You’ve got it wrong again

The letter signed by 52 “South Africans of Jewish descent” is deliberately riddled with factual and legal inaccuracies. Their understanding of the provisions of International Law is even more questionable than is their commitment to the Jewish community and their Jewish roots.

Many of the names appearing as signatories to the letter are the same names associated with every anti-Israel initiative coming out of South Africa. What gives these non-affiliated individuals the right to leverage their “Jewish descent” to add credibility to the anti-Israel sentiment laced with anti-Semitic tones currently sweeping through South Africa?

These people never miss an opportunity to recycle their anger and frustrations with Israel. Their obsession to reclaim their foreskins and bury their identities have clouded their sense of judgment to the extent that they support Hamas efforts to cleanse the Middle East of any Jewish presence. These people are fully committed to advancing the cause of the most barbaric form of medieval Islamic imperialism.

Since 2001, Hamas have fired more than 15,000 missiles into Israel with the sole purpose of killing and maiming innocent Israeli civilians. This is clearly a violation of International Law. In fact, it constitutes more than 15,000 violations of International Law. Under International Law, governments have the right and the duty to protect their citizens. That’s exactly what Israel’s governments have done and will continue to do despite the expert legal opinion tendered by the 52 “South Africans of Jewish descent”.

Egypt tried to broker a cease-fire with a view to protecting civilians on both sides. Hamas rejected the cease-fire offer. Israel accepted the conditions of the cease-fire despite the serious security risks to its civilian population. This was done to save casualties. Israel even unilaterally adhered to the cease-fire for a few hours until it became clear that Hamas had no intention of complying with the cease-fire. Hamas, however, focuses on blood, more specifically on the blood of its own civilians, to validate its narrative.

Hamas uses its citizens as human shields while its leaders enjoy the shelter of their fortified bunkers. Only yesterday, UNWRA admitted that an arsenal of missiles was stored in one of the schools. Yet another flagrant violation of International Law. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said: Israel uses its missiles to protect its citizens. Hamas uses its citizens to protect its missiles.

The UN established Palmer Commission determined that the Gaza blockade was legal under International Law. Yet another small oversight of the 52 “South Africans of Jewish descent”. The stockpile of sophisticated arms accumulated by Hamas underscores the benefits of the blockade. Imagine the arms they would have accumulated had the blockade not been in place.

Last Wednesday, despite the blockade and the escalation of hostilities, Israel performed 16 repairs to infrastructure resulting from damage caused by Hamas rocket fire to ensure on-going supplies of electricity, water, communications and sewerage. In addition, 464,000 liters of diesel fuel for power, 178,000 liters of fuel for transportation and 169 tons of domestic gas were provided by Israel to Gaza on a day when 5.54 million Israelis were within range of the close to 200 Hamas missiles fired on Israel. I must agree with the 52 “South Africans of Jewish descent” that this Israeli behavior is disproportionate.

This is what the 52 “South Africans of Jewish descent” define as the “impunity with which Israel acts that cannot be tolerated any longer”. These losers know very well that their call to sever relations with Israel only pushes the Palestinians even further up the tree and makes the chances of a diplomatic end to the conflict even more remote.

As a Jewish ex-South African living in Israel, I deplore violence and the loss of innocent lives. Unlike the 52 “South Africans of Jewish descent”, any objective evaluation of the facts and even a minimal understanding of International Law can only conclude that the blame for the unfortunate loss of life lies fairly and squarely with Hamas.