Christian groups in South Africa oppose the government’s decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Tshego Motaung, head of the Healing of the Nations Prayer for Israel movement wrote an article published on the Gateway News.
She noted that the government that has failed on its domestic mandate wants to ‘rise as a hero in the global political arena’.
Her article followed on a statement by 17 faith-based organisations opposing the referral.
In summary, the letter said:
- Hamas’s attack against Israel’s civilians is ‘deliberate genocide’ supported in Hamas’s Charter;
- Hamas has openly called for genocide of Jews and Israel repeatedly; but Israel is defending itself. The government is ‘victim- blaming’;
- The referral is likely to lead to negative political and economic consequences. South Africa’s major trading partners regard the referral as an endorsement of Hamas’s atrocities; this at a time of debilitating unemployment and high levels of poverty;
- The failure to condemn Hamas’s ‘actions in Gaza’, and recent direct contacts with Hamas and Iran, could be interpreted as support for Hamas’s tactics, such as using civilians as human shields;
- Denying the Jews the right to a homeland also imperils Christians and their places of worship;
- South Africa is a Christian country, yet the government has ‘prejudiced the interests of its own people’ for the ‘political and religious objectives of others’. It has placed Jewish citizens at risk and is ‘eroding the freedom of religion of Christians’.
- The Government has not spoken out about other atrocities, and previously helped Omar al-Bashir to evade arrest;
10. South Africa is engaging in “lawfare”.
Motaung said ‘there is a serious disconnect with the majority’.
‘Perhaps this decision to be an accuser of Israel may just be what is needed to hasten the judgment of God against the ANC government and deliver the people of South Africa from their corruption.’