ANT KATZ

Iqbal Jassat, a senior executive at the anti-Israeli Media Review Network https://www.sajr.co.za/images/default-source/People/single/bergman-darren-long.jpg” class=”sfImageWrapper”>The DA constantly walks a fine line on mid-East politics, counting on many Muslim voters and much Jewish votes and funding. They had famously dropped the ball at the Cape Town Conference in December which left them with egg on their faces ahead of the elections early this year.

Landed in Bergman’s lap

Seasoned Jewish DA politician Darren Bergman (pictured at right), now a DA MP and deputy shadow minister of Sport and Recreation, has found this issue landing on his lap.

And management was called for. Jassat has really thrown a spanner in the works by making statements like: “SA’s increasing interest in Palestine and its woes is beginning to manifest in ways that’s likely to attract more antagonism from Israel and her lobbyists”.

“We at MNR … hope that the quality of their findings will unleash greater momentum within SA to fulfil aspirations and desires of Palestinians to gain freedom, dignity and justice” wrote Jasset. “The mission will in all likelihood draw the ire and fire of a deeply wounded pro-Israel lobby in SA.”

He also wrote that the delegation “must brace themselves for a barrage of attacks from the Israeli lobby corner… Its ugly and undignified, yet synonymous with the type of ‘hasbarah’ Israel expects its army of defenders to undertake”.

LEFT: Caught in the middle, DA KZN MPL Mbali Ntuli may well have been a pawn in BDS’ game

“MNR aims to “propel the Zuma administration to review its foreign policy on Israel. For instance the skewed approach of so-called ‘even handedness’.”

DA’s quick action

 “Our party has a travel policy,” Darren Bergman of the DA  told Jewish Report, “and questions will be asked about whether our travel policy was followed and should the trip have been undertaken.”

While it would appear that the anti-Israel lobby may have outfoxed their more naïve KZN MPL and her provincial chairman, who appears to have signed off on the trip, there are several issues that the DA will need to investigate.

Mbali returns today (Wednesday) and will be meeting the leadership tomorrow – and Bergman has given an undertaking to get back to Jewish Report Online later this week.

The DA is holding several concurrent discussions, says Bergman, but nothing can be finalised until they are able to speak to Mbali. He is adamant that, at this stage there are no judges or juries, just questions which are being asked.

The questions that need asking

One such question must be, now that the DA knows more about the trip, would the party have sanctioned Mbali’s joining the delegation?

Among what the DA needs to be asking itself is:

• Was the DA Travel Policy followed – and, if so, does their policy need to be interrogated?;
• If the policy was flouted or ignored, at what point was this error made?;
• Does the DA Travel Policy include sufficient voracity and do the structures follow it accordingly?; and
• Even if the trip was correctly sanctioned, it could still result in another investigation into why the party accepted funding from groups it would normally steer clear of.

More about politicking than fact-finding?

Based on the reading of Jasset’s statement, Bergman says he suspects that the trip may have been more about politicking than a fact-finding mission. “The timing of these types of press releases whenever the government is under pressure over the Israel question.”

He may be correct as Jasset’s article (SEE FULL TEXT BELOW) seems to pre-empt the outcome of the report, inter alia when he writes of his “hope that Pityana and his colleagues will not spare the Zionist regime”.

Ironically, Israel has come up twice in Parliament this week and it seems increasingly likely that the pro-Palestinian lobby may have outmanoeuvred the DA to use Mbali and the party’s names to add credibility to the final report.

SEE: 25 content items relating to Darren Bergman

Online Editor’s comment

The article below by Iqbal Jassat appeared on POLITICSWEB on Monday, as well as on his own MRN website – and would appear from the most cursory glance to be part of a much larger strategy aimed at pushing the ANC Government to follow the ANC party line on the Middle East. While the headquarters of the party at Luthuli House would like to be calling the shots, the more pragmatic Cabinet recognises the importance to the SA economy of having closer ties with Israel.

Jassat and his MRN pull many of the anti-Israel strings in SA. But he usually likes to be a behind-the-scenes man – and by seemingly jumping the gun and gloating a little too early on Monday, may yet fail in his coup attempt – if that is what he had in mind.

The anti-Israel side managed to outmanoeuvre and use the naiveté of the KZN DA towards their BDS-aligned goals – we will know more about that later in the week – stay tuned.

Jasset’s article, below, may yet prove to be the downfall of what could have proved to be a powerful weapon. Sending a “multiparty” “fact-finding” mission to Israel, Palestine, Gaza to meet with Hamas et al – all paid for by purported neo-Nazis.

But, by pre-empting “the findings” which he says he hopes will “propel the Zuma administration to review its foreign policy on Israel,” he has seemingly overplayed his hand and awoken what appears to be a very angry DA. And by further pre-empting the outcome as one which he writes will be “likely to attract the ire of the Israel lobby”, he has shot himself in the foot.

This story has legs – watch out for the updates! 

SA fact-finding mission in Israel raises Palestinian hopes

By Iqbal Jassat – Executive: Media Review Network, Johannesburg

27 October 2014

Iqbal Jassat Executive: Media Review Network, Johannesburg says he hopes Barney Pityana, Vusi Pikoli, Mbali Ntuli and others will not spare the Zionist regime

South Africa’s increasing interest in Palestine and its woes is beginning to manifest in ways that’s likely to attract more antagonism from Israel and her lobbyists.

Currently a number of South Africans are in Israel to gain first-hand insight of conditions faced by Palestinians under Occupation as well as experience the political and humanitarian situation there. 

Delegates include Prof Barney Pityana, Adv Vusi Pikoli, MPL Mbala Ntuli, Adv Adila Hassim, Prof Firoz Cachalia, Dr Christi van der Westhuizen and Brad Brockman.

In a statement issued by the joint organisers of the trip, the Heinrich Boll Foundation Southern Africa [HBF] and Open Shuhada Street [OSS], they undertake that the delegates will meet and interact with both Israeli and Palestinian civil society “working to end the conflict and advance human rights and social justice, as well as political representatives…” Among other activities, the group will visit and observe military court proceedings in the West Bank, visit the Jordan valley to understand the politics of water and its impact on Palestinian farmers. 

As they wrap up their fact-finding mission, we at Media Review Network, are keenly anticipating a thorough and detailed report-back. We hope that the quality of their findings will unleash greater momentum within South Africa to fulfil aspirations and desires of Palestinians to gain freedom, dignity and justice.

We are well aware that the mission will in all likelihood draw the ire and fire of a deeply wounded pro-Israel lobby in South Africa. Their hostile reaction to any critique of Israel’s apartheid policies is by now predictable. It’s a phenomenon closely associated with blind support, which lately has overspilled in hate campaigns as is evident in the insulting treatment meted to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Cachalia, Pityana and colleagues must brace themselves for a barrage of attacks from the Israeli lobby corner, some of whom have already resorted to demonising via Twitter and Facebook. Its ugly and undignified, yet synonymous with the type of “hasbarah” (propaganda) Israel expects its army of defenders to undertake.

The visit nevertheless raises expectations within South African civil society as to whether the findings will propel the Zuma administration to review its foreign policy on Israel. For instance the skewed approach of so-called  “even-handedness” is an unfair disadvantage to Palestinians as an occupied people as against the unlimited advantage enjoyed by Israel in every sphere of economic, social, cultural, military and political link resulting from full diplomatic relations.

That racist profiling informed by Islamophobia gave the group a taste of Israel’s apartheid as soon as they arrived there, with the detention of Section27’s Advocate Adila Hassim – albeit for three hours of interrogation, raises the hope that Pityana and his colleagues will not spare the Zionist regime.