In one of his regular anti-Israel diatribes, Ronnie Kasrils would have us believe that both he and the Russell Tribunal hearing on Palestine are unbiased. (“Palestine tribunal will help Israelis, too”, The Star, September 7). An unbiased Kasrils is truly an oxymoron.

The tribunal itself has no legal status, and the record of its participants, combined with its proposed hearings, renders the whole event as nothing more than a publicity-seeking kangaroo court. Israel, with all its faults, and there are many, is the only democratic country in the region, and does not, like all of its neighbours, practise any form of “apartheid”.

Every Arab state in the region has promulgated prejudicial laws that are either anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, anti-gay, anti-black, or, last but not least, anti-woman.

Many of the countries concerned are guilty of several of the aforementioned racist policies.

As to Kasrils’ statement that Israel identifies Jews from Arabs, “to maintain the character of the Jewish state”, does he, in all honesty, expect Israel, which, after centuries of Jewish persecution was established as a Jewish homeland, to allow its enemies to numerically dominate them in their own country, and then to wipe the Jews out, as they constantly threaten to do? Let’s not permit this debate to degenerate into such farce.

The fact that Israeli Arabs feature much higher than other Arabs in the Middle East on the internationally accepted human development index is conveniently ignored by Kasrils and his ilk. So is the fact that the ANC government, in which Kasrils was a senior cabinet minister, is obsessed with racist practices.

Of course, our erstwhile cabinet minister will tell us that these practices are essential. In other words, we are using good racism to level the playing fields caused by evil racism.

Naturally, there will be no tribunals that will be formed with the purpose of examining whether other countries in the Middle East are guilty of, as Kasrils puts it, “policies that amount to the internationally condemned crime of apartheid”. Why should there be when a successful Jewish state is conveniently situated in the area, always available for target practice?

One does not have to be a prophet to predict the outcome of the biased, partial and ludicrous Russell circus, with Kasrils, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Tutu as the star attractions.

If there is an anti-Israel event taking place in this country, one can be sure that Kasrils will be present.

I have always wondered what Israel or the Jewish people did to him. Perhaps one day he will tell us.

Ivor Davis and David Wolpert

Rivonia, Sandton