I did some research with South African scientists on gerbils
and had worked briefly in the 1980s against apartheid in South Africa. I have also been talking and reading about
South Africa for the past thirty years as a model for Israel/Palestine. I should have also listened to my own advice when
I speak about Palestine: come and see because no amount of reading and talking
to people outside would substitute for visiting the country itself and
immersing one’s body, mind, and soul in a country. So I am rethinking South Africa. I was shocked and dismayed at some of what I saw
but I was inspired by the people. Witnessing the miseries of slums like Diepsloot
(lit. Deep Ditch) and Soweto (South West Township), I realize that apartheid is
not ended here but mainly changed shape and this provides us with lots of
lessons for Palestinian struggle against Israeli apartheid.
The conference included 50 representatives from some 20
countries to discuss how to bring the world closer to peace and justice and for
this meeting to be in South Africa. Its guiding principles include recognizing
the connection between ecology, economics and ecumenical (all based on Greek
root oikos meaning house). Getting our
house in order as human beings is important.
In recognizing that an economy based on theological principles entails
caring about people and our environment and living a spirituality of resistance
and transformation.
But before the formal meeting began, we were given tours of
places like the Apartheid Museum, the Voortrekker monument, the Freedom Park, the
Diepsoot Township/settlement, and Mandela’s house. At the Apartheid Museum we were painfully
reminded of all the suffering and indignity of the era. The killings, economic injustice, and human
rights violations were then rampant as they are today in Palestine (the
apartheid state of Israel). But we are
also reminded of the struggling human spirit that seeks justice and freedom.
The compromises that Mandela made with the white leadership and his attempts to
be inclusive and forgiving is prominently displayed. But his earlier statements
are also visible as at the entrance “For to be free is not merey to cast off
one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of
others.” This is line with Mandela’s
statement that freedom in South Africa will not be complete unless Palestine is
also free. Ofcourse to fit with the world structure, he had to modify his views
that Zionism is racism. Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan is now receiving similar pressures because he told the truth
that Zionism is a crime against humanity.
In January 1985, Mandela was offered release on the
condition that he renounces violence. He
refused writing to the people in a letter that “Only Free Men can negotiate.
Prisoners cannot enter into contract…. I will not sell the birthright of my
people to be free.” He insisted that he be released unconditionally
and demanded that apartheid be ended before the ANC negotiated. Only free men can negotiate. Pressure
built-up on the Apartheid regime via a growing local resistance aided by an
international BDS movement. F W DeKlerk
explained to fellow Apartheid supporters that the writing is on the wall and
that South Africa should avoid the fate of “Rhodesia”. Mandela did not fall into the trap of negotiations
while apartheid persisted but he assured the whites of flexibility after
apartheid ended and indeed whites kept their privileged class to this day. That
was t many ANC supporters a “sell out”.
But it was a far less compromise than the PLO leadership agreeing to
negotiate while we Palestinians remained imprisoned under the colonial
apartheid system. Hence the real meaning
of the Oslo process is the 20 years negotiations between prisoners and prison
guards (instead of what happened in South Africa where within a span of 3 years
negotiations between a freed people and apartheid symbols, the remaining issues
were resolved). These and other lessons
can be learned from the (ongoing) struggle in South Africa.
We learned by talking to people of all backgrounds that he
struggle here in South Africa is not complete. Voting apartheid ended in law
but economic, cultural, social and truth apartheids still stand. We visited the
Voortrecker Monument dedicated to a battle that happened 16 December 1838 where
white colonial settlers killed the native people. But that is not what the white tour guide
described it. To her, “pioneers” signed
treaties with Zulu ciefs, were betrayed by Zulus who “murdered” white pioneers! Whites on their march to the interior of the
continent (the voortrekers) circled their wagons when danger came ! Actually
the monument has carving of 64 circled wagons around it. To
this day white and ony white South Africans gather in the monument every
December 16 to honor that pledge made by their ancestors nearly 100 years ago
to thank the lord for allowing them to vanguish their enemies in the promised
land as they advanced the "light of civilization in the dark continent". Theology of The carved reliefs and the guide show a white
democratically elected educated civilized “leader” Retief facing the evil
superstitious Zulu king Dingane. That is when a few of us “colored”/black
vistors decided we had enough of this tour.
The rich still get richer and the poor get poorer; 0.1% of
the world population hold 81% of the
wealth and the ratio of poverty to wealthy statistic went from 3:1 in 1820 to
35:1 in 1950 to nearly 80:1 today. Sometimes
liberation movements fall into the trap of power. Many of those we met commented on how some members
of ANC who came into government jobs at the end of Apartheid got spoiled by the
material goods (houses, cars, bank account) that they forgot about the
struggling people in the townships and the slums near the glittering
skyscrapers. The tallest building in Johannesburg is the Reserve Bank! My tears rolled as we passed by townships that
are teaming with poor people because they reminded me of refugee camps in
Lebanon, in Jordan, and in Palestine. The most heart-wrenching was Diepsloot where
250,000 human beings live in shacks with sheat metal roofing. Here we visited “Vuselela Ulwazi Lwakho
Drop-in Center” (vuselela-ulwazi.org, founded by one woman nurse) where
hundreds come weekly for counseling and treatment for AIDS (now a horrific
pandemic in Africa). I peaked into a
hall and noticed nearly 100 children crammed together – they are the AIDS
orphans who lost their parents to the disease (and a few other orhans). I contrast these images of man-made poverty
and disease with the posh gated communities of upwardly mobile mostly white
South Africans. It is like contrasting
the posh life of the colonial Jewish setters in Palestine with the life in
refugee camps. But the hope of the workers and users of this and other
facilities show us how the goodness among humans can spread.
Ronnie Kasrils, South African minister once said about
Palestine: “This is much worse than apartheid..Israeli measures, the brutality,
make apartheid look like a picnic. We
never had Jets attacking our townships; we never had sieges that lasted months
after months. We never had tanks
destroying houses.” Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prie winner who headed the Truth and Reconciliation
Committee said Israel has established an apartheid system and thus has engaged
in crimes against humanity. Both support
the Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Our conference of activists learned lessons from each other
and we rededicated ourselves to a joint global struggle. This is something we have been calling for as
a global intifada against oppression, colonialism, and the neoliberal
capitalist world order that makes the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In visiting the freedom park we saw workers
putting names on the wall of those who lost their lives for freedom. Already 4300 names are on that wall (out of
lists that could go up to 80,000). One
day, we will build a wall like that in Palestine to remember the 60,000
Palestinian martyrs. These are not numbers but real people.
Arafat Jaradat died being tortured by the Israeli Apartheid regime last week and he was 30 years old. Steve Biko died while being tortured by the
Souh African Apartheid regime in 1977 and
he was 31 years old. The two struggles are intertwined. The perceptive words of
Steve Biko ring true today in Palestine, in South Africa, and around the world:
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the
oppressed.” We the oppressed must free
our minds from mental colonization before we liberate our body. We are then really free to work for peace,
justice, and freedom. This cannot be achieved without sacrifices/without
revolution.
The wisdom of the Zulu is striking as is their spirit of
defiance. We listened to the music
played by young people and as we chatted with elders who all gave us hope for
the future. We learned to sing Hayo
Matata (no worries) and to say Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person
because of others). The latter reminded me of Vittorio Arrigoni’s constant
admonition to us to “stay human”. To be
human is to care about others, struggle for freedom and justice in a world of
injustice. Come to think of it to be
human is then to be revolutionary!
Zionism explained by a settler
Action: Join activists from all backgrounds to challenge
AIPAC influence in Washington DC. Visit
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the
earth. “ Amen!
