Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2015-03-06
The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said it was aware that Bassem Eid claiming to be a human rights activist is currently in the country as a guest of the pro-Israeli lobby.
The embassy said the purpose of Eid’s visit was to undermine the current nationwide 11th international “Israeli Apartheid Week”.
A lecture by Eid at the University of Johannesburg was discontinued Wednesday after students barged into the venue and interrupted the speaker, calling him “a liar and a sell-out,” according to witnesses at the scene.
In an article in the Citizen newspaper, Eid claims he is passionate about the Palestinian cause but felt South Africa should rather focus on bridging the divide between Hamas and Fatah and not Israel and Palestine.
Eid said the Israel/Palestine issue is more of an international matter and boycotting Israel could actually harm the Palestinian people and therefore he is against the cause.
“Bassem Eid is nothing. He is forbidden to enter Palestinian territory and he is working with Israeli intelligence services,” said Palestinian ambassador to South Africa Abdelhafiz Nofal.
“I believe he represents no one, nobody. He represents only himself.”
Nofal told Radio Islam that contrary to reports, Fatah and representaives of the embassy in South Africa is fully supportive of Boycott Divestment Sanction South Africa (BDS).
“We stand with them totally…We highly appreciate their work and they have our support on all levels,” said Nofal.
Nofal also highlighted that the South African government continues to support the Palestinian cause despite a tweet by a Democratic Alliance MP stating there was applause amongst ANC MP’s in parliament when Deputy International Relations Minister Luwellyn Landers said government would not support BDS.
“We should divide the government’s policy and the NGO’s activities, it’s everywhere. We highly appreciate the position of South Africa on all levels… even during the visit of Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian President), we had support from the government, President Zuma, the party, from everybody.”
“You know that the ANC officially refuses to send any South African official to Israel in support of the Palestinian people,” said Nofal.
Nofal said the plan of the government is usually different from the NGO’s but it allows the NGO’s the possibility to create a good environment to highlight the Palestinian cause.
“The government of South Africa, The United Nations and The Southern African Development Community (SADC) officially condemn the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and also condemn the Israeli aggression on Gaza,” said Nofal.
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