Perhaps these idiots are useful

According to an intersectional feminist on X, we shouldn’t be calling Gaza an “open-air prison”. No, says the she-pronoun person, because “prison” denotes criminality. And it’s not fair to label those who live there. Rather, she suggests, we should call it what it is, which is a “concentration camp”.

I didn’t want to respond. But then my fingers itched, and I replied that as the Palestinian cause had already co-opted the “apartheid” term, I could see no issue with making the Holocaust its cause as well. I suggested further that when this is done, they should move along to the Spanish Inquisition. Because no-one had used that terminology for years. And why let the Spanish get away with them making it all about them and their Jews?

If I have learned anything since 7 October, it’s that intersectional people, as a rule, aren’t so smart. I have seen “Gays for Palestine”; “Reproductive organ freedom fighters”; along with feminists of the intersectional kind marching in support of Hamas. A terror organisation, which, let’s face it, would offer their reproductive organs way less freedom than they currently receive. And which had a tendency to throw gay people off buildings – while it still had them.

If like me you were unsure about what intersectionality actually was, it’s the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. In essence, this means that given that they aren’t the sharpest tools in the social shed, it’s unlikely that most intersectionalists will have a clue what they are. Other than the fact that they are it proudly.

And then, there’s the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), perhaps lesser known for their intersectionality. And more for their need for attention. They marched to the Israeli embassy, demanding that McDonald’s stop supplying food to Israel and that Woolworths cease and desist immediately from selling Israeli tomatoes. All in the name of humanity. They even wheeled in this column’s regular visitor, Carl Niehaus, who had recently returned from losing his mother yet again. An affliction that he can’t seem to shake.

“Hamas did nothing wrong!” said Malema, wearing what looked like a Mr Price dishcloth on his head. And everyone cheered, no doubt wondering when the whole thing would be over so that they could get out of the hot Pretoria sun. Not everyone had the luxury of having their heads decked with an Italian picnic blanket.

Where one would have thought that the Palestinian movement would have delighted in the charade, this was far from the case, with activist – since 1976, according to his X profile – Zackie Achmat stating clearly that EFF support for the cause will do damage and not assist. A little concerning, given that the cause has Hamas and Iran as part of its team.

To avoid confusion, it needs to be noted that in spite of how it may look, Dr Naledi Pandor isn’t an intersectional feminist. Her recent visit to Iran, where they routinely oppress women; and cozy telephone call with Hamas, who rape them, for Pandor of the department of international relations and cooperation, it’s far less complicated. She simply detests Israel, and cares not a fig for Jews, who seem to be a constant source of annoyance for her.

And in a way, this is preferable. Because for Pandor, there’s no confusion. Her mission is simple, her goals are clear, and the consequences are irrelevant.

Whereas Hamas and Iran might be the curses of our time, they can succeed only if they are aided and abetted by the likes of Pandor and assisted by useful idiots. By naïve people and by those who can’t distinguish apartheid from a concentration camp, which is not the same as the Spanish Inquisition and the star chamber.