As the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in South Africa (BDS SA) marked its annual Israel Apartheid Week, students were once again forced to confront hateful rhetoric and threatening campus environments. There is no open debate or civil discourse concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No opinion other than open hostility towards Israel is tolerated. Rather than use universities for their intended purposes, as centers of growth that encourage the free and open exchange of ideas and ideologies, they are now hijacked by dedicated disrupters whose only objective is to perpetuate outrageous and dangerous anti-Israel ideology.
However, one thing more interesting than what these perpetrators are doing is who they are. Among the outstanding instigators in South Africa is Abdallah Grifat, a long-term University of Cape Town (UCT) student who has become a leading voice within the BDS SA movement. Grifat has been extremely outspoken in his animosity toward Israel, but what makes his case of particular interest is that Grifat’s family have a long and deep connection to the land and people of Israel. While Grifat lends his voice to the chorus of people accusing Israel of apartheid practices, his hypocrisy is evident in the light of his own family’s experiences and acknowledgments.
Abdallah Grifat
Throughout his years at UCT, Grifat has actively promoted the most extreme elements of anti-Israel ideology. Commenting on a 2014 article in “Palestine Rising,” Grifat wrote that Zionists are “bloodthirsty monsters hiding behind [a] religious mask.” He went on to say that Israel “is not a Jewish state but a criminal, colonial and terrorist country.” Furthermore, in a Voice of the Cape commemoration of “Nakba Day,” the term used by the Arab world to describe Israel’s Independence Day that translates to ‘catastrophe’, Grifat described “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands as worse than the Apartheid system experienced in South Africa since Israeli authorities continue to ignore calls that it is, in fact, a racist regime.” He argued that it would be unrealistic to expect the Palestinian population to accept living in peace with Israelis given the “atrocities” being perpetrated against innocent people.
While the dangerous and insulting comparison of Israel to apartheid South Africa is, unfortunately, a common rallying cry among the BDS SA movement, Grifat’s accusations are particularly salient. His own family’s experience is living proof of how false and malicious they are. Grifat’s family are well-known and well-respected pillars of the Bedouin town of Zarzir in northern Israel. Atef Grifat, for example, is the mayor of the Regional Counsel of Zarzir. Prior to that, Atef was a commanding officer in an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) combat paratroop unit for 23 years. He takes great pride in the collaboration between Israel and the Bedouin community in building the state and is equally proud of members of his family and community’s contributions over time.
Atef Grifat, Mayor of Zarzir, Israel.
There are now roughly 2,500 members of the Grifat family currently living in Zarzir. Their experiences lie in stark contrast to the deplorable lies told by Abdallah Grifat and the BDS SA movement. In fact, the Grifat family’s commitment to educating their children and other Bedouin youth in the 1950’s resulted in Israel’s Ministry of Education supporting their endeavors. This collaboration precipitated a larger movement among Bedouin tribes to educate their children. Kassem Grifat, the grandson of the Grifat village’s founder within Zarzir, reflected on this evolution over time. Seeing the ongoing relationship between the state and his community left an indelible mark on him. After volunteering for an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) trackers unit and serving for almost 13 years in the Israeli military, Kassem dedicated himself to improving the lives and promoting the rights of Bedouins. Making an impact at the highest levels of Israel’s political sphere, he ultimately worked at the Histadrut (Israel’s National Trade Union), for 24 years. He ultimately served as the Advisor on Labour Issues for the entire Arab community of Israel.
It is therefore clear that, far from Abdallah Grifat’s many assertions, Israel’s policies and practices towards its Arab communities have no basis in apartheid ideology. The very comparison shames and dishonours the legacy of apartheid in SA. Considering the Grifat family’s own history, Abdallah’s attempts at manipulating those whose painful memories of apartheid in SA are still raw are especially reprehensible. What is truly unfortunate is that, rather than promote the values of his own family to frame the Israeli narrative, Abdallah has committed to hatred, intolerance, and hypocrisy. Rather than being a leading voice for balanced, truthful discussion on the conflict, Abdallah has chosen to ignore the very facts he knows to be true.
