Israel Apartheid Week 2016

It is that time of the year again. From 7 to 13 March 2016, anti-Israel propagandists in South Africa will be in full force with an array of antics to demonize and delegitimize Israel during a week-long campaign, which they call Israel Apartheid Week. The BDS campaigners certainly have no lack of creative ideas to enforce their flawed view of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

While South Africa is faced with the worst drought in decades and the government is struggling with proper water management, the country which is uniquely positioned to assist in these areas, are boycotted by BDS’S to satisfy their hate for Israel. For them it is OK for their countrymen to suffer as long as they can satisfy themselves.

A conference on equitable and sustainable water management for poverty alleviation, organised by the Mail & Guardian for 26 February was cancelled after it attracted criticism for including the Israeli Ambassador to South Africa as a panellist. BDS might see it as a victory, but only small minds ignore a hand of help in a time of crisis.

While BDS claims successes in their so-called Israel Apartheid campaign, the other side is not often published in the mainstream media. Recently, more governments, companies and institutions started to either withdraw their support for BDS or legalised against it.

The Munich-based DAB bank is slated to discontinue the account of one of the top BDS campaign websites in Germany. The BDS website lists DAB bank Munich as the financial institution for electronic money transfers.

The City Council of Paris adopted two nonbinding resolutions condemning attempts to boycott Israel, which is illegal in France. One of the resolutions said the City of Paris “opposes publicly all attempts to isolate Israel from the collective of nations,” and also reaffirmed the city’s “commitment to the promotion of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.”

The multi-talented star Jennifer Lopez will be having her debut performance in Israel despite pressure from the the BDS movement to cancel.

To frustrate BDS even more, Beyonce wore a fabulous gown designed by the Israeli designer Inbal Dror. Her jewellery was also by an Israeli designer, Keren Wolf.

A princess from the Islamic country of Bahrain chose to receive life-saving treatment in Israel after she was given the chance to undergo the necessary operation in the US. Logic dictates that the princess would not have made such a decision if she regarded Israel as an Apartheid State.

Israel Apartheid Week 2016 will be no different than the previous years. The BDS supporters will once again be vocal in their efforts to brand Israel as an Apartheid State, but better-informed people will watch this spectacle from a distance, sometimes laughing, sometimes even emotional for the stupidity people are able to come up with. The sad reality is that most of the BDS supporters have never visited Israel or have an in-depth knowledge of the Middle East to understand the intricate situation Israel finds itself in.

Be it as it may, but branding Israel as an Apartheid State is so ridiculous, it is no wonder that a princess of Bahrain trusted Israel to perform a specialised operation, Jennifer Lopez ignored BDS to perform in Israel, DAB bank discontinued BDS’s website in Germany and the City of Paris adopted resolutions against BDS.

Unfortunately, South Africa lost the opportunity of any future involvement in the Israel-Palestinian issue.