WHY South Africa? Of all the 195 countries that make up this world, why was it this nation that took Israel to court for its genocide of the Palestinian people? Unlike the Muslim and Arab countries, South Africa has no real ethnic, cultural or religious affinity with Palestine and — unlike the Arab states — is located over 7,000km from Gaza. Why then did South Africa take on the Zionist state when those much closer — in all senses — to Palestine have chosen to remain silent spectators to mass murder?

The answer lies in history and in the shared experience of brutalisation by a white supremacist settler regime that prides itself on apartheid and bloody repression. Israel was created in 1948, the same year that the apartheid regime came into force in South Africa. This coincidence aside, both states soon recognised that their status as white settler colonies established at the expense of local populations made them brothers in arms. This unholy dalliance officially began in 1953 when Daniel Malan, the prime minister of apartheid South Africa, conducted an official tour of Israel, which marked the beginning of a very close alliance.

In years to come, the alliance grew stronger with both apartheid nations learning from and supporting each other in repressing their........

© Dawn