Cape Town - Amid the removal of Ghaleb Cachalia, DA Member of Parliament, as the party’s spokesperson on International Relations and Co-operation for breaking his silence over the Palestine and Israel conflict, Al Jamah-ah has questioned the neutrality of the City of Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, over the matter.
Cachalia received a letter on Thursday from party leader John Steenhuisen informing him of his removal, saying that he violated the party’s caucus decision. Cachalia tweeted, “I will not be silenced. Israel is committing genocide. Full BLOODY stop."
“At the conclusion of the meeting, the caucus affirmed our party position in favour of a two-state solution against the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, while calling for international law and access to humanitarian aid to be upheld at all times in Gaza,” reads Steenhuisen’s letter.
He added, “Your conduct amounts to a display of remarkable selfishness. You have demonstrated a disregard for the formal decision of the DA’s national caucus.
“Even worse, your conduct is deeply disrespectful towards your colleagues, many of whom feel equally strongly about this and other matters but have nonetheless continuously engaged with each other, with the party, and with the public in an appropriately respectful manner.”
Earlier this year, Hill-Lewis openly pledged the City’s support and solidarity with the people of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. He announced Cape Town City Hall would be illuminated in blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
The mayor wrote to Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, to express the City of Cape Town’s solidarity with the struggle the Ukrainian people have been facing since the invasion by Russia.
Al Jama-ah's spokesperson, Shameemah Dollie Salie, said the question to the mayor as to why the lights in provincial buildings had been switched on for Ukraine but not for Palestine “stems from the hypocrisy we face from the City of Cape Town, which maintains a pro-Israel stance.
“Within a few days of conflict in Ukraine, both the lights of the provincial buildings and City Hall were lit up in solidarity with Ukraine, yet the same country has not experienced in a month the number of lives destroyed by Zionist Israel in a week of the genocide in Palestine,” said Salie.
She said the mayor’s address in chambers and his response to Al Jama-ah was a diluted response, avoiding any use of the words “Israel” and “Palestine” and attempting to be neutral in the face of genocide being committed against Palestine and the people of Gaza.
“The mayor has not even said a single word of condemnation over the situation. I suppose they all have to toe the party line when it comes to this, and this goes without saying who he is supporting.
“He was even asked when he was not putting lights up for the people of Palestine the same way he did for Ukraine, and his response was wishy-washy,” said Salie.
Asked about the City and his position over the matter, Hill-Lewis’s office referred to the “Weekend Argus” to last week's Council’s speech, which reads: “This most ancient and sad of conflicts evokes the most heated passions among people the world over, and almost anything said is taken not at face value but as evidence of partisanship.”
Hill-Lewis added: “In such a time, it is perhaps unrealistic to expect measured and nuanced dialogue, and there is almost nothing constructive one can add to the debate raging around the world right now.
“All one feels capable of doing at a time like this is reasserting the best of our basic humanity. We reassert our belief in the innate and infinite value of each human life, regardless of background, birthplace, faith, or creed. We reassert that life so valuable should be protected and respected,” said Hill-Lewis.
“We can, I believe, also take some pride in the example of our City — a true cultural, religious, and historic melting pot where Muslims, Jews, and Christians have lived together for centuries.
“So whether we say ‘salam’ or ‘shalom’, both have the same root; both mean peace, and we all pray that peace returns soon,” he added.