A group of Palestinian in support of the Palestinian cause protest at the Sea Point Pavillion in this file picture. Photographer: Ross Jansen / Independent Media
Dear Editor,
Imraan Buccus implies that I am a “crude example” of a faction of “white liberalism” that “propagandises for genocide” (Palestine polarises electoral opinion, 13 May 2024). This accusation is not just inflammatory, but laughably wrong.
Buccus, and other Hamas apologists, have waged a propaganda war to paint the Israel-Hamas conflict as something that it is not.
Buccus flagrantly spreads numbers of Gazan dead and calls it genocide.
Yet, these numbers have not been corroborated by any trustworthy source.
The source of casualty numbers come from the Hamas owned Gazan Ministry of Health, which proved at the Al-Alhi hospital explosion and elsewhere that they do not count the dead, but rather just thumb suck numbers.
It serves Hamas’ purposes to inflate casualty numbers, and lie about the nature of those killed, so that they can paint Israel as the bad guy.
Yet, let us not forget that it was Hamas that broke the truce and growing prosperity and peaceful relations between Gaza and Israel on October 7th, when they stormed the Israeli border, raping and murdering innocents.
Hamas has expressed genocidal intent in their charter and rhetoric.
Israel has proved that it has tried its very best to minimise civilian casualties. Hamas goes out of its way to kill civilians.
Who is the real bad guy here?
Buccus thinks that South Africans will be convinced to vote for the ANC because of this conflict.
I have more faith in my fellow South Africans. They have far more pressing and personal concerns than a war happening thousands of kilometres away.
And I doubt that very many voters will be tricked into voting for more incompetence, corruption and misgovernance because of some propaganda by a desperate ANC and its cabal of terror-apologists trying to place this country on the wrong side of history.
Nicholas Woode-Smith is a political analyst, economic historian and author.
*** The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of IOL or Independent Media
IOL Letters