Harare — The Israeli embassy in South Africa came under fire from African National Congress (ANC) Deputy Secretary General Nomvula Mokonyane for its perceived "arrogance" and refusal to discuss the most recent crisis between Israel and Hamas militants, Mail & Guardian reports.
While attending the Labour Party conference in the United Kingdom, Mokonyane, the leader of the ANC's international relations committee, criticised the Israeli government, pointing out the "inconsistencies" in the way the world's superpowers have responded to the war.
As part of "Operation al-Aqsa Flood," Hamas launched a surprise attack on Saturday, October 7, 2023 firing about 5,000 missiles into Israel. The ANC-led government has urged for a rapid truce and peace.
The operation reportedly claimed the lives of at least 1,200 Israelis, including women, children, and non-Israelis. There were also hundreds of civilian kidnappings. Over a thousand people died as a result of Israel's retaliatory attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian officials cited by several media outlets. Reports state that among the deceased in the Gaza strip are women, and children.
According to Hamas, the purpose of the attack was to make the international community "not forget about the Palestinian people" and their predicament. Additionally, the strike occurs as Washington works to "normalise" relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The ANC made multiple attempts, according to Mokonyane, to communicate with the Israeli administration in South Africa. She clarified that the ANC was not "anti-Jewish" despite its opposition to "apartheid Israel."
"We are open to engage with the Israeli government and with everyone and anyone. It's just that we have an arrogant embassy and leadership of Israel in South Africa that never wants to engage with the African National Congress, that never wants to engage with a civil society in South Africa to an extent where they will get the police to come and stop people from submitting a memorandum," she is reported to have said.
Mokonyane also criticised the media's uneven coverage of the war and the international community for their shortcomings.
The ANC has come under fire for not denouncing the Hamas attack. While Mokonyane did not condemn Hamas outright, she said that any loss of civilian life was a serious concern. She reiterated the ANC's assertion, arguing that the party wasn't to blame for not using the phrase "condemned."
Due to the growth of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory, the ANC in the Western Cape proposed a resolution in 2017 that the national policy conference of the ANC opted to endorse, downgrading South Africa's embassy in Israel. After that, the resolution would be brought before the elective conference for approval before it could be presented to the government.
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The African Union (AU) and African presidents and foreign ministers are calling for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants. AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat released a statement on Sunday, October 8, 2023 urging the warring parties to return to the negotiating table. "The chairperson urgently appeals to both parties to put an end to the military and to return, without preconditions, to the negotiating table to implement the principle of two states living side by side," he said.
Meanwhile, a notification has been received by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) stating that two South Africans died in the ongoing conflict.
