Rodney Mazinter to The Mercury

Roger Layzell’s distortions (The Mercury September 22) in which he incorrectly states , and misinterprets, that Israel “dishonoured the sense of the Balfour Declaration”, do not bear scrutiny.” Israel’s generous willingness to share the fruits of its genius has contributed greatly to the comfort and well being of many countries, a good many of them from Africa and the Middle East.

This does not necessarily mean we should approve of everything Israel does – but then we don’t have to. On the ranking of how much a country contributes to freedom and humankind, Israel ranks pretty high. That should be good enough for anyone.

Israel rests on the world’s only surviving religion since biblical times. Jews have played a major part in the establishment of Western civilization from the 12th century intellectual renaissance through the Enlightenment and beyond.

Much of this influence comes from Jewish ideas and values that were transmitted to Christianity, which in turn developed from Jewish roots. Jesus of Nazareth, his disciples, and the first leaders of the Christian Church were all Jewish. The Jewish Bible was incorporated into the Christian Bible as the Old Testament.

Not surprisingly, many principles and teachings that are important in Judaism are also important in Christianity. The Judeo-Christian tradition laid the foundation for moral and ethical ideas and has helped shape Western thought about law, morality, and social justice.

Whereas the contribution of the all other Middle Eastern countries to modern civilisation has been practically zero. Layzell would probably say that’s “racist”. But it’s what enlightened people prefer to call “true.”

Israel is colour blind and its universities have been educating gifted undergraduates from around the world. It does not discriminate against gender, race, colour or creed.

Rodney Mazinter to The Mercury

The Editor

The Mercury

Dear Sir

Roger Layzell (The Mercury 22 September) omits to point out that Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Israel were established by the same provision by the League of Nations at the same time in 1922. None of them existed as independent countries for the 600 years that the Ottoman Empire ruled from Istanbul (Constantinople). The following are excerpts from the U.S. Congressional Record of 1922 that demonstrates the powerful sense of the members of Congress in favour of reestablishing of a Jewish national home in Palestine.

“Palestine of to-day [1922], the land we now know as Palestine, was peopled by the Jews from the dawn of history until the Roman era. It is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. They were driven from it by force by the relentless Roman military machine and for centuries prevented from returning.

“At different periods various alien people succeeded them, but the Jewish race had left an indelible impress upon the land. To-day it is a Jewish country.

“Every name, every landmark, every monument, and every trace of whatever civilization remaining there is still Jewish and it has ever since remained a hope, a longing, as expressed in their prayers for these nearly 2,000 years.

“No other people have ever claimed Palestine as their national home. No other people have ever shown an aptitude or indicated a genuine desire to make it their homeland.

“The land has been ruled by foreigners. Only since the beginning of the modern Zionist effort may it be said that a creative, cultural, and economic force has entered Palestine. The Jewish Nation was forced from its natural home. It did not go because it wanted to. A perusal of Jewish history, a reading of Josephus, will convince the most skeptical that the grandest fight that was ever put up against an enemy was put up by the Jew. He never thought of leaving Palestine. 

“But he was driven out. But did he, when driven out, give up his hope of getting back? Jewish history and Jewish literature give the answer to that question. The Jew even has a fast day devoted to the day of destruction of the Jewish homeland. Never throughout history did they give up hope of returning there. I am told that 90 per cent of the Jews to-day are praying for the return of the Jewish people to its own home. The best minds among them believe in the necessity of reestablishing the Jewish land. …During the ages no other nation has taken over Palestine and held it in the sense of a homeland; and there is something providential in the fact that for 1,800 years it has remained in desolation as if waiting for the return of its people.” 

victor Gordon to The Pretoria News

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Refers:  “Plight of Tongolese at centre of meet recall”

Azad Essa’s explanation for the cancellation by Togo of the Israel-Africa summit offers (for a change)  reasons other than pressure from anti-Israel groups. Togo apparently has internal problems of its own which would have made the successful hosting of the conference problematic.

Further, Azad admits that “almost all countries south of the Sahara are not just extremely open to relations and trade with Israel (but are) no longer shy to talk about it.”

He then finds fault with Israel’s diplomatic initiative in endeavouring to build bridges in what he calls “an undemocratic, authoritarian-run West African country.” Of course these criteria have not prevented our own country from establishing full diplomatic relations with the ‘questionable’ State of Togo as far back as 1996. In fact, South Africa has had strong relations with many questionable regimes including Libya, Cuba, China, Myanmar, plus others, for well over 20 years. Even North Korea qualified for diplomatic relations.

But, of course, as always, Israel is different.

Essa cannot resist introducing those age-old canards; “Israel’s occupation of Palestine; it’s decade-old abuse; its apartheid policies and divide-and–rule schemes in the Arab world.” Those who take the trouble to educate themselves about the true picture of Israel, recognise these well-worn mantras for the lies that they are.

Israel’s “occupation” since the Oslo Accords of 1994 applies to no more than 2% of West Bank Palestinians, with 98% of the Palestinian population under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.  Gaza has been free of any form of occupation since 2005. The restrictions that exist against the free movement of Gazans in and out of Israel depend on Hamas dropping its quest to exterminate Israelis and Jews worldwide. Neighbours like this cannot expect a free reign.

Israel’s “apartheid policies” simply do not exist and don’t warrant yet another refutation. A country as free and democratic as Israel, (recognised as such by Freedom House)  cannot possible be guilty of  practising apartheid.

How it is possible for tiny Israel to “divide-and-rule” the 22 Arab/Muslim nations that surround her is simply insane. Perhaps Essa can explain.

