Israeli-Hamas conflict causes deep divisions in SA

The conflict in the Middle East is seeing the already divided people of South Africa turning on each other.

The war between militant group Hamas and Israel began with the 7 October attack on Israel which killed 1 400 civilians and soldiers and triggered Israeli attacks on Hamas-controlled Gaza. More than 4 650 Palestinians, mainly civilians and including at least 1 873 children have died so far, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel – Hamas war

With widespread protests in South Africa involving multiple organisations, North-West University political analyst Professor André Duvenhage said such action had become a pattern.

“Whenever something happens in the Middle East, protest movements to the Israeli embassy (are organised), and to me, that’s an indication of divisions within the existing social framework of society,” he said.

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The government before 1994 had strong ties with Israel, while the ANC had a historical relationship with freedom movements, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation of former president of the State of Palestine Yasser Arafat, was part of them.

He believed SA was becoming “more and more unstable”.

“In the past, the international environment was not a factor. But currently, even with the war between Russia and the Ukraine, it brought divisions. But it is far more the case when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian question and the whole thing of Hamas.”

Duvenhage said South Africans needed to be concerned.

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“It is easy for President Cyril Ramaphosa to tell them … to reconcile and clear up the differences but, in many ways, we also have fundamental differences. We have a dispensation that is dividing us on the basis of race. This is an aggravating factor in terms of internal divisions within South Africa,” he said.

Another political analyst, Prof Siphamandla Zondi, said there was no likelihood of the war in Gaza spilling over to SA. SA was one of many countries which supported the cause of Palestine but it also wanted the war to end.

“So what you are seeing playing out in South Africa is something that has always been there. There’s always been a strong Zionist lobby, led by the Jewish Board of Deputies. And there’s always been a very strong pro-Palestine lobby, led by the governing alliance right now,” he said.

“Those lobbies are simply expressing themselves strongly in a conflict that has gone really bad – one that is risking being spilled over into the rest of the West Asian region where Palestine is.”

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Zondi said this was why it was important for SA and other countries to join in one voice and call for the cessation of hostilities. This would pave way for humanitarian assistance for those who were being dealt “a huge blow by the blockade, the destruction of property and infrastructure, and perhaps create the basis for confidence-building mechanisms which could lead to talks between both sides”.

Peaceful settlement

“South Africa should be (pushing) for a peaceful settlement of this conflict and that the peace settlement must resolve all underlying issues that led us to this terrible conflict in which a large number of civilians have died. It is a terrible war. It must end amicably by civilised means. War is a barbaric end,” he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people turned up for an Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) picket outside the Israeli embassy in Pretoria yesterday.

The party stated there was no reason for Israel’s ambassador to still be in the country and questioned why SA still had economic ties with Israel.

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SA Jewish Board of Deputies national chair Prof Karen Milner said the EFF was a minority party which found relevance through “outrageous statements and hate-filled rhetoric”.

“Obviously, we utterly deplore the sentiments, but we know South Africans have no interest in importing a foreign conflict into South Africa, particularly when the conditions of our fellow South Africans require urgent attention,” she said.