Paper absorbs anything and everything

There is a Hebrew idiom to the effect that paper absorbs anything and everything. This idiom is very relevant to the statement issued earlier today by Jessie Duarte, the Deputy Secretary General of the African National Congress regarding the current situation in the Gaza Strip – that piece of territory ruled by Hamas, branded by the free world as a terrorist organization and co-member of the Palestinian National Unity government.

The statement issued by this completely ignorant party hack is filled with lies and gross inaccuracies spiced with all the contemporary buzz-words so brazenly hi-jacked by the forces of evil in this world. I venture to say that Nelson Mandela is turning in his grave grossly embarrassed by the anti-Semitic motifs and inaccuracies issued by such a high ranking official of the organization he founded to fight the evils of apartheid. Statements like this are certainly not a part of the Mandela legacy.

Tragically, the ANC has been hi-jacked by racist bigots who use it as a platform to provide the moral justification to demonize and delegitimize the very existence of Israel. The ANC has become nothing more than a 21^st century version of the propaganda machines so successfully developed by the totalitarian Nazi and Soviet regimes of the 20^th century. This ANC statement has been issued with the sole intention of creating the climate and public opinion to justify Israel’s annihilation.

Ms. Duarte, as a Jew and as an Israeli, I am honored that your organization holds the Jewish people accountable for maintaining higher standards than you do for yourselves and your allies. We Jews are not prepared to be judged by your hypocritical code of behavior and values which condone the massacre of more than 160,000 Syrians – most of them innocent women and children. Your corrupt organization couldn’t even find the language to censure the use of chemical warfare by Bashar Assad, your trusted ally, against his own innocent Syrian civilians. Are you aware that Israel has established field hospitals to provide aid to Syrians wounded in the conflict? What has the ANC done with regard to this conflict other than continuing to provide Assad with the moral support to continue butchering his people?

If the ANC was indeed an organization committed to democracy and to upholding and protecting human rights, its statements would support Israel’s strong democracy which guarantees equality for all its citizens – Jews, Arabs, Christians and Druze – regardless of color, creed, sex or religion. It would also recognize Israel’s right to self-defense and to respect its efforts to restore tranquility to the area for the benefit of all the peoples of the region. Sadly, the ANC has degenerated into a morally corrupted organization with a propensity to back the wrong horse.

The ANC statement was only issued after the launching of Israel’s initiative to restore quiet to the towns and villages in Southern Israel. The ANC’s hypocrisy vis-à-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict completely ignores the endless barrage of missiles that have been raining down on Israel’s civilian population for the past month since the Hamas inspired kidnapping and murder of three teenage students. Apparently, the ANC doesn’t possess the moral fiber to empathize with Israeli children who are having to spend their summer holidays in air raid shelters rather than running free in our beautiful country.

When talking of the number of casualties in the recent escalation of hostilities, the ANC should make its constituency aware of how many of the casualties were terror operatives. These terror operatives use the civilian population as human shields. Their refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist has condemned the Palestinian people to unnecessary hardship and to a future devoid of hope.

I could go on and on but, frankly, it’s not worth the effort. As I said at the outset: paper absorbs anything and everything!