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Washington-based Zionist lobby  demands punitive sanctions on South Africa due to Hamas links

By Iqbal Jassat

Reeling from global outrage and anger against its barbaric slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s army of spin-doctors are desperately trying to pressure the South African government to relinquish its ground breaking genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

The latest tactic by a group closely aligned to America’s security and intelligence is directed to force the ANC-led government to not only undertake a witch hunt against individuals and organisations supportive of Hamas, but to delegitimise them as “terrorists”.

Shocking but not surprising because for these so-called “think tanks” linked to the shameful promotion of the Zionist settler-colonial regime whether militarily or as Hasbara (propaganda) agents, all Palestinian solidarity movements – without exception – are demonised as antisemitic terror supporters.

It does not end there. The antisemitic canard is extended to include a range of disparaging terms designed to profile opponents of apartheid Israel as “violent extremists and radical jihadists”.

In other words, if Zionist Hasbarists are to be believed, the injustice and gross human rights violations against Palestinians practised by the apartheid regime of Israel for close to eight decades, is not only acceptable, but also justified.

Zionist logic dictates that all forms of solidarity for Palestine’s freedom struggle should be declared illegal and punishable.

The Israeli playbook is clear: Repression of Palestinians including the ongoing genocide is normalised; while resistance to it terrorism.

Thus the narrative promoted by Hasbarists and Zionist lobbyists is that the violent military assault and annihilation of Gaza is  justified to defend the regime against terrorism, specifically “Hamas terrorists”.

As a leading advocacy group based in Johannesburg and widely acknowledged as a credible counter to Zionist hasbara, the Media Review Network  (www.mediareviewnet.com), has repeatedly faced such slanderous attacks.

In the words of the late doyen of SA journalists and former editor of the Rand Daily Mail Allister Sparks, renowned for his political acumen, the MRN “can best be described as a counter to the powerful global network of pro-Israeli organisations represented in this country by the South African Zionist Foundation”.

In his review of MRN’s publication “Why Israel?”, Sparks wrote that the book presented the Palestinian point of view in a carefully documented manner with every source meticulously provided.

Moreover, he said it presents “the other side” that is not adequately heard. And that it is presented from a specifically South African standpoint.

“The authors, and the organisation they represent, are people who fell on the wrong side of the colour line during apartheid, and their purpose here is to reveal the similarities between that time in our country and today’s Israel.”

Having exposed many of the sins of apartheid during his courageous journalistic career, it is to his credit that Sparks sought to gain a first-hand understand of Hamas by travelling to Damascus to interview its exiled leaders.

He believed that Western governments and media have maligned Hamas in much the same way that exiled ANC was misrepresented by the South African apartheid government.

Both the ANC and Hamas were unfairly and unjustly designated as terrorist organisations, barred from expressing their true intentions of representing their people. Israeli law prevents journalists from meeting with Hamas officials and reporting their statements; in much the same way that Apartheid legislation made it a crime to quote any statements made by the ANC.

“This ensures that the Israeli narrative of Hamas being an evil, terrorist organisation is maintained, and the occupation is allowed to foster itself under the pretext of protecting Israel from such culprits”.

The latest attack by a US-based group in Washington follows a boring Zionist playbook by demanding the Trump administration “should respond to South Africa’s growing support for Hamas with targeted economic sanctions…” and that individuals and entities “whose actions suggest alignment with Hamas” should be investigated.

Known as FDD (Foundation for Defense of Democracies), it goes on to demand the US “should increase diplomatic pressure on South Africa… to designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation”.

The political agenda pursued by the FDD against South Africa is an extension of the Netanyahu regime’s declared aim to target Hamas all over the world. Leaning on the fact that South Africa is on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the FDD is openly applying pressure to have it remain grey-listed.

The individuals and groups it has singled out for attack are Mandla Mandela, Emad Saber, Ebrahim Gabriels, Imtiaz Sooliman, Gift of the Givers, Al Quds Foundation, the ANC, Media Review Network and its leadership.

Apart from intruding in South Africa’s domestic and foreign policies, the FDD naively believes that it can adopt the impunity associated with Israel to insult, slander and disparage South Africa’s independence and sovereign status.

Contrary to the Hasbara by FDD and fellow Zionist lobbyists in South Africa, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, emphasised that Hamas should be recognised as a legitimate political movement rather than a group of murderers.

She noted that Hamas plays a significant administrative and service role in the Gaza Strip, asserting that the organisation came to power after winning what she described as the most democratic elections in the region, not only in Palestine.

Albanese pointed out that many individuals repeat mainstream narratives about Hamas without a true understanding of its role. She highlighted that the movement has established schools, public institutions, and hospitals, positioning itself as the de facto authority in Gaza.

Rejecting the portrayal of Hamas as solely a militant group, Albanese stated, “Hamas is not a band of murderers or heavily armed fighters, as it is often depicted in various narratives.”

Indeed, the silence by the FDD on what Albanese characterised the ongoing situation in Gaza as a “campaign of genocide,” speaks volumes.

Iqbal Jassat

Executive Member

Media Review Network

Johannesburg

South Africa

 

 

 

 

Iqbal Jassat
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