Hamas and ANC extend the hand of friendship

The political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, and South African President Jacob Zuma sign a memorandum of understanding in support of the Palestinian cause in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 19, 2015. Photo by Anadolu Agency

Hamas draws parallels with apartheid during South Africa visit

Hamas’ official visit to South Africa found support there and could open doors to relationships with other countries

By Adnan Abu Amer, trans. Cynthia Milan, Al Monitor/ Palestine Pulse
October 28, 2015

Hamas considers its official visit to South Africa earlier this month a success. The trip helped expand communications between the two, called attention to similarities between their struggles and could help Hamas pave the way for alliances elsewhere in its attempt to break the international blockade.

The whole thing made Israel really angry.

The Hamas delegation’s visit was busy and conspicuous. The group was welcomed at the Johannesburg airport by African National Congress (ANC) Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte. Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau, met with South African President Jacob Zuma, who signed a memorandum of understanding in support of the Palestinian cause. The delegation also met with members of the ruling ANC and South African organizations that support Palestine, such as Al-Aqsa Foundation of South Africa and the environmental network Friends of the Earth International.

At a mosque in Pretoria, Meshaal compared the Palestinian cause with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Hamas’ visit concluded with a dinner attended by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe [served as President of South Africa between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki].

While this trip drew a lot of attention, Hamas and South Africa are not strangers. Al Jazeera revealed Feb. 25 that in June 2012, the CIA had tried to open back channels with Hamas through South African intelligence services [see article below]. Since there is no direct political contact between the US administration and Hamas — the movement has been on the US terrorist list since 2001 — the CIA sought to indirectly communicate with Hamas through South Africa, with whom the United States shares good relations, asking the latter to learn about Hamas’ stances.

On Aug. 23, 2014, Meshaal spoke with Zuma by phone during the Israeli war on Gaza and thanked him for supporting the Palestinians. Sulley Chrhola, the South African ambassador to the Palestinian Authority (PA), made repeated visits to Gaza to meet with Hamas leaders. On the last, on May 19, he declared he does not view Hamas as a terrorist organization. Sisa Ngombane, the former South African ambassador to Israel, also said recently that he does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization, but rather a national liberation movement. He went on to demand that Hamas renounce violence and look for ways to coexist with Israel.

Hamas’ foreign relations chief Osama Hamdan, who is currently in Lebanon, told Al-Monitor, “There are many similarities between the Palestinian and the South African struggle” under an apartheid occupation. “The ties between both parties were first established in 1998 and then developed substantially. South Africa is keen on sharing its experience with the Palestinians in their confrontation against Israel, since South Africa is an example in managing a conflict against a racist entity.” In addition, Israel had close ties with the former apartheid regime in South Africa, as was obvious in the tight security coordination between the parties, military aid and cooperation in the nuclear field.

Accompanying Meshaal on Hamas’ journey to South Africa were high-profile political bureau members Mousa Abu Marzouk, Sami Khater and Mohammad Nazal. Abu Marzouk, who resides in Qatar, told Al-Monitor, “Hamas’ international relations are part of its struggle against the occupation and the Zionist movement, since the Palestinian cause has many true supporters and sincere allies, and Palestinians need tireless efforts to guide them and unite their efforts. This visit’s goal is to strengthen the bonds of cooperation between Hamas and the ANC and the people of South Africa to support the Palestinian cause.”

Naim Gina, president of the Middle East and Africa Studies Center in South Africa, told Al-Monitor that Hamas, after working to strengthen its relationship with Johannesburg, “is now able to open a representation office in South Africa.”

Yousef Rizqa, the former information minister in the Hamas government in Gaza, also talked with Al-Monitor about the importance of Hamas’ trip.

“The visit at this time is a Hamas breakthrough in the international blockade and the US foreign policy and a slap in the face of the Israeli foreign policy. The timing is important in light of the third popular intifada, and Hamas is aware of and appreciates the importance of this visit. It considers it to be a positive step for foreign relations and it will do the Palestinian cause good,” he said.

