PHAKAMISA MAYABA /As the International Criminal Court (ICC) threw down the gauntlet in The Hague last week by issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence chief, Yoav Gallant, as well as the Hamas military leader Mohammed Dief in respect of ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’ in the Gaza conflict, a certain South African was probably smiling in his grave.
On this severely divisive and polarising conflict, Nelson Mandela would not budge, making it clearly known which dog he had in the fight at a time when much of the world figured it better not to declare such bones lest they be called anti-Semitic. Seemingly, one could tolerate being labelled anything – racist, homophobic, mysogynist – anything but that.
With all the modern claims to enlightenment, 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, with your cap perpetually held out for Western aid, best not even to 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 prison, in front of an American audience who were probably sussing him 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.’ He would also say that ‘Yasser Arafat, Colonel [Muammar] Gaddafi, and Fidel Castro support our struggle to the hilt’, and as such he regarded them as comrades.
He then added: ‘The support for Yasser Arafat in his struggle does not mean that the ANC has ever doubted the right of Israel to exist as a state, legally. We have stood quite openly and firmly for the right of that state to exist within secure borders. But, of course … We carefully define what we mean by secure borders. We do not mean that Israel has the right to retain the territories they conquered from the Arab world, like the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the West Bank. We don’t agree with that. Those territories should be returned to the Arab people.’
Nelson Mandela’s town meeting with broadcast journalist Ted Koppel in June 1990. Video: YouTube.
The event was a so-called town meeting in New York moderated by the well-known television journalist Ted Koppel. It took place in June 1990, during Mandela’s 11-day visit to the US just a few months after being released from prison.
In these few sentences, and by aligning himself with these sworn enemies of the West, he’d effectively written his own epitaph on this issue. Despite the subsequent applause from some members of the audience, others 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 chord. Throw in to this that the Nats came into power in 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 on the brink of a post-apartheid future that no one knew would look like, and the last cock-up any sane leader should 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, had Israel’s back. Recently unbanned, the ANC was still trying to find its feet, 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 movement, 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 the 25-year mark. The expulsion of some 750 000 Palestinians from their homes during the Nakba was still a festering wound, 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 for anyone who may find fault with 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, while 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-style Constitution.
Therein lies perhaps the greatest tragedy in respect of this catastrophic situation: that the sanctity of human life and the globally recognized right to self-determination are being 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, claims about decapitated babies, charred infants, and the genital mutilation of women seemed to offer sufficient justification for a forceful retaliation on the part of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
An Al Jazeera documentary about alleged war crimes in Gaza. Video: YouTube.
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. While the world was still recoiling from the atrocities committed during the Hamas attack, some members of the IDF were brazen enough to post videos of their own atrocities on social media. We saw them cheering as residential buildings were being bombed, as snipers picked off their targets (some of them 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.
The British politician George Galloway –a former underground operative of the ANC — was one of the first to speak out in support of the Palestinian cause. In the months since, many more celebrities, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, the comedian Bassem Youssef, the American social influencer Dan Bilzerian,and even the controversial commentator Candace Owens have put their heads on the chopping block.
The charismatic George Galloway on Piers Morgan Uncensored. Video: YouTube.
The talking continues as the war rages on and the bodies pile up. It doesn’t seem as if 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-led 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 his unmistakably 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.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Media attention has focused on the warrants issued in respect of Netanyahu and Gallant. However, the ICC also issued a warrant for the arrest of the Hamas military commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, or Mohammed Deif, whom the Israeli authorities claim was killed during an air strike in Gaza in July. The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe that all three were ‘criminally responsible’ for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and Hamas. For a detailed an informative statement by the ICC, click here.
FEATURED IMAGE: Scene from a public protest in London against Israeli military action in Gaza on 22 May 2021. The quote is taken from a speech by then president Mandela at an event in Pretoria marking ‘International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People’ on 4 December 1997.
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This is an edited version of an article that first appeared on Phakamisa Mayaba’s website, eParkeni. Used with permission.