DA hits back over Palestine visit backlash
THE DA has responded to criticism from the Palestinian embassy in SA over DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s visit to the region, by releasing a paper trail of exchanges with the Palestinian Authority presidency, and denying claims he was shunned by local officials.
DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme said the party dealt directly with the office of President Mahmoud Abbas in setting up a meeting between him and Maimane.
“The DA had a confirmed meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and had informed South Africa’s embassy in Ramallah of the meeting, and had invited South Africa’s ambassador to join the meeting. This is incontrovertible.”
According to the DA, the meeting was cancelled because of a scheduling conflict on Abbas’s side and Van Damme said the party was not aware of any directive to Palestinian officials not to meet with Maimane.
“However, it is revealing that the embassy’s statement says that there was an instruction issued not to meet with the DA.
“We will certainly be following up with them to ascertain exactly who issued this instruction, as it was not conveyed to us at any point.”
To the embassy’s complaint it was not informed of Maimane’s visit to the Palestinian territories, Van Damme said this was normal as South Africans did not need a visa.
She said it appeared that the Palestinian embassy had not been briefed properly by their own government and it was regrettable it issued a “false public statement” without conferring with the party or with its own principals.
The DA said Maimane had in fact met with Palestinian business leaders and rights activists and visited refugees in Ramallah.
The week-long visit angered the South African government and ruling party, which suggested it made a mockery of the DA’s official position of supporting a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the correspondence with Abbas’s office, the DA said the aim of the visit was develop economic ties with Israeli and Palestinian entities, to appraise the DA of systems it could implement in South African municipalities under its control, and to gain a greater understanding of both nations with a view to understanding how it could advance peace in the region.
The row between the ANC and DA over Maimane’s visit to Israel degenerated into mudslinging this week when the ruling party accused the DA of lying.
This was after the embassy of Palestine yesterday denied DA claims that Maimane had a scheduled meeting with Abbas.
ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said the DA was misleading the country about its genuine reasons about the visit.
He said it was unacceptable the DA dragged Abbas’s name into the visit, saying this was a lie.
“Lying about an alleged appointment with President Abbas was a cheap attempt by the DA and Mmusi Maimane in particular to gain credibility for this visit, which has now spectacularly backfired, exposing the DA for what they are – unprincipled with a callous disregard for the Palestinian people.”
Van Damme added: “We visited the Palestinian territories, met with human rights activists, visited refugees in Ramallah, and met with leaders of the business community and investors who are building the new Palestine despite the ongoing conflict.”
She said the DA was unperturbed by the ANC’s political games as the DA was playing its role in international relations, since the ANC left a vacuum.
DA shadow minister for International Relations and Co-operation, Stevens Mokgalapa, yesterday said the ANC’s attempt to control who South Africans met abroad, and where, demonstrated “how pathetic” foreign policy had become.
“The ANC has created more fuss about visits by DA public representatives over the past two months than it has about any other major foreign policy issue facing the continent or the world at this time.
“Behind the ANC’s obsession with the DA is not only the (ANC’s) decline in support at home, but the rapid deterioration of their international standing abroad.”
He said the ANC knew this and they were running scared.
“The truth is that they should be. They have shamefully damaged Madiba’s legacy in the international arena. Their foreign policy record speaks for itself.
“The DA will not be distracted by the ANC’s desperate hypocrisy, nor will we be confined by their disastrous, failed foreign policy.
“While the ANC descends further into irrelevance, the DA will continue to stand up for human rights, investment that creates jobs in South Africa, and peace.”