Johannesburg - Sophie Moleka didn’t really understand why she found herself in Sandton among the throngs of people taking part in an anti-Israel trade expo on Sunday.
“I can’t say I know why I’m here,” she said, shrugging her shoulders in response to a question from a curious onlooker.
She directed the man to a makeshift stage on a small truck parked outside the Sandton Convention Centre, where the SA Zionist Federation conference was being held.
Speaking to The Star, the 51-year-old mother-of-three from Orange Farm said: “They called me late on Sunday (Saturday) to say there was an event in Sandton and buses were available. They said we can go because buses were available.”
The call, she said, had come from one of the local SACP leaders.
“I don’t know why we are here, who we are supporting and against who,” Moleka said.
For Pertunia Nkwanyana, 34, also of Orange Farm, the universal appeal of Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat seemed enough to convince her to attend on Sunday’s march.
“Mandela was close to Arafat because they both fought against apartheid. I think South Africans and Palestinians are the same thing.”
Sunday’s protest march was the last leg of the 11th Israeli Apartheid Week in South Africa.
Various speakers from the ANC and SACP, the youth wings of the two parties and pro-Palestine organisations took turns criticising Israel.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Bheki Cele was listed among the speakers but was nowhere to be seen.
The green, red, white and black of Palestine flags fluttering in the gentle breeze blended with those of the ANC and SACP.
The speakers were unambiguous in their calls: boycott and ostracise Israel and its businesses from the international community.
“Those South Africans who defend the Israeli state, like the SA Zionist Federation, the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), the ACDP - they should be ashamed of themselves,” said Suraya Dadoo of the National Coalition for Palestine.
“The plight of the Palestinian people makes every South African a Palestinian. We also have a message for our leaders in government - sanctions now!”
Buoyed by the small but loud audience, Dadoo continued: “We must deny the state of Israel any formal recognition. It must be isolated and shamed. When will the Israeli ambassador to South Africa (Arthur Lenk) be recalled? When is comrade Sisa Ngombane going to be recalled from Tel Aviv?”
Deputy Minister in the Presidency and ANC subcommittee on international relations member Obed Bapela’s talk was mainly against Jewish people in South Africa “still on the side of Israel”.
For Moleka, the march seemed a distraction from the pressing service delivery issues in her community.
“There were meetings that were planned for today to talk about issues of community projects, but all of that was interrupted by buses fetching people to this event.”
The SAJBD reacted angrily to on Sunday’s march, accusing the protesters of intolerance and inciting violence.
“From the outset, it was clear that the aim of the demonstration… was to shut down Sandton and ensure no Zionist conference be held on our soil,” SAJBD chairwoman Mary Kluk said.
Bapela’s utterances were “unbecoming of a deputy minister”, she added. “As worrying as these displays of anti-Semitism are, it is equally worrying that Deputy Minister Bapela chose to attack the SAJBD. One would expect a more measured and dignified tone from a state official.”
The Star