Comments on: Ronnie Kasrils – The Other Apartheid State

By: Aaron Aarons

Aaron Aarons — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:55:01 +0000

Ronnie Kasrils concludes his remarks with the following:

>> Just as a united, national movement of a determined people, reinforced by international solidarity actions embracing the peaceful weapons of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) – including many academic initiatives – won freedom for all South Africans, so too can this be the case in the Holy Land. <<

The biggest error here is that NOTHING so far has "won freedom for all South Africans", unless your idea of "freedom" is that promulgated by the likes of Milton Friedman, where freedom includes the right to starve. Black South Africans can now live anywhere in South Africa and eat in any restaurant — provided they have the money. But the material living conditions for the majority of the Black working class and agricultural population is WORSE than it was under formal apartheid. Kasrils, as a leader of both the ANC and the Communist Party (SACP), was complicit in the devil's bargain that brought a layer of middle-class Blacks into administration of the capitalist state and corporations, and made some of them rather rich, in return for which the anti-capitalist struggle of the Black working class was subverted and largely liquidated. Moreover, thanks to this transfer of governance to the former leadership of the anti-apartheid and working-class struggles, the ruling class was able to impose neoliberal austerity policies that would have been met by mass strikes of millions of workers if the white regime had tried to impose them.

While I support boycott of Israeli goods, and of goods made by Zionist-controlled corporations around the world, as well as much more aggressive actions against Israeli and Zionist interests, I can't imagine that BDS by itself will lead to anything more than cosmetic reforms of Zionist rule in Palestine.

Also, one of the main factors convincing the South African rulers that formal apartheid had to end was the defeat of the South African military by mainly Cuban forces at Cuito Cuanavale in 1988. Hardly a "peaceful weapon".

By: Beyond The Fringe » Blog Archive » Contrasting Israeli Apartheid with the South African experience

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:53:44 +0000

[...] Ronnie Kasrils delivered an excellent address in Capetown on the extent of Israeli apartheidism. Both apartheid South Africa and Zionist Israel were colonial, settler states created on the basis of the harsh dispossession of the land and birthright of the indigenous people. This is unblushingly documented in Israel's case from the time of Herzl through Jabotinsky, Ben Gurion, Menachem Begin, Moshe Dayan to Sharon et al. Both states preached and implemented a policy based on racial ethnicity; the sole claim of Jews in Israel and whites in South Africa to exclusive citizenship; monopolised rights in law regarding the ownership of land, property, business; superior access to education, health, social, sporting and cultural amenities, pensions and municipal services at the expense of the original indigenous population; the virtual monopoly membership of military and security forces, and privileged development along their own racial supremacist lines – even both countries marriage laws are designed to safeguard racial “purity”. The fact that the Palestinian minority within Israel is allowed to vote hardly redresses the injustice in all other matters of basic human rights. In any case those Palestinians allowed to stand for election to the Knesset do so on condition that they dare not question Israel's existence as a Jewish state. [...]

By: Ronnie Kasrils - The Other Apartheid State

Ronnie Kasrils - The Other Apartheid State — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:48:04 +0000

[...] of Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu or Ruth First, but were uttered by none other than the archi click for more var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : [...]

By: A South African lawmaker looks at the other apartheid state | War On You: Breaking Alternative News

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:13:30 +0000

[...] Source About :I'm just a American patriot who believes in freedom for all, even the ones I don't like. It's time to make a stand and take over the media, government, and police of this nation. Join me in the movement and join the forums. This entry was posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 and is filed under Fascism, Genocide, Issues, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. « The Financial Crisis Presents a Huge Opportunity for Change — We Can't Let Obama Blow It [...]

By: Architecture Blogs

Architecture Blogs — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:57:57 +0000

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[...] …words of Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu or Ruth First, but were uttered by none other than the architect of apartheid itself, racist Prime… [...]…

By: A SOUTH AFRICAN LAWMAKER LOOKS AT THE OTHER APARTHEID STATE « Desertpeace

A SOUTH AFRICAN LAWMAKER LOOKS AT THE OTHER APARTHEID STATE « Desertpeace — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:01:34 +0000

[...] Source [...]

By: We have been here before, it’s clear | Antony Loewenstein

We have been here before, it’s clear | Antony Loewenstein — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:42:02 +0000

[...] African anti-apartheid campaigner Ronnie Kasrils speaks at the recent Cape Town conference re-envisioning [...]