The South African government and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) have demonstrated a profound hypocrisy in their reaction to Israel’s surgical strike on Iran’s military infrastructure.
In a statement made at the end of last month, DIRCO condemned Israel’s operations in Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon. The operation in question was a surgical strike by the Israeli Airforce, in which it precisely and surgically struck key Iranian military installations. The attacks were limited to military targets, with only four soldiers dying.
This strike comes after Iran has repeatedly attacked Israel over the last year. Notably, on 1 October, it launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel – mostly targeted at civilian areas. While Israel’s air defence system, the Iron Dome, protected these areas, a Palestinian civilian was killed in the West Bank by the Iranian attack.
Iran has also attacked Israel through its extensive army of proxy terrorist organisations. The Houthis in Yemen, responsible for attacking global shipping in the Red Sea, have repeatedly launched attacks on Israel across the Arabian peninsula. Hezbollah incessantly bombarded Israel with rocket attacks and artillery until Israel retaliated in its ground invasion of Lebanon – an operation which has been incredibly surgical and decisive.
Brutal invasion
To top it all, Hamas’s brutal invasion of Israel on October 7 was funded and aided by Iran, and lauded by the theocratic Shia state in its effort to attack the Jewish state, which its leader deems the “Little Satan” (with America being the “Great Satan”).
The 7 October attack saw around 1,200 Israelis brutally tortured and slaughtered by Hamas jihadists. Many of the victims were also sexually assaulted, including children, babies, and the elderly. The brutal attack is the direct cause of Israel’s operation in Gaza, a state which Hamas rules, and Lebanon. Over 200 hostages were taken, and many continue to be tortured and assaulted, hidden in Gazan terror tunnels.
Hamas, and Iran by proxy, caused the current conflict. If Hamas were to surrender and return all the living hostages, the war in Gaza would cease. It is Hamas which keeps the war going, not Israel. No ceasefire is possible while Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas continue to seek the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people.
This fact is lost on the South African government and DIRCO. While they hypocritically condemn Israel for surgically striking military targets in Iran, they have failed to condemn Iran for any of its war crimes – including the largest ballistic missile strike in modern warfare, targeting civilian areas. DIRCO failed to condemn Hamas for 7 October, Hezbollah for its repeated attacks on Israeli civilians, or the Houthis for waging a war against the world.
Tinged
President Ramaphosa has accompanied acknowledgements of Hamas’s keeping of hostages with condemnations of Israel’s violence, repeatedly and incorrectly accusing Israel of genocide. Even the government’s acknowledgement of the violence on 7 October came long after its condemnation of Israel’s military operation.
But this is par for the course. South Africa’s foreign policy repeatedly sides with dictators, tyrants, and oppressors. The ANC has repeatedly sided with Russia in its imperialistic war against Ukraine, allowing Russian forces to train in South Africa, and siding with Russia and Vladimir Putin against the international community. This is while Russia has invaded a sovereign country with the intention of conquering it. While Israel is undertaking an operation to remove a terrorist organisation that killed its civilians, Putin’s Russia has no such justification in its invasion of Ukraine. Its abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children for re-education is reminiscent of Nazi abduction of “Aryan” children.
Under Jacob Zuma, the government refused to aid in the arrest of Sudanese warlord Al-Bashir, a warlord involved in repeated genocides. The government has made no concerted effort to condemn the international jihad affecting the Sahel, or the slaughter of non-Islamic Sudanese people at the hands of Jihadists.
Islamic state
Additionally, DIRCO has not seriously contended with the fact that Islamic State has occupied a large portion of Mozambique and threatens South Africa’s borders. South Africa has been identified as a financial hub in the funding of terrorism, and it is increasingly likely that there are pro-Jihadist elements in the government.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has raised red flags over South Africa’s inability to deal with local Islamic terrorist cells and large institutions funding international terrorism. Such a large and complex network of terror-enabling infrastructure suggests that these terrorists have allies in the government.
The South African government and DIRCO are not only hypocrites, but enablers of world-wide terror. Decent citizens and institutions need to condemn the government, and force a more rational, ethical foreign policy. Otherwise, South Africa will continue to exist on the wrong side of history.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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