Pandor’s Grand Star reveals extent of SA’s bias toward Palestinians

Hopes of South Africa ever playing a role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process may have been dashed this week when the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa announced that it would be bestowing the prestigious Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem on South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation (Dirco), Dr Naledi Pandor.

The Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem is an honour from the “State of Palestine” and can be awarded by the order of president to heads of governments, ministers, envoys, leaders of parliaments and parties, and those of similar standing.

The SA Jewish Report got hold of a copy of the invitation to the event, which said the award would be given at Freedom Park in Pretoria, and be presented by President Mahmoud Abbas on 2 December.

The invitation includes logos from the United Nations (UN), the Embassy of the State of Palestine in South Africa, Dirco, and Freedom Park.

“South Africa has clearly nailed her colours to the mast in terms of which side she’s on in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” says local political analyst Daniel Silke. “There’s been only animosity towards Israel and only broad friendship extended to the Palestinian side. So, this is entirely in line with the shift towards a ‘revolutionary’ supporting style of ANC [African National Congress] foreign policy in recent years, and ultimately reflects the continued disdain that the ANC holds for Israel.

“Supporting revolutionary causes is nothing new for the ANC,” Silke said. “We’re seeing a continuation of that, and there’s little sign that South Africa wishes to play any kind of balanced role in the Middle East.

“The diplomatic overtures to Iran also play into that particular narrative, and this is a continuation of the predictability of the current path of South Africa foreign policy, which now largely excludes South Africa from being any kind of balanced observer in the Middle East.

“From a credibility point of view, by playing on only one side, South Africa has largely written itself out of at least attempting to assist and mediate in the broader Middle Eastern context. It’s something that South Africa probably could have done given her own history, but it looks like ‘revolutionaries’ in the ANC have largely won the day, at least for the moment.”

“The award to Pandor, by the ‘State of Palestine’ is well-deserved in regard to her unflinching support for the Palestinians and opposite but equal disdain for Israel,” says the Institute of Race Relations’ Sara Gon.

“The South African government of the Tripartite Alliance – the ANC, SACP [South African Communist Party], and Cosatu [Congress of South African Trade Unions] – holds an antipathy for Israel that’s probably unmatched anywhere. South Africa, together with 138 other United Nations [members] recognises the ‘State of Palestine’.”

Regarding the UN possibly endorsing the award, Gon says, “It’s a tragedy that the UN has never played any constructive role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The UN came into being for the very reason of reducing conflict, but in the case of Israel, its only method of dispute resolution is to sanction Israel to an extraordinary level, year in and year out.

“Pandor’s award will likely bolster her sense of achievement because of her unalloyed support for the Palestinians,” she says.

Glen Segell, visiting professor and research fellow in the department of political studies and governance at the University of the Free State and research fellow at the Ezri Center for Iran & Gulf Studies at the University of Haifa, says, “The award makes it clear that South African relations with Israel are on the back-burner while the Palestinians are favoured. This is unfortunate, as post-apartheid South Africa could play an important and valuable role. However it needs to be impartial and assist in negotiating. By taking a side, it has withdrawn itself from this.”

Wendy Kahn, national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, says, “True solidarity with the Palestinians means encouraging the Palestinian leadership to abandon its self-defeating strategy of constant confrontation, and recommitting to a process of constructive engagement with Israel. Only once both sides have committed to the give and take of negotiations will it be possible to break the deadlock and move forward. Sadly, Minister Pandor has polarised the situation even further and has made peace-building even more remote.”

The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) dismissed the award as something not to be taken seriously. “We’re bemused by the Palestinian Embassy’s intention to award Naledi Pandor with the bizarrely titled award ‘Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem’,” says SAZF National Chairperson Rowan Polovin. “We call on Minister Pandor not to accept this ludicrous award, but more importantly, to explain to South Africans, again, why her department misspends millions of taxpayers’ funds on propping up the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa. The South African government’s foreign policy, alongside this award that results from it, is a joke.”

The SA Jewish Report reached out to the Palestinian Embassy, the Israeli Embassy, Israel’s government press office, and Dirco, but had not received any responses by the time of going to print.