Pro-Hamas ANC undermines SA and US relations

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has confirmed its full support for Hamas, an internationally-designated terrorist organisation.

In a statement on 5 September, it put its full weight behind Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) President Sheikh Riad Fataar, who said on 1 September, “I am Hamas! Cape Town is Hamas! Viva Hamas, viva!”

Fataar’s statement was reported in the SA Jewish Report on 5 September, and since then, most leading Muslim community organisations in South Africa have said they fully support Hamas.

ANC Western Cape Provincial Spokesperson Khalid Sayed said his party stood in solidarity with Fataar, who “exercised his right to free speech in his support for the resistance movement Hamas”. Sayed specifically targeted the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), which was one of several sources the SA Jewish Report approached in the article, saying that the SAJBD’s words were “a smear campaign” to “wrongfully accuse anyone that dares to exercise their right to support Hamas”.

Local and international experts say that the ANC Western Cape statement could further exacerbate the tenuous relationship between South Africa and the United States (US). Furthermore, “Fataar’s shouts of ‘Viva Hamas!’ along with the ANC Western Cape’s solidarity with him, could destabilise South Africa’s government of national unity,” says Michalya Schonwald Moss, the chief advancement officer at October 7 Justice Without Borders, a legal initiative pursuing justice for victims.

“The ANC’s continued claim that Hamas is a legitimate resistance movement blatantly undermines national unity, morality, and international law,” she says. “South Africa cannot afford to normalise support for terrorists, especially after the US Justice Department charged Hamas leaders with orchestrating decades of mass violence. These atrocities constitute crimes against humanity.”

Toby Dershowitz, the managing director of FDD Action, a non-partisan organisation that lobbies the US Congress on national security issues, says, “The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation in June that requires the president to review US-South Africa relations. Pretoria shouldn’t take for granted that Congress and the American administration will look the other way in the face of South Africa cozying up to terrorists that have murdered US citizens and those of its allies.

“South Africa should take serious note of the fact that Hamas engages in terror around the world,” she says. “Its incitement to violence poses the same danger to South Africans that it does to citizens around the globe. Should the ANC and its allies align themselves with Hamas, South Africa risks alienating itself and harming its own population.”

She also notes that such statements won’t help South Africa get off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. “South African financial institutions should undertake the necessary due diligence to ensure they aren’t aiding a web of Hamas-linked fundraising organisations,” Dershowitz says.

Local political analyst Steven Gruzd agrees that it won’t improve South Africa’s relations with the US or endear the ANC to the Americans. “The ANC has come out quite strongly here in support of a public figure identifying with Hamas which isn’t going to be viewed favourably by most of the American political establishment,” he says.

South African Zionist Federation spokesperson Rolene Marks says, “The ANC has proven once again its intentions to marginalise the South African Jewish community. The South African government is proving, once again, that it cannot be an honest broker for any kind of negotiated two-state solution, which is actually its official foreign policy position. It cannot be trusted if one of the leading political parties sides with a terrorist organisation.”

Cape SAJBD Executive Director Daniel Bloch says, “We strongly oppose the MJC’s support for Hamas, an organisation that employs violent means targeting civilians. Such support is counterproductive to the goal of peaceful coexistence in our diverse society.

“Six innocent Jewish hostages were executed last week. This led to an outpouring of grief among the local Jewish community and the world at large,” he says. “As the representative body of the Jewish community, in all its diversity, we make no apology for having railed against another unpardonable act.

“The Cape SAJBD condemns the tragic loss of all lives in this conflict, and we continuously call for peace,” says Bloch. “Yet, the MJC supports an organisation committed to killing Jews. It talks about love for its Jewish neighbours, but protests outside our schools, synagogues, Holocaust centres, and other institutions. We urge community leaders to focus on de-escalation, mutual respect, and constructive engagement. There can be no justification for supporting violence against civilians.”

Fataar holds the highest position in the MJC, the most representative and influential Muslim religious organisation in the Western Cape. Though it deals mainly with religious matters, it has evolved into an extremist political entity, openly supporting Hamas and its atrocities on and since 7 October.

In an interview with Salaamedia on 5 September, Fataar doubled down on his message, saying, “If it makes you scared to hear the name of Hamas, then you will have to shake in your boots, because the world is praising Hamas. [Support for Hamas] is a general trend in Cape Town, South Africa, and in the world. Everybody says it. The MJC has had numerous meetings with Hamas, [including] shahid [martyr] Ismail Haniyeh and [Hamas leader] Khaled Mashal.”

In an interview with Muslim Views on 9 September, Fataar said, “As the MJC, we support Hamas.” The MJC also made a statement in support of Fataar, saying it wasn’t against Jews, and “while there may be disagreements over Hamas’s methods, it remains a legitimate political force. Describing its struggle as mere ‘terrorism’ oversimplifies a complex situation.”

In a statement on 10 September, the United Ulama Council of South Africa, an umbrella body of the Muslim community, said it “sides with, aligns with, and generally supports Hamas”. The Jamiatul Ulama of KwaZulu-Natal also endorsed Fataar, saying, “Hamas’s resistance is an inspiration. We are all Hamas.”

Youth For Al-Quds stated, “We are proud when we say, ‘You are Hamas, I am Hamas, we are all Hamas!’” while its parent body, the Al-Quds Foundation, said that the SA Jewish Report’s article on Fataar “constitutes Islamophobia”. United for Palestine said it “reaffirms its support for Muslim clerics who have taken a stand with Hamas”.

Political party Al Jama-ah said it “applauds and commends” Fataar’s Hamas support and emphasised “We are proud when we say: ‘You are Hamas, I am Hamas, we are all Hamas!’”

Terrorism expert and senior training co-ordinator at the Institute for Security Studies, Willem Els, says “You can see [the ANC statement] against the backdrop of the ANC wanting to make inroads in the Muslim community. I don’t think it considers the consequences of such inflammatory statements. It’s its prerogative who it supports, but it should be done responsibly in order not to inflame sentiment and incite possible attacks.

“Some groups might take these statements literally and act,” he says. “In addition, PAGAD [People Against Gangsterism and Drugs] culprits of the late 1990s are now out on parole. We don’t know if they’ve been deradicalised in prison, but it’s a volatile situation.”

However, some Muslims disagree with Fataar. Dr Taj Hargey, the president of the Open Mosque in Cape Town says, “It’s a complete fabrication to assert that all Muslims back Hamas. Indeed, even most Palestinians don’t endorse the puritanical theology and violent extremism of Hamas.

“Fataar is notorious for despotic misgovernance within his tainted organisation, as well as for his sycophantic relationship with the ANC,” says Hargey. “This delusional hypocrite certainly doesn’t speak for the Open Mosque, let alone for all Muslims in South Africa.”