As the International Criminal Court threw down the gauntlet in The Hague last week, there was a man somewhere in South Africa who was probably smiling from his grave. On this severely divisive and polarising conflict, Nelson Mandela would not budge, making it expressly known which dog he had in this fight at a time when much of the world figured it better not to declare such bones lest they should be called anti-Semitic. Seemingly, one could tolerate being labeled anything – racist, homophobic, mysognist – anything but that.
With all the modern claims to enlightment, all the supposed liberalism, all those leanings to free speech, on this one the world went mostly schtum. Or left field. You could say anything, just not that. Support anybody but not the Gazans. If you knew what was good for you, especially as a third-world s***hole, your cap perpetually held out for Western aid, best not even go there. It would be like dancing in a teeming shebeen, sooner or later you’d step on somebody’s toes and pay dearly for it.
But Mandela, fresh from the gaol, in front of an audience who likely were sussing the man out, unsure whether or not he really was the bloodthirsty terrorist they’d been told he was, uttered what bordered on sacrilege.
‘We identify with the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization],’ said Madiba, ‘because just like ourselves they are fighting for the right of self-determination. The support for Yasser Arafat and his struggle does not mean that the ANC has ever doubted the right of Israel to exist as a state.’ He would also say that ‘Yasser Arafat, Colonel [Muammar] Gaddafi, Fidel Castro support our struggle to the hilt’ and as such he regarded them as comrades.
In a few sentences at the Aaron Davis Hall at City College of New York in June 1990 and by aligning himself with these sworn enemies of the West, he’d effectively written his own eulogy. Despite the subsequent applause from the audience, there were those who struggled to conceal their disdain. Madiba’s timing couldn’t have been more off. The ruling Afrikaner National Party (NP) not only enjoyed a cosy affair with Israel but, as the ‘white tribe of Africa’ trying to survive amongst dark peoples on the Mother Continent, the Israeli tribe seeking similar ends amongst hostile Arab neighbours struck a sentimental nerve. Throw in to this that the Nats came into power the same year that the world recognised Israel as a state, and those trying to connect those divine Calvinistic dots may well have felt that they were on to something.
Domestically, things weren’t exactly going swimmingly for South Africa, let alone the ANC. We were tinkering on a post-apartheid future that no one knew would look like and the last cock-up any sane leader could pull off was to tick-off the geopolitical big men. Especially the ones with the big purse. The US, the most powerful superpower for at least half a century, fully had Israel’s back. Recently unbanned, the ANC was still trying to find its footing, and Madiba was visiting the US hoping to, amongst others, fill up the party purse.
There were lingering misgivings about Mandela himself: Sure the guy may have been the face of the liberation cause but did he have the wherewithal to cut it as a statesman? For instance, as a suspected former member of the SA Communist Party and a fan of Castro, would he not suddenly go full-Commie on us? Nationalise all industry, including private property and keep McDonald’s at bay.
As these uncertainties swirled, the military occupation in Gaza and the West Bank was nearing 25 years old. The expulsion of some 750 000 Palestinians from their homes during the Nakba was still a festering wound in the heart of the Palestinian and, with the Western media generally pushing a pro-Israel spiel, the people of Gaza were often portrayed as uncouth Arabs baying for Jewish blood.
In some quarters that perception still persists and the anti-Semitic slur continues to function as a scarecrow at anyone who may find fault in Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza, its occupation of the West Bank and the proliferation of illegal settlements. Locally, opinion – in quintessential Mzansi style – often takes on racial undertones. For the most part, traditionally ‘black’ parties stand with the Palestinians whilst the ‘white’ fringe are firmly with Israel. In the GNU, the ANC – which took Israel to the ICC in December last year – is following in Mandela’s footsteps and the DA will not bring itself to openly condemning Israel’s disproportionate response to October 7, inadvertently exposing our own latent prejudices that prevail despite a lauded, liberal-styled Constitution.
Therein perhaps lies the greatest tragedy of the catastrophe: That the sanctity of human life and the globally-recognized right to self-determination is sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. Sometimes it’s thwarted for what can only be described as monetary reasons and aligning oneself on the side of the strong and powerful. Sadly, even those who support ‘Israel’s right to self defence’ cannot turn away from the twisted, smoldering and starved bodies of children in Gaza. With the omniscient smartphone, nobody can claim they didn’t see. Or that they were fed a strictly kosher propaganda. It’s worth noting that in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack, the spectre of decapitated / burnt babies and cutting off of female genitalia offered sufficient justification to support a brutal retaliation on the part of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
But with some of those claims now refuted and at least 44 000 Palestinians dead and another 104 000 injured, it’s become increasingly difficult to defend that position amid such bloodletting. While the world was recoiling from the atrocities, some members of the IDF were brazen enough to post videos of their own alleged war crimes on social media. We saw them cheering as residential buildings were being bombed, as snipers picked off their targets (some of whom were children), as soldiers got dressed up in the lingerie of the victims and laid waste to civilian homes and as at least one Palestinian male was raped. Cringeworthy stuff.
As an ex underground operative of the ANC, British politician George Galloway was one of the first to speak in support of the Palestinian cause. In the months since, many more celebrities including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, comedian Bassem Youssef, Dan Bilzerian and even the controversial Candace Owens have put their heads on the chopping block.
The talking continues as the war rages on and the bodies pile up. It doesn’t seem anyone is applying enough pressure for Israel to take the finger off the trigger. Rather, everybody is still consumed by the right to self-defence and what exactly constitutes a proportionate response. Perhaps it’s a good thing that Mandela is not around to see this. I have a feeling he would have articulated his disgust in no uncertain terms, even if that meant calling out anybody who’s in support of the carnage, including the US. In the wake of the US’s invasion in Iraq, the old man once gave them a brutal tongue lashing. Then again, if he were around, he’d probably remind the world in that unmistably emphatic voice of the importance of human life. Judging by the word doing the rounds on TV, comments sections and social media, much of the world seems to have forgotten that.