South Africa trade union: Hizbullah fighters heroic
African country's largest trade union attacks 'terrorist colony of Israel,' renews call for boycott
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has renewed its call for a boycott of Israel during a demonstration with Muslim organizations in Cape Town in late October, the South African IOL news
website reported.
COSATU is South Africa's largest trade union, with a membership of 1.8 million, and is also represented in South Africa's government, being one of three members of the 'tripartite alliance.' The alliance also
includes the ANC ruling party, and the South African Communist Party.
According to the report, the march was attended by "militant Muslim group Qibla and COSATU," and the union's representative reiterated acall to boycott Israel. The marchers also submitted a memorandum to
the South African foreign minister, which said Israel was an "illegitimate, terrorist state, racist, expansionist and chauvinistic and has no right to exist."
David Saks, of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, told Ynetnews that COSATU was cooperating with local radical Muslims in its campaign against Israel. "This has caused a lot of anger in the Jewish
community," he said.
While noting that there has been "a sharp increase in anti-Semitism in South Africa," Saks added that compared to other countries, the level of prejudice against Jews was relatively low.
Saks said he believed the South African government would not follow COSATU's call to boycott Israel.
'Hizbullah is heroic'
A September editorial in COSATU's publication, the Shopsteward, authored by its editorial staff, entitled 'solidarity with Lebanon andPalestine,' praised what it described as "the heroic defensive fighters of Hizbullah," and slammed "Israeli terrorism" and "the Israeli colonial entity."
"Israelis destroyed airports bridges roads (in Lebanon) and all kinds of infrastructure which is to say the means of supporting human life," the article said. "The Lebanese people had no defence against this
destruction which was done with weapons supplied and paid for by theUnited States of America," it added.
"Only after two weeks did Israeli forces enter Lebanon on the ground. At that point they met the heroic defensive fighters of Hizbullah and the Lebanese Communist Party. The Israelis were beaten back and eventually forced to accept a cease fire? The Israeli colonialist aggressors were defeated in Lebanon ."
The editorial continued: "The above is only a short description of a terrible passage of colonialist aggression to the north of the Israeli colonial entity," adding: "Meanwhile the Israelis have continued to
kill Palestinian people and destroying their infrastructure including the only power station in Gaza to south of Israel."
"The Israeli terrorism against the Palestinian people has actually never stopped since the establishment of the colony of Israel in 1948 and started long before that," the editorial declared.
The article went on to condemn what it claimed were Israeli "horrors" and "genocide," and compared Israel to the South African apartheid regime. It also called for "mass action" to boycott Israel.
'No condemnation of Hizbullah'
Speaking to Ynetnews, Pat Craven, a spokesperson and editor at the Shopsteward, said the article was the "editorial position" of the publication, and the official stance of COSATU.
"It's based on statements which we've issued over the course of the last period," Craven said, adding that since Israel's "invasion ofGaza , we put out a very strongly worded statement."
Asked whether COSATU had any condemnation of Hizbullah rocket attacks on northern Israel, Craven said: "I don't think so, because our view has always been that you can never equate the resistance of people under attack and the colonial power that is attacking them."
Responding to the article, Jewish South African blog 'It's Almost Supernatural' said: "The irrational hatred, shoddy grammar and childish languagespeak for itself. This article is an embarrassment to COSATU. South African workers deserve far better."
Speaking to Ynetnews, a source at the Media Department of the South African Zionist Federation said that the South African press was "extremely hostile" to Israel.
The source said former Israeli ambassador to South Africa , Tova Herzl, remarked that "other than the Arab media, the South Africanmedia is the most hostile to Israel."
'Extremism spreading in South Africa '
"COSATU has become incredibly extreme," the source added. "I think a lot of it has to do with Willie Madisha, who is its president. He's made no bones about how despicable he finds Israel."
"The apartheid comparison stems from the Labour unions here in South Africa, and that has stuck. It has become entrenched in our media andour politics," the source said.
Elements within South African society were using the memories of apartheid to incite the population against Israel, the source added.
"COSATU now has strong links with the Palestine Solidarity Committee. We have close 1.5 million Muslims in South Africa, as opposed to about 54,000 Jews. And the Muslims are very anti-Israel, they're drumming up support all the time," the source said.
"I think that the vast majority of South Africans have no idea about the Middle East , but this has become a sounding board."
The source continued: "That's not to say that those in power are not very dangerous. Their accusations against Israel are horrendous. They wield a lot of power and their allegations are really appalling."
