NALEDI Pandor the former foreign minister, who launched South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel in the aftermath of Operation Al Aqsa Flood, has had her USA Visa revoked. This action by the US state department is for a number of reasons, chief of which is Pandor expressing a willingness to extend the ICJ case to include US officials.
There has also been a concerted campaign online to have Pandor placed on a no-fly list for openly advocating Jihad from a local Mosque.
More recently she issued a fatwa on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Foundation calling for the ‘elimination of the doctrine of Christian Zionism’.
This advocacy sounds dangerously similar to Fatah policies in which donor funds are redirected into “Pay-for-Slay” terrorism, allowing the party to simultaneously pronounce itself as non-violent whilst paying for violence against its enemies.
In a video circulating online, Pandor can be seen laughing off her earlier statements about Jihad, by claiming she is ‘not in a position to lead a Jihad’, then focusing on lawfare initiatives that could see Israels allies subjected to prosecution.
Under Pandor, DIRCO issued various statements in the aftermath of Operation Al Aqsa Flood, seeking to criminalize Zionism, a belief protected by South Africa’s constitution which guarantees freedom of religion, belief and opinion.
While leftists often revel in disputing over whether or not Zionism is consistent with Judaism as a religion, the issue is not about religion per se, but rather one of creed.
A significant number of Jews and Christians around the world adhere to the position that Israel should exist as the fulfillment of biblical prophesy, whilst Shiite Muslims obviously disagree, by claiming the ‘destruction of Israel is a necessary requirement for the arrival of the Mahdi.’
The Abraham Accords which have been largely successful, are targeted at resolving theological disputes that underpin the decades long conflict.
It should be noted, the United States passed its First Amendment introducing separation between Church and State, restraining government from interfering in religion during the Jeffersonian period.
South Africa has an egregious history of conflating state and religion, and a history of deporting Jews with which the state disagrees.
In 2009 the government banned the Dalai Lama.