SAJBD supports solidarity for peace

The irony of the Gauteng Legislature hosting an “International Solidarity Day with Palestinians inside of Israel” are great. It is absurd that in a time of gross persecution of religious minorities throughout the Middle East, the Gauteng Legislature chooses to single out the only country in the Middle East where religious minorities enjoy complete legal protection.

The irony of the Gauteng Legislature hosting an “International Solidarity Day with Palestinians inside of Israel” are great. It is absurd that in a time of gross persecution of religious minorities throughout the Middle East, the Gauteng Legislature chooses to single out the only country in the Middle East where religious minorities enjoy complete legal protection. Israeli- Arabs have full political, social and economic rights. Discrimination on the basis of race, religion is strictly forbidden under Israeli law. No reasonable person can compare this to the kind of outright persecution that takes place in virtually every other Middle Eastern country. It is relevant that while millions of Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and residents of other Middle Eastern States have become refugees, Israeli –Arabs have overwhelmingly chosen to remain in their own country.

In a press statement issued by the Union of Arab communities in South Africa, there is a call for the International Community to act in “solidarity with Palestinian citizen of Israel”, to “reaffirm its support for inclusive, unconditional democracy and minority rights in the region”.Should the Gauteng Legislature and ANC truly wish to fulfil this lofty mandate, it should appraise itself of the true facts around the current situation in Israel and beyond. There is currently an unacceptably high level of brutal violence in the region, including the ongoing stabbing of indiscriminate targets, including women and children by Palestinians, (which is yet to be condemned by the Gauteng Legislature).

The Gauteng Legislature, which represents the people of Gauteng, has allowed itself to be used for petty propaganda in an attempted publicity stunt that will in no impact meaningfully on the Israeli-Arabs or the Palestinians. They are however, by giving lip service to “helping the situation”, simply creating a feeling of alienation among its own, diverse citizens. Should the Gauteng Legislature wish to make a meaningful contribution to helping the people of Palestine, they should be calling on both the Palestinian and Israeli leadership to come to the negotiation table, as it is only in this way that a peaceful resolution to the conflict can be found.The SA Zionist Federation and the SA Jewish Board of Deputies remain committed to seeing a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict, one in which results in a two-state solution.