Throughout the days of Mandela’s passing in 2013 it rained incessantly. So too in Israel! During the memorial service at the residence of South Africa’s Ambassador,Mr Sisa Ngombane in Tel Aviv, the heavens opened. South Africans from all over Israel attended the ceremony held under a giant tarpaulin, with rain beating down on the canvas.
It was said in tributes that as rain brings “life, rejuvenation, and hope,” so too “has Mandela’s life on earth been a fertile source of inspiration for all mankind.” Others interpreted the excessive rain to tears – “of a world in mourning.”
I recall penning an article at the time: ‘Days of Rain’.
How depressing through these present “Days of Rage” to now read of Madiba’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, joining in the protesters in Cape Town over an issue that exposes the naked hate, and racism of Muslims that chant:
Sowing The Seeds Of Hatred Imans lead this protest of over 20,000 Muslims march early in the new millennium from the Houses of Parliament to Adderley Street in Cape Town suggesting that “the Holocaust” which murdered six million Jews, as now happening to Palestinians. (Photo David E. Kaplan)
“The Mount [in Jerusalem] Is For Muslims And Palestinians Only”
Says worshiper Kenan, “There is nothing Jewish here, nationally or religiously. I listen to the soul of Jerusalem and the sole of al-Aksa Mosque. This is our identity; it cannot be shared; it’s for Muslims and Palestinians only.”
This is what the Apartheid Prime Ministers from D.F. Malan right through to P.W. Botha use to proudly proclaim about their South Africa. Is this the company that the descendants of the great Mandela want to keep?
Vile and Venom. Marching down Adderley Street. One placard, dripping in red blood, refers to the Israeli prime Minister as “The Butcher”. (Photo David E Kaplan)
Is this not reminiscent of the Apartheid leaders chanting this land is only for Whites? Is this not what Mandla’s grandfather fought against and said at his trial in 1964, “that it is also an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
What has become of this Rainbow Nation when COSATU’s Bongani Masuku can publicly declare that Jewish lives in South Africa would be made “hell” and threated vigilante action against Jews who stand up for Israel who should “not just be encouraged, but forced to leave South Africa.”
What would Nelson Mandela say about COSATU’s position or his grandson supporting the “rage” against Israel for trying to SAVE lives by installing metal detectors?
Reality Check
Forgotten in these “Days of Rage” is any talk of how it all started – with two Druze policemen in Israeli
uniform shot at Lion’s Gate from behind – from weapons smuggled in because there were no metal detectors.
Israel never tried “changing the status quo” as falsely accused.
No To Peace. No Two-State Solution suggested by these South Africans – all of Palestine must be liberated! (Photo David E Kaplan)
On the contrary, it was only to preserve the status quo – to provide safety to those who want to pray and visit. Those that say otherwise are deliberately lying.
And what does the PA envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour say?
Knowing that Israel installed the metal detectors AFTER the murders and ONLY to prevent future murders, Mansour fiendishly proclaims to his global audience at the UN that Israel, “is stoking a religious conflict” by its “aggressive behaviour and provocative violations of the historic violations of the historic status quo at Al-Harem Al-Sharif, aggravating religious sensitivities to the point of eruption.”
And to further stir the masses, he warns, “we are clearly at the tipping point.” What “tipping” point? Over metal detectors? No, it is over hate.
Note the response of Atef Tarawneh, the speaker of the parliament in Jordan to the murder of the two Druze Israeli policemen that led to Israel installing metal detectors.
Tarawneh offered in parliament a prayer to the killers!
“May the mercy of Allah be upon our martyrs who sowed and watered the pure land. We shall raise our heads through the sacrifice of the young Palestinians.”
Promoting Death. Only through “Machine-guns based upon FAITH and ISLAM” will Jerusalem be liberated says this banner in the heart of Cape Town . (Photo David E Kaplan)
Ignoring the murdered and praising the murderers, the Speaker is granting: “A License To Kill”.
Why this Rage; Why This Hatred
Is it truly over metal detectors placed outside at the entrance to al-Ḥaram al-Qudsī al-Šarīf, (“the Noble Sanctuary of Jerusalem”), or as referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount?
