Communications minister shares fake news on Israel

It’s the height of irony that South Africa’s minister of communications and digital technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, heartily endorsed an item of fake news about Israel last week.

Yet, local politicians took it upon themselves to set the record straight, ensuring that false statements about the Jewish state didn’t find their way into parliamentary discourse.

“The minister of communications made the outrageous statement during last week’s youth debate that she had come across a most disturbing picture of a lifeless Palestinian child under the knee of a uniformed policeman from Israel, and that this picture continued to haunt her,” African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP Steve Swart told the SA Jewish Report. “She added that it’s a reminder of the Soweto riots [commemorated on Youth Day next week], and that this kind of crime should be classified as a crime against humanity.

“The only picture that we as the ACDP could find during the debate was that of a Chilean official with his knee on the neck of a child. This occurred in 2016, but sadly, it appears that this picture is continuously used to bash Israel,” he said.

Indeed, as far back as a year ago, Reuters Fact Check showed that the photo in question “actually shows a police officer detaining a man who was caught vandalising in the city of Valparaiso, Chile, in 2016” and the claim that it’s an Israeli officer and a Palestinian child “is false”.

Said Swart, “My colleague, Marie Sukers, who participated in the debate, was outraged by this statement, and wrote a letter of complaint to the minister’s office.” In it, Sukers stated, “It’s deeply concerning that an office bearer serving as minister of communications and technology should continue a false narrative that may lead to further divisions and add fuel to the fire in the Middle East that is acutely felt in our country.”

Swart said that he, too, decided to set the record straight, “and did so during a declaration on ICASA [the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa], the communications regulator.” A recording shows Swart standing up and explaining that the minister was mistaken, then saying, “The minister should correct that issue, seeing as what we’re dealing with is a communications issue.”

Swart said he set the record straight because “President [Cyril] Ramaphosa and members of his cabinet – including the ministers of communications and international relations and cooperation – must be held accountable and called out for their hypocrisy and double standards.

“They are quick to criticise Israel at any turn, but fail to hold the Palestinians accountable for their role in the conflict. What about the 4 000+ rockets launched at Israel, with many of those rockets falling into Gaza itself?

“What about the ill treatment of Palestinians in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, as well as the persecution of large numbers of Muslims in China and Myanmar? Not a word is said about this. The anti-Israel bias verges on antisemitism. We in the ACDP won’t remain quiet when this is said, and we will continue to set the record straight and stand for Israel and the Jewish community.”

Is there any recourse for a politician who states false facts? After all, many members of the public have faced a backlash or even professional repercussions for spreading fake news.

“In practical terms, the only real recourse would be to engage the person concerned and present the verified and accurate version for public consumption,” said local social media expert Gus Silber.

“The reason people share fake news and disinformation so readily is because of something called ‘confirmation bias’. So, if we have a certain set of beliefs and we come across something which fits in with our beliefs, we’re much more inclined to accept it as true without checking.

“This is because it confirms our view of the world and our beliefs. This is especially the case with ‘hot button’ sensitive political issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Silber said.

“It’s also important to be aware of who is spreading the news. What’s their agenda and motive, who do they represent, and why are they sharing this news? If you can identify those aspects, you’ll be a lot more inclined to think twice before sharing it.

“It’s important in this particular case to counter false information with verified and accurate information, and to put the accurate information out there. It’s important that people understand that there’s a big difference between misinformation – which is information that could be put out through human error – and disinformation. Disinformation is deliberate distribution of information that is known to be wrong or inaccurate.”

Silber said it’s easy to check and verify images like this. “If you come across an image on social media or elsewhere online, ‘right clicking’ on it, and pressing ‘search Google for image’, will quickly let you know if the image is an accurate reflection, or whether it’s patently false or misleading. It’s also important not to rush into sharing something. In other words, think twice, and if you’re in any doubt at all, rather don’t share information.

“Stories like this aren’t uncommon. We must also check our own confirmation bias. Fact checkers are important in society today because of the rapid spread of fake news, so it’s vital to know about reputable fact-checking sites like Reuters, AfricaCheck, and Snopes. Scepticism should be the default setting. You should take everything you see online – no matter what the source – as something that shouldn’t be read at face value. It’s important for people to use the traditional journalistic approach of starting with scepticism and then checking and verifying before reporting or sharing.”

Said Swart, “ACDP President Kenneth Meshoe also delivered a hard-hitting speech on the hatred shown to Israel.” Meshoe told the national assembly plenary on 4 June 2021 that the “South African government must stop its support of haters of Jews who are dreaming of the removal of Jews from the face of the earth, which will never happen.”

“I also took issue with another parliamentarian for what I perceived to be antisemitic comments in parliament,” Swart said, referring to Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam of the National Freedom Party’s response to Meshoe, saying, “Wherever Jews have gone … to many countries all over the world… they were not wanted anywhere in the world.” Swart immediately responded, “The honourable member [Emam] made some extremely antisemitic comments about Jewish people, and I would ask you to study the record and rule on that, because it is highly unparliamentary, and we are seeing increased antisemitism across the world and in South Africa.”

“We are deeply concerned about the lack of objectivity and bias towards Israel shown by many parliamentarians and cabinet members,” Swart told the SA Jewish Report. “How can we play a role of an honest broker under such circumstances? The ACDP won’t remain silent. As I said in parliament last week, ‘Am Yisrael chai – the people of Israel live.’”

The SA Jewish Report reached out to Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams for comment, but received no response.