ANT KATZ

Earlier this month a ‘Solidarity Conference in support of the people of Palestine, Cuba and Western Sahara’ took place under the auspices of the Parliamentary International Relations and Cooperation Portfolio Committee.

“Regrettably,” wrote Board and Fed chairs in a joint statement to the community, “this proved to be little more than a stage managed show trial, one in which Israel was as usual tried, condemned and sentenced in absentia.”

However, it did serve to highlight the support for Israel of both the ACDP (in the form of MP Cheryllyn Dudley) and Christian Zionists in general. One Christian Zionist in particular, Vivienne Myburgh (RIGHT), who had been hastily alerted by Israel lobbyist Luba Mayekiso.

When Vivienne received Luba’s sms on 6 February, she dropped everything and rushed to Parliament from her Stellenbosch home. She was shocked to find that, as the Jewish organisations were to later report, nobody had been invited to make the case for Israel, Vivienne told SAJR Online. And, she felt, the Declaration was all about BDS – the US-based NGO Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Israel.

She jumped in & let them have it

And so, when the chair briefly opened a window of opportunity for comments from the public gallery – Vivienne promptly jumped in:

“Will BDS also consider a BDS campaign against Lebanon, where Apartheid laws legally ban Palestinians from owning property and working in most professions?” she asked. Vivienne later told SAJR that 88 percent of Jordan’s population are labelled Palestinian refugees. Yet they do not enjoy the rights of citizens.

Vivienne’s second question: “Will BDS consider a campaign against Kuwait, which expelled a quarter of a million Palestinians? Yasser Arafat had acknowledged that ‘What Kuwait did to Palestinians in 2005 is worse than what has been done by Israel’.”

Thirdly, asked Vivienne, “Will BDS consider sanctions against a potential future Palestinian State if they practice Apartheid as Mahmoud Abbas has stated: ‘I would not agree … that there will live among us even a single Israeli on Palestinian land’ in a radio interview in Egypt in 2010?”

But Vivienne was far from done… Next she posed the following to the Committee: “What alternatives are BDS offering the 15,000 Palestinians employed in the so-called West Bank (Judea and Samaria) who are presently employed by Israeli companies?” she asked. “They earn at least three times more than they do in Palestinian employ,” she reminded the floor.

She & Hubby taken over late dad’s travels

Vivienne’s late father, Johan Greeff, was the national director for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) in SA.

They are one of the dominant pro-Israeli Christian Zionist groups worldwide and Vivienne is their representative in the Stellenbosch region.

“My husband and I have been supporters of Israel for a long time,” Vivienne told Jewish Report. Her late father took 18 tours of Christians to introduce them to Israel.

And so, after Johann Greeff passed away, Vivienne and hubby Marc (pictured) took up the cudgels and took a similar group on tour last year. Now, they are putting together another tour for this year.

Why is she so pro-Israel?

“Because I serve the G-d of Israel,” she says without thinking, “and he made a covenant with the people and land of Israel. So, because Israel is important to Him, obviously Israel is important to me,” says Vivienne.

It is a “modern day” miracle that the Jewish people are back in their own land after 2000 years in exile and have their own sovereign  state. This battle is not political but spiritual!

Vivienne is also on the committee to combat Israel Apartheid Week at Stellenbosch University. She is feisty and spirited too: “The fight for objectivity and truth continues and I believe that 2014 is going to be a year of this battle intensifying as never before, except for before the holocaust,” she says. But she is ready to take on all comers.
She is also a strong ACDP supporter. “The ACDP is the only party that is putting themselves out there to promote the rights of Israel today,” says Vivienne Myburgh.

Asked how she would feel if the land of Israel was governed by non-Jews who allowed Christians to practice their faith freely, Vivienne reiterates it is not about that: “This would  not be acceptable as G-d promised the land as an everlasting possession to the physical decendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in other words, the the Jewish people. I believe that this is the very reason that there is such an issue with the PLO and others refusing to accept and legitimise the existence of a Jewish State!” says Vivienne.

Related reading on SAJR Online:

6 FEB: Convention and unofficial wording of CT Declaration

12 FEB: Board & Fed angered by Cape Town Declaration

18 FEB: BDS is a very real threat to Israel writes NYT columnist

12 FEB: SA calls for extreme measures to cripple Israel

12 FEB: DA’s Bergman responds on “Cape Town Declaration”

19 FEB: Is ACDP Israel’s only SA political ally?

21 FEB: A thousand Jews have two thousand opinions

23 FEB: “Cape Town Declaration” to be adopted on Wed

24 FEB: “Our MP (Bill Eloff DA) went rogue” – Darren Bergman

27 NOV: Pan-African lobbying for Israel