Hosting Hamas: Changing ANC Israel stance?

STEVEN GRUZD

Hamas had unfettered access to ANC bigwigs. Meshaal was welcomed at the airport by Jesse Duarte, ANC deputy secretary-general. He and his delegation met with President Jacob Zuma and signed a letter of intent to build a stronger relationship with the ANC.

In Cape Town, Hamas was feted at a huge rally in the Muslim community, presided over by ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman, Minister of State Security David Mahlobo, and former Minister Zola Skweyiya, a government-appointed Middle East mediator.

There, Meshaal publicly endorsed the vicious attacks on Jews by Palestinians in what’s already being dubbed “the Third Intifada”. He milked the opportunity to compare the Palestinian movement for independence with the anti-apartheid struggle, portraying his organisation as a brave, legitimate liberation movement, battling oppressive Zionist occupation.

ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said Hamas was exploring opening a South African office. He was also quick to claim that this was merely a party-to-party relationship. Many view this as disingenuous; the lines between party and state in South Africa are extremely blurred.

The South African Jewish community was horrified. A South African Zionist Federation media statement said: “The ideology, values, aims and strategies of Hamas are diametrically opposed to the principles of the ANC, as embodied in the Freedom Charter…

“Hamas… does not support… the creation of an independent Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside Israel… Hamas wishes to destroy Israel altogether and seeks to establish an Islamist dictatorship in its place.”

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein vociferously condemned the visit. And in Israel, the South African deputy ambassador was summoned – a diplomatic convention signalling strong displeasure.

Why did they meet? On one level, it plays into the electoral politics of the Western Cape, the sole province not controlled by the ANC, where the Muslim vote is key to wresting the province from the Democratic Alliance.

ANC officials castigated Cape Town DA mayor Patricia de Lille for not awarding Freedom of the City to Hamas as they had requested and for being beholden to the so-called “Zionist lobby”.

On another level, the ANC consistently seeks to talk to all sides in a conflict. The ANC agreed to sit down with its erstwhile enemy, the National Party, (and other parties) to hammer out an inclusive negotiated settlement. It has used this blueprint in peace-making in Burundi, DRC, Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland and Sudan. This has meant, inevitably, sitting down with some unpalatable organisations.

ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said: “Our invitation of Hamas as one of the principal players in the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is in keeping with our policies of working towards a peaceful world.”

But in this instance, Hamas denies Israel’s very existence and is bent on its destruction. It condones and promotes terror. It has not earned a seat at the negotiating table. The ANC conferring legitimacy on it strengthens Hamas’ resolve and undermines its international isolation. South Africa is drawing ever further away from Western states, who have Hamas on a no-talks terrorist blacklist.

The Jewish communal leadership plans to meet the ANC on this issue. Clearly, no minds will change in that meeting. For now, the official position remains a two-state solution through negotiations, reaffirmed at the ANC’s recent National General Council meeting. But, we must ask, for how much longer?