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Open Letter to Peter Bruce on His Misplaced Call On South Africa to “Reset” Ties with Israel 

By Iqbal Jassat 

The world is aghast with Israel’s ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza as it witnesses massacres and savage killings of Palestinians – in real time around the clock.

Yet it seems the only person not affected by the shock and horror of Israel’s relentless carpet bombings, drone attacks and what is described as scorched-earth tactics, is Peter Bruce.

That he has dared to advocate resetting of relations with Israel, displays an utter disregard for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank caused by the Netanyahu regime’s deliberate policy of starvation, ethnic-cleansing and systematic extermination.

In an outrageous attempt to wittingly or unwittingly patronise Zionism, Bruce feeds a narrative implying that to reset relations with the Trump administration, all South Africa has to do make its “troubles go away” is to restore ties with Israel.

He does so quite brazenly in his Sunday Times column (July 20, 2025) titled “Now is not the time for toxic politics”, yet ironically resorts to arguments that may best be described as toxic.

He does so in the context of a warning issued by Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni about the risk of a coup. And a statement by President Ramaphosa, wherein he said the DA was positioning itself as a right-wing nexus that seeks to use a foreign state to effect changes to democratically developed national policies.

Interestingly, though downplayed across many media platforms, was the crucial front page-story carried by The Sowetan headlined “Report links DA MP to anti-SA narrative”.

The article in question was based on a report from the National Security Council (NSC) and in keeping with sound media ethics, the Sowetan apparently sought a comment from the DA MP Emma Powell.

Bruce claims that Powell declined to comment and bizarrely proceeds to extricate her from her predicament: “I can explain. There is no coup”.

Nevertheless, despite his best efforts, Bruce fails to clear the air on the real purpose of Powell’s mission to the US.

Was it to badmouth the ANC-led GNU?

Was it to urge the US to pile on pressure to have South Africa withdraw its genocide case against Israel at the ICJ?

Was it to seek measures to punish South Africa for not relinquishing ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran?

Was it to compel South Africa to re-establish full diplomatic, political and military ties with Israel?

Is the Peter Bruce piece thus reflective of Powell’s mission and goals to condition relations with the US by having a “reset” of relations with Israel?

Surely as tanks are rolling out into areas of Deir el-Balah in Central Gaza packed with displaced Palestinians facing starvation, zero medical aid and no water, one expects calls for more sustained isolation of Israel, not reward the criminal regime with a “reset”.

Bruce cannot claim to be unaware of the horrendous slaughter underway in Gaza, while the World Food Programme’s Palestine representative Antoine Renard, said the UN agency has warned for “weeks” that Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation.

In a post on X, UNRWA warned that “fuel levels remain very low” and that without enough supply, “water cannot be delivered by UNRWA to people in Gaza”.

Non-stop bombardments and forced displacement of millions who include mothers and babies, the old and infirm, by a regime that repeatedly defies international law with impunity, does certainly not deserve to have its blood-stained flag fluttering in Pretoria.

Bruce is not only wrong to call for reopening ties, but also utterly disconnected from the reality of the devastation caused in Gaza by a regime that has earned a pariah status.

Iqbal Jassat

Executive Member

Media Review Network

Johannesburg

South Africa

Iqbal Jassat
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