South Africa vs Israel: A contrarian view :: Mmegi Online

Is South Africa’s dogged pursuit of proceedings against Israel all about nobility and heroism or an act of ‘wagging the dog’, distracting away from internal turbulence and political problems back home? Is this an old trick from the political playbook or true comradeship with Palestine for the latter’s apartheid era shoulder to shoulder support to the Southern African nation? TIMOTHY LEWANIKA takes a contrarian view

On October 7th, the paramilitary wings of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, launched a series of coordinated armed incursions into neighbouring Israeli territory, the first invasion of Israel since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The incursion ended in the deaths of more than 1,200 people with 250 taken hostage.

The massacre was the worst attack Jewish people had experienced since the Holocaust. While revenge was expected from Israel, what could not have been expected was the Jewish nation’s unprecedented retaliation which has almost turned Gaza into a dust heap.