Anti-apartheid activist-theologian, Dr Allan Boesak withdrew his support for a proposal made by the Patriotic Alliance to rename Louis Botha Avenue in Johannesburg after him, following PA leader Gayton McKenzie’s support for Israel.
Dr Boesak told IOL that he was approached about a month ago by PA’s deputy president, Kenny Kunene, about their intention to propose a street name change from Louis Botha Avenue to Dr Allan Boesak Avenue. He said the party explained that they felt there were too many South Africans who had made a contribution to the struggle but were not given the recognition that they deserved.
“I was to be one of several such persons. In light of this, I consented that the proposal be put forward.
“However, after seeing the clip(s) going around how the leaders of the PA are making common cause with the apartheid Israeli State, I feel that I cannot be associated with such views,” he said.
Boesak said he had been engaged in the struggle for justice for Palestinians for a very long time and believed that every South African who knows what colonialism and apartheid have done to the country should stand in solidarity with Palestinians, for their right to justice and peace, and for the return of their land.
“For me, the struggle of Palestinians is a litmus test for our political integrity and the authenticity of our Christian witness. To not stand for Palestinians at this moment in history, when the war of extermination against Palestinians since the Nakba, now 75 years ago, has reached fever pitch, is as wrong as not standing up against apartheid.
“This is especially true since it seems that the Palestinians have virtually no friends in the Western world, and Israel is once again being given blanket support and impunity for what it is doing to the people of Gaza,” he said.
Boesak said that every war was tragic and that every war would include crimes, and Hamas was not excluded from these temptations.
But Boesak said the response of Hamas was a response to 75 years of occupation, oppression, outright war, and ethnic cleansing.
“It should come as a surprise to no one that a people oppressed, after every door to peaceful settlement has been closed, have chosen to fight back with military power. As one with a lifelong commitment to peaceful struggle, I am not rejoicing in this, but I certainly can understand it. Every call for peace now should begin with an unequivocal expression of solidarity with Palestinians,” Boesak said.
In a letter to Kunene, Boesak said being associated with a political party that supported the State of Israel in the way he has heard and seen McKenzie do was “abhorrent“ to him.
“At this critical moment, it is the besieged people of Gaza and the Palestinian people as a whole who need our undiluted solidarity and support. In light of these developments, I withdraw my support for your proposal. Please let me have the name and contact details of the chair of the committee so that I can convey my decision,” Boesak wrote to Kunene.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
IOL