Well, hallelujah! Turkey has started to build a wall along its border with Syria. Guess what, most of the wall is 2m tall and in some stretches will be over 2.5m high. The first part of the wall will extend for over 900km. Walls separate people and break up families. Walls cut people off from […]
Israel
Posted inNews/Politics
‘Shoot the Jew’ – hidden mantra of Israel’s enemies
The true face of the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement (BDS) was revealed on the steps leading up to the Great Hall at Wits by a group of protesters who hurled abuse at attendees of a concert by Daniel Zamir, an Israeli jazz quartet last Wednesday. Things turned ugly when some of the protestors chanted […]
Posted inNews/Politics
BDS lobby fails at Brics
The proceedings of the fifth Brics summit that took place on March 26 to 27 2013 at the Durban International Convention Centre provided an international stage for civil organisations to garner the limelight for their causes. One such organisation, which promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel by South Africa, foundered in its […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC’s race-baiting tactics in the Western Cape
Earlier this month, Ben Levitas waded into Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Marius Fransman for claiming that Jews were benefiting and Muslims being disadvantaged by the DA’s tender policies in Cape Town. The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has also since issued a statement condemning those remarks. Far from backing down, however, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Israeli pianist’s performance disrupted by Wits students
On the evening of March 12 2013 an Israeli-born pianist’s performance to a full auditorium at Wits was disrupted and abruptly ended when anti-Israel protestors, which included members of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the Wits Student Representative Council (SRC) and the Muslim Students Association repeatedly broke into the auditorium. Yossi Reshef is a world-renowned pianist, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The hypocrisy of the ‘apartheid Israel’ boycott movement
For the past nine years the International Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has organised a well-funded, internationally co-ordinated hate fest against Israel in more than 250 university cities around the world. The event aims to classify Israel as an apartheid state, thereby delegitimising its right to exist because apartheid is a crime against humanity. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC lashes out at Jews in lead up to 2014 elections
With the date for elections, which must take place before July 2014, fast approaching, the African National Congress (ANC) aims not only to secure its unassailable position as the national governing party, but also wishes to govern in each of the nine provinces. A ferocious battle is shaping up in the Western Cape, the only […]
Posted inGeneral
Yet again Palestinian leaders miss an opportunity
Immediately after being asked by President Shimon Peres to form a new coalition Benjamin Netanyahu stated that renewing talks with Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority would be a top priority for his new government. “The next government that I will form will be committed to peace. I call on Abu Mazen (Abbas) to return […]
Posted inGeneral
Aid donors perpetuate Palestinian hate
Countries and aid agencies offering aid and assistance to Gaza have blood on their hands. While food and other humanitarian assistance has been pouring into Gaza, the democratically elected ruling party Hamas, has been funneling funds and huge resources into manufacturing and acquiring rockets. Palestinians, and Gazans in particular, have carefully cultivated an image of […]
Posted inGeneral
Another round concluded in the Gaza dance of death
The following imagined scenario seems to me to sum up pretty accurately the latest round of hostilities between Hamas and Israel: imagine a man who drives a Mini and another who drives a large lorry – let’s call them Abdul and Avi. Now imagine that Abdul hates Avi – really hates him. One day, Abdul […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The value of life in Palestine
By Nina Butler, Ramallah Days are short in Palestine. It is pitch black by 5pm and winter has not yet even solidified over the barren, beige land, scarred with barbed wire and mountains of trash. Lives are short here too. At 6pm last night I received a call from a local friend in Ramallah to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What next for SA-Israel relations?
By Howard Sackstein This week the South African ambassador to Israel was summoned by his hosts for a severe reprimand. Our government’s increasingly aggressive stance on Israel has caused relations between Jerusalem and Pretoria to implode. One by one we have watched our despotic friends in the Middle East tumble from power and we watch […]