Christian, Jewish disappointment at ANC resolution to downgrade embassy in Israel

Members of pro-Palestinian groups, the Young Communist League, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, civil society groups and others demonstrate outside the US Consulate General in Sandton, Johannesburg, on December 14 (PHOTO: GULSHAN KHAN / AFP via ECNA )

Christian and Jewish voices in South Africa have expressed disappointment at the ANC’s resolution on Wednesday to downgrade the SA embassy in Israel to a liaison office.

The anti-Israel decision at the party’s national elective conference in Johannesburg — a day ahead of yesterday’s United Nations General Assembly vote against the United States decision recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — was taken “to give our practical expression of support to the oppressed people of Palestine”, the ANC said in a statement. Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which seeks the destruction of Israel, were at the ANC conference as observers.

The ANC move stemmed from a call by the party’s Western Cape branch in January  to downgrade ties with Israel.

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The Christian Ministers Council Of Southern Africa (CMCSA) yesterday expressed “great concern” at the ANC’s resolution, saying the ruling party “hastily took this drastic decision without proper consultation with the broader Christian community who constitute a large majority of the electorate”.

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“The situation is worsened by the cosy relationship between the ANC and Hamas who were at the the ANC conference to enforce this biased resolution,” said the CMCSA in a press release.

“The leadership of the ANC, who are majority Chrisitian, are aware of the rich Christian heritage which is etched within the borders of Israel and the downgrade will have serious infringing consequences on our faith as Christians in South Africa who embark on regular pilgrimages to the holy city Jerusalem for various religious practices.

“We therefore appeal for an audience with the ANC NEC in order to present our case in a similar manner the Hamas has been given audience on the 18 October 2015 and also at the 54th Conference,” said the CMCSA.

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‘Not voice of the government’
ACDP MP and Member of the Parliamentary Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Cheryllyn Dudley, said yesterday: “While this [the ANC resolution to downgrade ties with Israel] is disappointing it is the voice of the ANC branches and not the voice of government. South Africa presently continues to have full diplomatic relations with Israel — a situation that will only change should the South African government decide to adopt the recommendation as its official policy.”

Dudley said: “The ACDP has Israel/SA relations close to our heart and we will continue to work positively with the majority in parliament on this issue and will continue to appeal to government not to downgrade relations. We support government’s present position of keeping open channels with both Israel and Palestinians in order to positively influence peace in the Middle East.”

Prior to the ANC conference a group of African Christian ministries and organisations posted an open letter to the ANC urging it not to downgrade its embassy in Tel Aviv and urging people to sign a petition which would be delivered at the ANC conference.

In a statement released today SA Friends of Israel (SAFI) said it questioned the motives behind the ANC’s “discriminatory decision that would effectively prevent South Africa from playing any relevant role in bringing about peace or dialogue between Israel and Palestinians. This downgrade will do nothing for the Palestinian cause, and will have a detrimental effect on many South Africans”.

Visa-free status at risk
SAFI said downgrading the embassy could result in SA citizens losing their current visa-free status in travel to Israel, which would require them to travel to the nearest Israeli Embassy in Kenya to apply for a visa to enter Israel.

“A Staggering +- 44 million South Africans profess to be Christian and South African pilgrims account for the highest number of inbound visitors to Israel from the African continent.

“People of faith will stand up and speak against this affront to their religion and beliefs. And we reject any attempt by the ANC to interfere in these religious beliefs, as the eternal word of God is stronger than a transitory ANC resolution.

“We implore all our friends of Israel to take action by signing the petition: http://bit.ly/2kxRitR ,” said SAFI.

Condemning the ANC resolution, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) and SA Zionist Federation (SAZF) “questioned the motives of organisations and individuals who have managed to ‘capture’ the ANC’s international relations agenda including the BDS”.

“It appears to us that the ANC’s foreign policy formulation process was hijacked by forces that have a limited interest in promoting South Africa’s and key South African communities’ wellbeing and are rather obsessed with undermining the viability of Israel and harming the local Jewish community.  The broad presence of Hamas – a terrorist organisation which actively calls for the destruction of Israel — at the elective conference and its extensive lobbying efforts supports this view,” said the SAJBD and SAZF in a joint statement yesterday.

The joint statement spells out ways in which downgrading ties with Israel would make SA poorer.

Religious rights
Concluding its press release on the ANC Israel resolution, the CMCSA said the ANC should remember that “their support for a foreign Palestinian liberation objective should not be at the expense of our religious rights and freedom at home, the ANC has to recognise that the majority Christian citizens of South Africa are the ones who keep them in power and not even one Palestinian votes in South Africa, the ANC needs to also draw the line between the political and religious agendas of all pro-Palestinian movements whose main objective is to push a Muslim Dominace agenda hidden behind geo-political issues in the Upper North African Region (The so-called Middle East)”.

“The CMCSA further wishes to remind the ANC that is was in a church that the ANC was founded, and even now it’s only churches and not any other religious buildings that open their doors for ANC leaders to campaign and promote their political objectives. We pray for you, we bury your dead, we heal your sicknesses and bless your leaders, yet when it comes to matters that affect our faith you reject us and consistently stab us in the back, This has to stop.

