Christian Zionists to counter EFF march on Israeli Embassy

TALI FEINBERG

“As Christians, we believe in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… we can’t keep quiet when Zion is under attack. If you attack the G-d of Israel, you are attacking Christians. If you open the Bible you see that land belongs to Israel,” said Christian Zionist and activist Masindi Mmgwena.

He told the SA Jewish Report that the EFF’s behaviour in this march is unacceptable to him and his fellow churchgoers.

“We want to tell South Africa that we will never divorce ourselves from Israel and we will not support any government that is against Israel. The EFF is committing political suicide with this march, as 85 per cent of South Africans are Christian. To the Jewish community we say: We are doing what Mordechai did – he persuaded Esther to speak on behalf of the Jewish people. Pray for us.”

The EFF march has apparently been in the offing since May 6, this year when their Central Command team met and resolved to “organise their own picket to the Israeli Embassy in support of the Palestinian prisoners, who were at the time on hunger strike”, according to an EFF invitation that was sent out to leaders of civil society formations, organised business and faith-based movements and organisations.

They invited people to join them in the picket at the embassy at 12 noon today (Thursday).

In the invitation, they maintained that although the hunger strike had long since ended, the EFF Central Command team wanted to use the “picket” to highlight and profile the Palestinian struggle.

They chose November 2 because they believed it to be a “significant date in the Palestine calendar” as it marks the 100 years of the Balfour Declaration, which they claim ultimately led to the “disposession of the Palestinians of their country of sovereignty and land (sic)”.

The EFF also circulated a poster on Facebook calling on their “comrades” to march on the Israeli Embassy.

An article in the Pretoria East Rekord newspaper said, however, that the march will also demand that the South African government provides free higher education from 2018 onwards; that Jacob Zuma must step down as president of South Africa; that the Gupta family must immediately leave South Africa; that the national director of public prosecutions Shaun Abrahams must step down.

The Pretoria East Rekord quoted Julius Malema as saying: “Maybe the only thing they will listen to is militant action. Every street in Pretoria must be occupied.”

Malema also tweeted about the march on October 25: “We love self-determination, peace and justice, democracy is our nickname. We are not free until Palestine is free, let’s occupy (the) Israel embassy”.

The Christian Zionist organiser called the EFF “hypocrites” as they demand the return of land while criticising Israel for reclaiming its rightful homeland.

Another Christian Zionist lead organiser told the SA Jewish Report that their protest is “a peaceful, Biblical and silent protest. We believe that the EFF is wrong to enter into the domestic politics of another country. We are hoping to share ideas and tell them things they may not know about Israel.

“We must stand up and share the correct information,” he says. “We think that people who are marching for the EFF, don’t even believe in this cause, or know why they are marching, as many of them are Christian.

“We are simply meeting our brothers and sisters from EFF as they arrive. We are not going there to fight them, but to educate them, as we believe many of them are lost.”

SA Zionist Federation chairperson, Ben Swartz, commented: “The marching of the EFF on the Israeli Embassy is beyond absurd. South Africa is in the midst of seemingly insurmountable challenges and yet the EFF elects to spend time, capital and resources pursuing a highly emotive agenda and polarising issue.

“The EFF and those opposed to Israel in South Africa, should be under no illusion as to the many millions of South Africans who are supportive and appreciative of Israel and what it stands for.

“Israel remains one country that has so much to contribute to South Africa’s well-being, and is ready and able to impart this expertise,” says Swartz.

Tshwane Metro Police confirmed that plans were in place for the march on Thursday, and that they will be deployed to monitor the march.

EFF members are scheduled to leave from Church Square at 11:00 on Thursday to march to the Embassy in Hatfield. They are expected to disperse from the Embassy at 17:00.

Numerous requests for comment and calls to the EFF, went unanswered.