Cape Town – The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has deplored South African authorities for not challenging why South African citizens, such as Eliyahu David Kay, serve in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
Kay, 26, was gunned down while on his way to pray at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem on Sunday. He later died in Hadassah Hospital.
The activist organisation condemned the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for ignoring the Foreign Military Assistance Act (FMAA) of 1998 which states that serving in terrorist and foreign armies is illegal in terms of South African law.
“Dirco’s failure does not lie in its lack of condemnation or condolences to Kay’s family, but rather its facilitation of South Africans serving in a foreign army that engages in colonial occupation and terror against the people of Palestine. Moreover, it is a gross failure on the part of our NPA to not prosecute the likes of Kay and many other young Jewish South Africans who proudly serve in the IDF,” chairperson of the PSC Martin Jansen said.
He lamented that serving in foreign armies was also a violation of the human rights and values of the South African Constitution.
In 2014, the PSC submitted evidence to the NPA in relation to Dean Goodson, a young South African who served in the IDF.
“Even more appalling is the NPA’s double standards in relation to such cases, with the Thulsie twins languishing in jail while on trial for their alleged support of Isis.
“Why do South Africans serving in the IDF and the organisations that support them, like the SA Zionist Federation (SAZF) and the SA Jewish Board of Deputies enjoy such impunity in South Africa?” Jansen questioned.
In an effort to have the issue of South African citizens serve in terrorist and foreign armies, the PSC will be writing to Dirco and the NPA to look into the matter.
Political Bureau