October 20, 2015
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has denounced the meeting between South African President Jacob Zuma and Khaled Mashal, leader of the terrorist organisation Hamas. The meeting was held during a four day visit by a Hamas delegation invited to participate in a conference convened by South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). Hamas and the ANC signed a memorandum of understanding on efforts to bring Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories to an end. African National Congress Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe stated, “We are starting a relationship with Hamas…we are happy today we are together, we are formally formalizing our relationship… We’ll exchange delegations, we’ll share experiences and we’ll talk to each other regularly. We are discussing whether Hamas shouldn’t open an office in South Africa so we can talk.”
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“This is a patently wrong and counterproductive way for the South African government to promote dialogue and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Many countries, including the United States, Israel, Egypt, Japan, Canada, the European Union and Australia, have designated Hamas a terrorist organization. By meeting with Khaled Mashal, the leader of a genocidal, anti-Semitic organisation, committed to the elimination of Israel, President Zuma has endowed Hamas with a disturbing legitimacy that is offensive and dangerous. We are equally appalled by the ANC’s invitation to the Central Committee of Hamas to take part in the conference. During the horrific period of murderous attacks that have claimed the lives of Israeli citizens, Hamas has not only celebrated these lethal assaults, but has urged Palestinians to escalate this campaign of terror. This visit and the meeting between President Zuma and Khaled Mashal have set the cause of reconciliation back and have given encouragement and succour to a hate-filled group that revels and engages in incitement, violence and suicide bombings. We wholeheartedly agree with the words of South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who observed that, “For the ANC to welcome Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to South Africa is a moral outrage, and disgraces the memory of Nelson Mandela. Hamas openly promotes the most brutal violence as a religious ideal and is an ideological ally of Boko Haram, which wreaks unspeakable horror and suffering on the African continent. Welcoming such an ideology endangers Africa and the world.”
For more information, please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on 03 9272 5677