Episode 015: Royal House of Mandela Stands with Palestine with Nkosi Mandela
This week, Lara and Michael sit down with Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Amir of the Royal House of Mandela, tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, member of Parliament (MP) in the South Africa National Assembly since 2009, grandson of the anti-apartheid revolutionary and former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and a fierce advocate of Palestinian liberation. This episode is a deep dive into Apartheid South Africa, the parallels between South African Apartheid and Israeli Apartheid, and the deep bonds between Palestinian liberation activists and South African anti-apartheid activists. It is also a moment of education into what the Palestinian liberation struggle can learn from our comrades in South Africa. Nkosi Mandela speaks of the importance of armed resistance, BDS, and direct action, the politics and legacy of President Mandela, the importance of youth activism and more. Lara queries how far are we from liberation in Palestine by drawing from the history of South Africa and Michael asks Chief Mandela to set the record straight on letting the oppressor define modes of resistance and identity politics.
To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:
Legislation
1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: The Rome Statute “lists apartheid as one of the 11 distinct crimes against humanity, defining it as inhumane acts ‘committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.’”
1913 Apartheid South African Natives Land Act: This Act “saw thousands of black families forcibly removed from their land by the apartheid government. The Act became law on 19 June 1913 limiting African land ownership to 7 percent and later 13 percent through the 1936 Native Trust and Land Act of South Africa. The Act restricted black people from buying or occupying land except as employees of a white master. It opened the door for white ownership of 87 percent of land, leaving black people to scramble for what was left.”
Indian South Africans: 1924-1948 Legislation and Segregation: 87% of the Black and non-white South African population was forced onto 13% of their original land.
1950 Apartheid South African Group Areas Act: “When the Group Areas Act (GAA) was passed in 1950, it imposed control over interracial property transactions and property occupation throughout South Africa (Horrell, 1978: 71). . . The GAA created the legal framework for varying levels of government to establish particular neighbourhoods as ‘group areas, where only people of a particular race were able to reside (South African Institute for Race Relations, 1952: 32). The GAA displaced hundreds of thousands of people; breaking up families, friends, and communities. This was due in large part to the retroactive application of the law, meaning that once an area was declared a group area, the GAA had the power to demolish all the houses there and displace everyone who was not of the designated group (Mabin, 1992a: 422). The GAA added more restrictions to the lives of Africans and it was one of the first drastic rights infringements for the Indian and Coloured populations (Marquard, 1969: 163).”
Articles/Videos
“Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people” (South African Government Information Website): 1997 address by President Nelson Mandela at International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People
I fought South African apartheid. I see the same brutal policies in Israel (The Guardian): Ronnie Kasrils was a leading member of the African National Congress during the apartheid era and former government minister. Here, he speaks as a “Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist” against Apartheid Israel.
Discriminatory Laws in Israel (Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel): Database of over 60 discriminatory laws against Palestinians living in Apartheid Israel (1948 Palestine).
South Africa Raids 3 Nearby Nations : Attacks Rebel Bases in Capitals of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana (Los Angeles Times Archives, 1986): Archived report on Apartheid South Africa’s brutalization of its African neighboring countries. Further reading available at “Apartheid South Africa’s Destablization of Neighbors” (Medium).
From Iraq to Lebanon, Israel attacks its neighbors with impunity (Middle East Eye)
Infographic: What you need to know about Israel’s military (Al Jazeera): showing U.S. and U.K. military support for Israel through tax dollars.
What Mandela and Fanon learned from Algeria’s revolution in the 1950s (The Conversation): This article shares how President Mandela led a campaign tour of African countries to establish an armed wing of the African National Congress in his movement towards liberation. He was inspired by the Algerian struggle for independence from French colonization and occupation.
Armed and Trained: Nelson Mandela's 1962 Military Mission as Commander in Chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe and Provenance for his Buried Makarov Pistol (South African Historical Journal) confirming the importance of armed struggle in Mandela’s work for liberation and ending apartheid.
Newshound Media Documentary: “I hope there will be war” says White Christian South Africans who converted to Judaism and settled in occupied Palestine.
Why should South Africans care about Israel’s apartheid? (Ground Up): Jewish South Africans reject Zionist efforts to equate Judaism with Zionism among South African communities.
Israeli infiltration in South Africa (Al Jazeera): The historical relationship between apartheid Israel and apartheid South Africa, as well as the current influence of the Zionist lobby in South Africa.