“African National Congress please don’t destroy us the voting Christian community for the benefit of battles beyond our borders,” the press release ends.

 

5 Comments

  1. I stand for Israel. There are many who do. The ANC sadly will not survive for long due to decisions it makes which benefit only the prejudices or the pockets of a few.

  2. Suzette van Rooyen

    If ANC members profess to be Christians, then they will remember that the word of God many times refers to the God of Israel, not any other nation in the world. If we stand against Israel, we bring judgement on ourselves and our nation. “I will bless those that bless Israel and curse those that curse Israel” . Come on South Africans, stand up for Israel.

  3. We stand with and for Israel. Gods Word clearly states He that keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. He will act on our behalf.

  4. TO OUR SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT THE ANC

    YOU THINK YOU DID THE HONORABLE THING BY DEGRADING OUR EMBASSY IN ISRAEL…YOU ACTED BEFORE YOU TOOK A MOMENT TO THINK THIS THROUGH…YOU IN YOUR IGNORANCE THOUGHT YOU ARE GOING TO PUNISH THE JEW…WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW IS THE FOLLOWING

    YOU ARE TAKING THE BREAD OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF THE VERY PEOPLE YOU SAY YOU SUPPORT….. THE ARABS…THEY ARE THE ONES SUFFERING ,OF THIS MOST STUPID MOVE EVER… SOUTH AFRICAN CHRISTIANS VISITS ISRAEL IN THE THOUSANDS YEARL,Y MAKING USE OF ARAB GUIDES…ARAB HOTELS..BUYING FROM ARAB TRADERS..VISIT THE WEST BANK.. LIVE IN THE WEST BANK…WE DEAL WITH THE ARABS IN ISRAEL WHILE TOURING AND THOUSANDS OF US THROUGH THE YEARS BUILD UP SUCH A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ARABS .. WE HAVE BECOME FRIENDS….EVEN THOUGH WE SUPPORT ISRAEL AND WHEN WE PRAY FOR ISRAEL WE INCLUED ALL LIVING THERE

    WE MAKE USE OF THEIR TRANSPORT..WE EAT IN THEIR RESTAURANTS…AS A TOUR LEADER MYSELF ..IN THE 22 YEARS THAT I HAVE VISITED ISRAEL, I NEVER MADE USE OF ANY OTHER BUT AN ARAB TOURING COMPANY STATION IN ISRAEL.THE REASON BE..THEY ARE REASONABLE WITH THEIR PRICES…THE GUIDE… THE BUSDRIVER.. THE HOTELS.. AND RESTAURANTS WE VISIT WERE ALL ARAB.. HERE AND THERE WE WOULD EAT OR SLEEP IN A JEWISH HOTEL DEPENDING WHERE WE OVERNITE..OUR GROUPS ARE NEVER LESS THAN 50..I MAKE USE OF A TOURING COMPANY FROM SOUTH AFRICA WHO ONLY DEALS WITH ARABS IN ISRAEL…AND WE ARE NOT THE ONLY COMPANY BUT ONE OF MANY..TAKING AS MUCH AS 30 TOURS PER YEAR..AVERAGING 1200 PILGRIMS PER COMPANY PER YEAR…YOU WORK OUT HOW MUCH CURRENCY AND FOOD YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY FROM THE ARABS IN ISRAEL…..

    YOU ARE NOT EFFECTING THE JEWS IN THIS MOVE AS THEY DON’T REALY NEED SOUTH AFRICA.. BUT ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TRY TO HELP OR SUPPORT.. THE ARABS..THE PALESTINIANS..

    YOU ACTUALLY CLOSED THE DOORS FOR THE VERY SAME PEOPLE YOU WANT TO SUPPORT AND HELP…SO WHAT NOW….

    FROM A TRUE BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN POINT OF FEW..WE NEVER JUDGES THE ARABS NOR THE JEWS WE DON’T CARRY ANY HATE OR ARE RESPECTORS OF PEOPLE WE AS CHRISTIAN ARE TO GLAD TO BE ABLE TO VISIT ISRAEL…AND WHAT YOU DID AS AN ANC GOVERNMENT…YOU TOOK AWAY THE FOOD AND JOB OPPERUNITIES FROM THE ARABS/PALISTINIANS…

    I REALLY PRAY THAT THIS LETTER GET TO YOU SOMEHOW…

    WHO EVER READS THIS AND HAVE THE SAME CONVICTIONS AS I..PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE….LET OUR VOICE AS CHRISTANS LOVING ISRAEL AND ALL HER PEOPLE BE MADE KNOW…ALL MEANS ALL..ARABS/ALL JEWS LIVING IN ISRAEL…

  5. Tebogo Andrew Mtuedwa

    ANDREW MTUEDWA
    I STAND FOR ISRAEL. as a christian i understand what the God said about Israel (I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS ISRAEL AND CURSE THOSE WHO CURSE ISRAEL) that is this reason our country is so cursed because we have leaders who have no clue about Israel history. i dont want to be represented by ANC in talks like this we have our own christian leaders who do it for us.
    ANDREW