Zionist in the Diaspora; it’s a much broader campaign.
I still believe that there are moderates out there that believe in peace between Israel and Palestine, and broadly between the Jewish State and its Arab and Muslim neighbours, and counterparts throughout the world. I have no intension of going to another rally like this; it was an experience and a very important one at that. I still believe strongly in constructive engagement and will continue to seek common cause with moderates from all sides. However what is clear is that there are no moderates in the senior leadership of the PSA, PSG or the PSC for that matter.
I can say that I have seen with my own eyes the level of animosity in the sections of SA Muslim community and trade unionists towards not only Israel but to the very concept of Zionism – something that most do not even really understand – and those that actively support the Zionist cause. Although the main message of the talk was that Israel is an Apartheid state according to them, they actually really want to call it a Nazi State. They really believe that the Israeli’s and the German Nazi’s are one in the same. The notion of Zionism is for them truly in-fact is ‘ZioNaziism’ as was displayed on the walls of the venue that night.
The fact that groups like COSATU and the SACP have no problem being co-hosts to such events where such disgusting signs and phrases are openly displayed is for me the most disturbing.
To paraphrase the security officer at the event Zionists/Jews of SA beware we mean business. Do not be complacent, we as South Africans and Jews, need to be the total opposite, i.e. we must seek true peace between Israel and Palestine, support the peace initiatives, recognize that the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories are not acceptable. We need to have our own end game, and its simple one! Justice for Israel, Justice for Palestine, two viable states living along side one another with safe and secure borders!
Shalom and Salaam.
BY
Ilan Solomons
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