What we are seeing is yet another example in history of a country using Jews to deflect attention from their own problems.
On 29th December 2023, South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice claiming that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. It requests that the court urgently demand of Israel that it immediately cease its military campaign in Gaza. In effect, South Africa wants to defend Hamas against Israel, by forcing Israel to stop its legitimate war of self-defence against Hamas.
In the letter below, an Irish citizen who is also South African speaks out against this action, seeing it as nothing more than an attempt by the increasingly unpopular ANC (African National Congress) government to win some votes from the hard-left EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) party in national and provincial elections this year.
Dear Sir/Madam
As a dual citizen of both Ireland and South Africa I think it is very important to communicate that this decision by the corrupt and incompetent ANC government of South Africa is far from popular among most South Africans.
The absurd claim the action is based on, only serves to reflect a further deterioration of South Africa’s standing in the world amongst respected countries that sadly South Africa has ceased to be a part of as it seeks new friends in Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and of course Russia.
These types of actions by the discredited South African government are part of a consistent attempt to divert attention from its own failings and many failures which have seen an increasing erosion of the government’s ability to administer the country.
According to recent opinion polls it is now likely that the ANC that has governed since Mandela’s release will lose the elections in 2024 but is now appealing to the hard left of the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) who hate Israel. The ANC has concluded that its absurd stand against Israel is a vote winner for the hard left in the EFF and this action against Israel simply cannot be understood outside of that context.
If anything what we are seeing is yet another example in history of a country using Jews to deflect attention from their own problems. It is actually as simple as that!
Regards
Andre de Villiers
Former President
Irish South African Association
As with all articles published on this website, the views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Ireland Israel Alliance.