The fact is that Israeli technology is sought after by many countries. It is cutting-edge, useful and provides answers that Africa and the Arab world needs. In the end, that is what counts and not the Palestinians who appear unable to do anything meaningful for themselves.

Allan Wolman to the Pretoria News

In her article published in this newspaper Sarene Kloren writes about a scathing condemnation of occupation of Palestine. And indeed, there may be things that one might agree in this piece but a whole lot more one could take issue with.

The author writes about some “esteemed storytellers” of which none have ever appear on any best -selling list I recall – but these “esteemed” folk have joined an NGO called Breaking the Silence which comprises former Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories. However, the uninformed reader would think that this group consists of thousands of soldiers which in reality number probably less than 80 or 90 ex-soldiers but this writer paints as negative a picture of Israel as possible – nothing new to Israel’s enemies who use any trick in the book to get their warped and hate filled message across even with unsubstantiated facts.

Seems that only one of the mentioned “esteemed” storytellers visited Jerusalem for a writer’s festival. No here’s the dichotomy. Given the negative details such as “massive, brutal and always dehumanizing” and off course the ‘A’ word (apartheid) which simply by its use tells a story on its own, one must struggle that an “esteemed” writer would even be allowed into the country. There has recently been much debate in Israel about allowing her enemies entry, which seems unlikely that this kind of draconian action would actually happen – as was the case in apartheid S. Africa. It seems Kloren herself doesn’t want to tell the reader that Israel has one of the most free presses in the world – where even Al Jazeera has a sizeable staff at its offices in Tel Aviv.

Just like all of Israel’s detractors Kloren describes visits by a group of writers to “lift the veil on the apartheid system” and talks of harassment, intimidation that only exists in Israel – really? One must then presuppose that just a few hundred miles up the road from Jerusalem all is well in Syria!

But if only these writers were to offer their readers some concrete example of the “cruelty” described in this piece instead of  words like “harsh illegal treatment of children, depravation of human rights (the term “human rights” was first used during the Nuremberg war trails of 1945 and had a completely different meaning to what is bandied about today), lack of access to electricity and water etc.” The author fails to tell her readers that the Palestinian Authority cut off the electricity to Gaza recently – but places the blame on Israel. If only some of these accusations were factual this very newspaper would be the first to spread this across their front pages. That very same Authority is responsible for almost all civil and administrative life in the occupied territories and again the writer sanitizes these facts and leave her readers guessing the worst without factual evidence, which of course is her intention.

Why then is there still an occupation – after three attempts to offer Palestinian leaders a just and equitable peace on terms far more generous than what is being discussed today – why is there still and occupation? Please will these storytellers explain? But telling “stories” that are untrue will obviously buy the sympathy that they certainly don’t deserve.

Rodney Mazinter to The Weekend Argus

Dear Sir

Gideon Kaufman’s timely reminder (Weekend Argus Cape Points September 16)  gives us pause for consideration: is South Africa in a water crisis?

How does our corner of the world with insufficient annual rainfall, with no lakes, inadequate dams and no major rivers, cope?

The biggest users of water amounting to 61% of potable supply are agriculture and industry. One needs to deal with that fact first and foremost. Crop growers should change to drip, instead of all other types of irrigation, and plant drought resistant crops: this will effect an enormous water saving.

Sewerage can be turned into a highly valuable resource. The Tower Magazine writes: “Israelis have led the way in another revolution in water technology: By recycling waste water, 85% of highly purified sewage is reused for agriculture. Another 10% is used to increase river flow. Only 5% is released into the sea. The country with the second-highest use of recycled water is Spain: about 25%.”

Israel stands first following its pioneering work in desalination where it is an undisputed technological leader. There are now plants using Israeli technology  in over 40 countries with innovations that include a wide range of energy and cost efficient processes unmatched in the world.

Coming from a country in the middle of a desert, this is a reason for optimism.  Compelled by necessity and powered by remarkable technological innovations, Israel has become the world’s water superpower. By reusing waste water, by making desalination effective and affordable, by rethinking irrigation, and by developing an array of sophisticated water conservation techniques, Israel not only has a sufficiency of water, but an abundance of it.

It is apparent that the Western Cape needs help. Vast quantities of water will be needed to cope with the population explosion and drought in our area. Without water economic growth would be impossible.

What Israel has done, we can do too.

Rodney Mazinter to the Weekend Argus

Dear Sir

Further to Rowan Polovin’s excellent letter (Weekend Argus September 2nd, Anti-Semitic foothold at UCT) it is interesting to read that the New York State Senate passed a landmark bill earlier this year stripping public funding for universities that support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

 

It is common cause that BDS calls for the total boycott and destruction of Israel. The bill, which passed by a landslide vote of 51-4, is a specific response to the smear campaign against Israel launched by the American Studies Association (ASA), which recently singled out Israel for criticism and voted to boycott the Jewish state, “in solidarity with scholars and students deprived of their academic freedom, including Palestinians.”

 

This boycott move itself was deemed to be a blatant abuse of academic freedom. Not a single university has come out in support and several top universities – including Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Boston, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Texas – have already slammed the boycott.

It is instructive to learn the reasons given by the Senate: “Make no mistake: the ASA’s boycott is targeted discrimination against Israel that betrays the values of academic freedom that we hold dear. No other nation — not even those with far worse records on human rights and academic freedom than Israel — is subject to a similar boycott by the ASA.”

This principled stand sends a very powerful message that holds relevance in our country, which is that we should never in a democracy, and especially in a university, support intolerance and discrimination hiding behind a cover of manipulating academic associations. There is a need to combat the politics of intolerance whenever it rears its ugly head, we should not allow the real enemies of true academic freedom gain an inch at South African universities