Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor. Photo: X/@lafreecano
International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor says those who “imagine” Palestinians are not being subjected to apartheid by Israel, never experienced the evil system.
Pandor made the remarks during an interview on 702 on Tuesday, as Israel prepared for a ground offensive in Gaza.
Monday marked 10 days of fighting, with Israel retaliating to an October 7 attack by Hamas.
More than one million people have been displaced in Gaza after sustained Israeli bombardment.
Pandor said she found it curious those who had lived through and experienced apartheid were being told that they were imagining it when it was recognised elsewhere.
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Pandor said often those who say “we are imagining it didn’t experience it or have decided to put some form of filter on their eyes”.
“I was astounded, for example, to read a statement attributed by The Jerusalem Post to Mr Terror Lekota, the leader of Cope, indicating that there is no way that Israel can be called an apartheid state.
“And yet, people have to carry passes and those passes are different depending on whether you are Arab or Jewish. People who are Palestinian have to enter their own area of residence through separate entrances.”
Meanwhile, anti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak has told The Patriotic Alliance (PA) he no longer wants them to name a street after him, following the party’s support for Israel.
His remarks came after PA leader Gayton McKenzie on Sunday weighed in on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Speaking at a South African Zionist Federation’s gathering in solidarity with Israel on Sunday, McKenzie said the Middle East conflict could not be compared to apartheid.
“I want to say to every Jewish person here: I grew up in apartheid. I can tell you Israel is not an apartheid state. Calling Israel an apartheid state is delegitimising what we went through as black people and as a people.”
In a letter addressed to the PA’s deputy president, Kenny Kunene, Boesak said that he did not want to be associated with a party that supported the apartheid state of Israel.
ALSO READ: SA calls for lasting peace between Palestine and Israel
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