By Iqbal Jassat
If producers and hosts at @SAfmRadio hold the view that platforming persons allied to the settler colonial regime of apartheid Israel who “sanitise” the US/Israeli war in Iran will not escape public scrutiny, they are mistaken.
More importantly, while their choice may allow “guest” unchallenged freedom to propagate, advance and justify Netanyahu and Trump’s war in Iran, it strikes a hole in @SAfmRadio’s claim to be fair and unbiased.
With the changes in format at SAfmRadio having kicked off this morning, the country’s national radio station erred by hooking up with Benji Shulman, known for his anti-Iran views to ironically discuss the US/Iran war on Iran.
Shulman’s Anti-Iran stance is public knowledge, yet it seems to have been ignored by host Joanne Joseph’s producers.
A quick dip into his publicly known views will reveal that not only is he opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran; he finds South Africa’s ties to it as a “troubling alignment”.
The argument Shulman makes against the SA/Iran links, is no different to the Iranophobic position of the Netanyahu regime and Israel’s irrational lobby groups in South Africa and elsewhere.
For example, he argues that South Africa’s engagement with Iran “risks damaging its constitutional integrity and jeopardising trade with the US, where Iran is increasingly viewed as a hostile actor”.
Without a shred of evidence, Shulman repeats allegations of “ANC’s historical and financial ties to Iran, including alleged funding linked to South Africa’s International Court of Justice case against Israel, and MTN’s business interests in Iran’s cellular market”.
Alarmingly he raises fear that if Iran gains a rare ally in the Global South, “the relationship may be less about diplomacy and more about the Ramaphosa government being part of a strategic alignment against Israel and the United States”.
I am thus not surprised that media activist Hassen Lorgat noted his reservations by pointing out that Shulman was simply introduced by Joseph
as the Executive Director of the Middle East Africa Research Institute (MEARI).
“It was not stated that he is also a board member of the South African Friends of Israel and has for many years served as Director of Public Policy at the South African Zionist Federation (it is believed he may have since stepped down)”.
In direct contrast to Zionism’s advocacy for the annihilation of Iran pursued shamelessly by the US military, anti-apartheid veteran Reverend Frank Chikane has called on the world to take a stand against Trump.
His call becomes extremely urgent for it comes after the US President posted an expletive-laden “Truth Social” threat against Iran.
“I am devastated about this. If you have a President of the United States use the type of language he is using against a country they attacked without any provocation, and uses a language nobody would use, except in the street. I think it’s shocking,” Chikane said.
Trump has threatened to blow the country back to the Stone Age and on Tuesday he escalated that rhetoric further, warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”
South African media especially national radio must expect scrutiny and criticism if found to be platforming biased narratives.
Alert consumers and media critics have a responsibility to ensure that illegal wars are not “normalised”.
Reports and interviews that frame the US/Israeli war as “self defense” while labeling Iranian retaliatory responses as “provocation”, undermines media integrity.
Iqbal Jassat
Executive Member
Media Review Network
Johannesburg
South Africa
