Get your facts straight on tribunal, Mr Kasrils

Published Sep 9, 2011

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In his letter to The Star (September 7), Ronnie Kasrils is less than convincing in his claim that the Russell Tribunal on Palestine will benefit all parties, so to call this a “tribunal” is indeed disingenuous.

Perhaps it is a case of “the pot calling the kettle black” when referring to his “Pavlovian” remarks. It seems that Kasrils’s noxious views on Israel will dislodge any reason and if he believes the Russell Tribunal is anything other than a gathering of the like-minded set to debate a foregone conclusion, he needs to examine what constitutes a “tribunal”. He referred once to a “people’s court” but the people are being denied their rights when cross-examination is requested and refused on the grounds that the “public” (or people) doesn’t have that right.

In fact, it seems that there will be no right of cross-examination, or any other trappings of a judicial process save for one singular agenda – and this he calls a tribunal?

So let’s be honest and not dress this farce up in legal garb(age).

Kasrils also claims laws in Israel segregate people based on race and religion, and cites the ID card as an example.

However, had he taken the trouble to contact the Israeli embassy, he would have discovered ethnicity is not registered anywhere on Israeli identity cards.

So quick to condemn without verification, Kasrils highlights racist laws which don’t exist in Israel but remains mute about those Arab countries he mentions and their racist laws based on religious, gender and sexual orientation.

He might want to refer to the Freedom House website where Israel is rated among the top 33 free democratic countries of the world.

Allan Wolman

Rosebank, Joburg

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