S. Africa may cancel dual citizenship to curb IDF enlistment (The Times of Israel): African National Congress is attempting to hold Zionist South Africans accountable in the occupation of Palestine.
John Dugard: Holding South Africa, But Not Israel, Accountable (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs): This interview with an anti-apartheid South African professor of international law discusses similarities and differences between the two apartheid regimes. Professor Dugard discusses the global role in holding South Africa accountable for their apartheid, while apartheid Israel has virtual impunity. He also highlights how Apartheid South Africa and Apartheid Israel collaborated on nuclear weapons in their close relations.
Israel/West Bank: Separate and Unequal (Human Rights Watch): Palestinians and Jewish Settlers are placed in a two-tiered system of rights and privilege on the same land.
Explained: Israel's New Palestinian Land-grab Law and Why It Matters (Haaretz): This 2017 article shows one recent example of how Israeli legislation is used to forcibly transfer and expel Palestinians from their land.
Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance Has Strong Roots (Amnesty International): This article describes how Palestinian non-violent resistance is a century-old struggle, but it has been historically met with Israel state violence and painted as solely violent.
Congress, Laws Suppressing Boycotts of Israel Are Unconstitutional. Sincerely, Three Federal Courts (American Civil Liberties Union): The ACLU discusses how Zionists lobbies in the U.S. have attempted to outlaw and suppress the Palestinian BDS movement.
Two Years On: People Injured and Traumatized During the “Great March of Return” are Still Struggling (United Nations). The non-violent 2018 Palestine march in Gaza was attacked by Israeli military forces. During the Great March of Reutrn, an Israeli sniper murdered 21-year-old nurse Razan Al-Najjar who was evacuating a wounded protester and wearing her white medical coat.
Statistics on Palestinians in the custody of the Israeli security forces (B’Tselem)
Fear of the dark: The crushing impact of Israeli night raids on Palestinians (Equal Rights)
Up to 1,000 People Protest Unloading of Israeli Ship in Oakland (NBC Bay Area): This protest marks the “seventh year in a row that Israeli-owned ships haven’t transferred cargo at the Port of Oakland, according to protesters.”
Leo Robinson, rank-and-file, internationalist fighter (Workers World): Leo Robinson led support for global solidarity with Palestine, South Africa, Cuba, and Nicaragua through his work and activism in the labor union.
Bay Area Longshore Workers Fought Against Apartheid (Found SF): President Mandela thanked the 1984 boycott of apartheid South Africa by Bay Area workers. “As early as December 28, 1962, San Francisco members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) staged a boycott of South African apartheid cargo.”
The Black Panther Party on Palestine (Hampton Think, originally published in Arabic in Ittijah): “The leader of the Black Panther Party (BPP), Huey P. Newton once wrote, “Israel was created by Western imperialism and is maintained by Western firepower.” He likewise said that ‘America’ must die so that the world can live.
This day 30 years ago the Dunnes Stores anti-apartheid strike began (The Journal): 21-year-old Mary Manning in Ireland refused to handle apartheid South African goods. “The strike lasted almost three years and Nelson Mandela later told the small group of workers that their stand had helped him to keep going during his time in prison.”
South Africans demand government take action against Israel (Anadolu Agency):“‘The South African government has a distinct moral and legal responsibility to take urgent steps to shut down apartheid Israel’s Embassy; prevent El Al Air from operating at OR Tambo International Airport,” Iqbal Jassat, an executive at the Media Review Network advocacy group, told Anadolu Agency.”
BDS Movement modeled after South African call to boycott apartheid regime (BDS Movement)
Chief Mandela Speaks at Palestine Expo (2019): During this talk, Chief Mandela explains how the battle for liberation must be held on multiple fronts.
South Africa's Brimstone quits Clover buyout after anti-Israel pressure (Reuters)
South African trade unions say, No Israeli Takeover of Clover! (BDS Movement)
Hundreds in South Africa protest for Palestine (Anadolu Agency): Mandela’s grandson demands South Africa shut down embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Sexual Violence, Women’s Bodies, and Israeli Settler Colonialism (Jadaliyya)
Bennett on Nakba Day: No tolerance for Israeli Arabs who promote Palestinian nationalism (The Jerusalem Post): Naftali Bennett is among Israeli and Zionist leadership who continues to deny the atrocities committed during the ongoing Nakba on Palestine.
Israel Must Recognize Its Responsibility for the Nakba, the Palestinian Tragedy (Haaretz)