But what is the response emblazoned upon the streets of Jerusalem, Gaza City, Amman, and Cape Town – rage followed by more rage.
With so much rage over metal detectors where is the rage over the following?
Palestinians are not allowed to become citizens of Arab countries. Even in Jordan they can no longer become citizens.
Where is the rage?
In 1971, the conflict known as Black September between the PLO under Yasser Arafat and the Jordanian Armed Forces under the leadership of King Hussein, resulted in the deaths between 5000-10,000 Palestinians and the EXPULSION of the PLO leadership and thousands of Palestinians to Lebanon.
Where is the rage?
Palestinians face severe travel restrictions throughout the Arab world. They do not receive passports and their travel documents are only accepted by a few countries.
Where is the rage?
The Arab League has instructed its members to deny citizenship to Palestine Arab refugees and their descendants. Tashbih Sayyed, a fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, criticized Arab nations of violating human rights and making the children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees second class citizens in Lebanon, Syria, or the Gulf States. The result is that Palestinians cannot vote or run for office in national elections of Muslim countries they have settled in nor their descendants.
Where is the rage?
Over 240,000 Palestinians living in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to hold or even apply for Saudi citizenship. Palestinians are the sole foreign group precluded to benefit from a 2004 law passed by Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers, entitling expatriates of all nationalities who have resided in the kingdom for ten years to apply for citizenship. Only Palestinians are barred.
Where is the rage?
Children born to Palestinians do not receive citizenship in their host countries, violating Article 7 of the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Where is the rage?
In 2015, Egypt refuses to allow Syrian Palestinians to register with UNHCR, meaning that any who manage to make it to Egypt could not obtain any services or residency permits. There have also been deportations of Palestinians from Syria.
Where is the rage?
In Lebanon in 2005, laws were introduced prohibiting foreigners who were not “nationals of a recognized state”, namely Palestinians, from owning property. Those who owned it previously, could not pass it on to the children.
Where is the rage?
In 2007 in Lebanon, over 30,000 Palestinians became homeless because the Lebanese military destroyed Nahr el Bared camp.
Where is the rage?
In 2013, Lebanon started turning away Palestinian refugees at the border, imposed restrictions on their ability to legally renew their residency papers and in 2015, decreed that Palestinians could only stay in Lebanon for nine hours, and must have visas for a third country.
Where is the rage?
In Kuwait in 1991, 400,000 Palestinians were harassed and forced out of the country.
Where is the rage?
In Libya (1994-1995), 30,000 Palestinians were expelled, dismissed from their jobs and their houses confiscated. Arab countries refused to take in these refugees leaving hundreds stranded in the desert or adrift at sea.
Where is the rage?
In 1994 in Qatar, unlike Arabs from other countries, Palestinian are denied work visas.
Where is the rage?
In Syria, Palestinians have been unable to vote, run for office, or own farmland. Palestinian were denied entry from the fighting in Iraq between 2005 to 2008, and in recent times with the civil war, thousands have been killed in Syria with many starving to death as forces cut off all food and water to the Yarmouk Camp inhabited by Palestinians.
Where is the rage?
No, the RAGE is exclusively reserved for when Israel installs metal detectors.
Over this, a Security Council meeting was convened. Over any of the issues above relating to Palestinian suffering and persecution, there were no Security Council meetings!
With mounting pressure, and wanting to defuse the situation, Israel removes the security apparatus. Did it defuse the situation?
The answer lay in the newspaper headlines in Israel the next day:
“Hamas calls for ‘Day of Rage again tomorrow”
And what is this rage now over that the metal detectors have been removed?
‘It’s the Jews, Stupid!’
Clearly, there is no end to this rage until the what is really ‘offensive’ is totally removed.
And what is offensive and what needs to be removed are not the ‘metal detectors’ but the Jews!
There is precedent:
No one should doubt his words.
These “Days of Rage” are not about removing metal detectors; it is about removing “Jews”!
But the age of removing Jews are gone.
To those still determined to rage on indefinitely, remember the resolute words of Israel’s esteemed stateman and diplomat Abba Eban:
“Israel’s future will be longer than its past.”
