Conflating issues on Palestine
THE letter, “Why must SA Indians support Palestine? (Sunday Tribune, August 5), refers.
It is rather disingenuous of the writer to deflect Zohra Teke’s patriotism with regard to the genocide in Palestine towards Muslims in general.
Teke’s article makes no mention of either Palestine or Muslims, yet the writer felt compelled to conflate these issues.
The assertion that Muslims, due to their support for Palestine and by virtue of sharing an international faith-based identity, unequivocally self-censures their “Indianness” compels contemplation.
Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister of India JL Nehru are both regarded as the founding fathers of modern India. These pragmatic leaders were both committed Hindus and supporters of Arab nationalism.
Their support was so manifest, as can be seen from historical texts, that newspaper blog the “Times of Israel” has referred to “Gandhi-nehruvianism as proarab and pro-palestinian.” In view of this fact, will the writer also insinuate that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru decried their own “Indianness” due to their support for Arab and Palestinian Nationalism?
The letter by Vinodini Naidu is riddled with such conjecture, prejudice, and inaccuracies, which, if I had to respond to in detail, would make a very lengthy reply. For the sake of brevity and for the enlightenment of Ms Naidu, I offer the following simplification:
· There are Jews in South
Africa and abroad who support Palestine and not apartheid
Israel. When this is common knowledge, the allegation that Muslims rebuke Indians for not hating Jews, does not hold water! The Palestinian government, as you correctly stated, recalled its ambassador from Pakistan for sharing a stage with Hafiz Saeed. It also wrote back to the prime minister of India, reassuring him that Palestine will never have any association with terrorists or groups hostile to India.
Just over a month after the Palestinian apology, Modi became the first Indian prime minister in history, to visit the state of Palestine. Issues discussed with the Palestinian government included bilateral trade, information technology, health and tourism. According to your logic, the prime minister of India can dance with terrorists, but if Indians living in South Africa supported Palestine, they are mindless fools?
By the same token, I guess you take all progressive Indians, in India and the diaspora, especially Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Nehru, as “everywhere and nowhere” people, with transnational identities. They supported Palestine and Arab nationalism, did they not? I ask you again, would you consider these individuals to have shed their Indian identity too?
If not, why is the gauntlet thrown down at Muslims for doing the same?
TAYBA ALI Umdloti Drive Durban I FULLY endorse the initiative taken by Visvin Reddy in his efforts to agitate for fuel prices to be reduced.
It’s human nature when tenacious people stand up to be counted in asking for a reduction in a commodity that affects the entire nation, that they will always meet some kind of resistance. However Reddy is a seasoned campaigner who knows that if you put yourself out in the public domain, the terrain will be rugged. In life it’s easy to be a armchair critic, lacking any positive action. Here is a man mobilising the various role players, asking them to share his vision.
The multiplier effect of a reduction in fuel and petrol will benefit many who are trying to eke out a living, considering the unemployment rate of 27.2% or 5.4 million economically active people who are structurally unemployed.
There can also be a reduction in taxi fares and commodity prices since most food items are