GOOD Statement by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General:
As images of starving children emerge from Gaza and the International Court of Justice continues to weigh evidence of genocide, the GOOD Party calls on the Members of Parliament who travelled to Israel in April under the guise of a “fact-finding” mission to answer one simple question: Do you still stand by your assessment that Israel is a paragon of human rights?
That visit, organised by South African Friends of Israel (SAFI), included MPs from the DA, ACDP, and PA, all of whom have since parroted propaganda that blatantly contradicts the findings of respected human rights organisations. Now, as the world bears witness to what UN agencies describe as “deliberate starvation as a method of war,” those MPs owe the public an explanation. Do they believe Israel’s siege of Gaza and the blockade of aid are consistent with a “vibrant, multi-ethnic democracy” with “no evidence of Apartheid”?
Following the trip, ACDP MP Steven Swart quoted a German pastor who resisted Nazism, saying “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.” We agree. Silence in the face of children dying from hunger is evil. Silence in the face of bombed hospitals, displaced communities, and dehumanising occupation is evil.
Patriotic Alliance MP Ashley Sauls declared, “I am a friend of Israel, and I stand with Israel unapologetically.” But now that prominent Israeli human rights organisations, including B’Tselem, have concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza – For the first time, Jewish-led groups within Israel have publicly made such allegations. According to B’Tselem: “Israel is deliberately destroying Palestinian society in Gaza.” – does Sauls still stand unapologetically with Israel?
GOOD call on DA MP’s Glynnis Breytenbach, Emma Louise Powell, Katherine Christie, Bridget Masango, Nicholas Myburgh, Bonginkosi Madikizela, PA MPs Ashley Sauls and Millicent Mathopa, as well as ACDP MP Steve Swart to publicly state their position. Silence now from MPs who used their platform to deny and diminish these atrocities is not just cowardice, it is complicity.
History will remember who spoke up and who chose silence. Gaza’s population is now facing famine and collective punishment on a scale not seen in recent history. No fact-finding mission can erase this reality.
*Liam Jacobs was part of the trip when he was a DA MP, Jacobs is now a member of the PA and reported to be replacing Kenny Kunene in the City of Joburg.
GOOD Manifesto on Support for SMEs: Promoting policies that support small and medium-sized enterprises.
sly bible
Fun South African Fact: South Africa’s natural and human fossil history dates back hundreds of thousands, even millions, of years. Early dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the Western Cape and up to 80% of mammalian fossils found so far have been discovered in the Karoo.
Star Scratch
Fun South African Fact: South Africa is now the only country in the world to have hosted the Soccer, Cricket and Rugby World Cup!