Hamas seems to need this openness with world capitals, especially Johannesburg, in light of the blockade imposed by many countries — especially Israel, the United States and Egypt — under the pretext that Hamas is a terrorist movement. Hamas’ political relations with old allies such as Iran and Syria have declined despite improvement in its relations with Saudi Arabia and the strength of its alliance with Qatar and Turkey.

The Hamas visit angered Israel, whose foreign affairs minister summoned the assistant ambassador of South Africa to Tel Aviv Oct. 19 to make its strong objection clear. Israel’s action then prompted Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, to state Oct. 21 that Israel protested against the Hamas visit because it means recognition of the resistance’s legitimacy.

It should be noted that Israel’s relationship with South Africa is not at its best. In April, Israel refused to allow South African Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande to visit Ramallah. On Oct. 14, the ANC in South Africa advised its members and its leaders not to visit Israel.

While Israel expressed its anger over Hamas’ visit to South Africa, the PA remained silent. A senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The PA learned of the arrangements for the visit in advance from some international bodies, following the improvement of Hamas’ ties with Johannesburg in recent years. Hamas’ visit may be a prelude to other visits to the African continent, given the large influence South Africa has on the African continent.”

Raafat Morra, a Hamas media official in Lebanon, told Al-Monitor that Hamas’ visit to South Africa “led to important political results” and improved communications. “Many meetings were previously held, and official communication took place between South African and Hamas officials and party leaders, whose details and dates were not disclosed. Such an official visit is proof of Hamas’ power and regional presence, and it represents the beginning of breaking the international boycott.”

Hamas said it does not expect financial or military support from South Africa. Although Hamas has yet to announce concrete results from this visit, it seems likely it will build on this success by visiting other countries in an attempt to expand its alliances and relations and become immune to blackmail or pressure from other sources.

Spy Cables expose ‘desperate’ US approach to Hamas

Leaked documents also show Mossad lobbying South Africa against Goldstone Report, claiming Abbas shared their stance.

By Will Jordan, Rahul Radhakrishnan, Al Jazeera
February 23, 2015

A CIA agent “desperate” to make contact with Hamas in Gaza pleaded for help from a South African spy in the summer of 2012, according to intelligence files leaked to Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. The US lists Hamas as a terrorist organisation and, officially at least, has no contact with the group.

That was just one of the revelations of extensive back-channel politicking involving the US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority as they navigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid a stalled peace process.

Classified South African documents obtained by Al Jazeera also reveal an approach by Israel’s then-secret service chief, Meir Dagan, seeking Pretoria’s help in its efforts to scupper a landmark UN-authorised probe into alleged war crimes in Gaza, which was headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Dagan explained that his effort to squelch the Goldstone Report had strong support from Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas.

The Mossad director told the South Africans that Abbas privately backed the Israeli position, saying he wanted the report rejected because he feared it would “play into the hands” of Hamas, his key domestic political rival.

The Spy Cables also reveal that US President Barack Obama made a direct threat to Abbas in hope of dissuading him from pursuing United Nations recognition for a Palestinian state.

US ‘desperate’

The Hamas request revealed in the Spy Cables occurred in the summer of 2012 during an encounter in occupied East Jerusalem between a CIA officer and a South African secret service agent.

The conversation began with a discussion of the CIA agent’s safari in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Soon after, however, the US agent made it clear that his government wanted to establish contact with Hamas in Gaza.

The South African spy noted his request and cabled back to State Security Agency (SSA) headquarters on June 29 that the CIA “would seem desperate to make inroads into Hamas in Gaza”.

He recommended helping the US agency, writing that the “SSA stand the chance of benefitting from that interaction in that we would establish the collection priorities and requirements” of the CIA.

Obama’s ‘threat’

At the same time as the US was trying to reach out to Hamas, it was also putting pressure on the PA.

In November 2011, in a landmark event in the PA’s efforts for recognition of Palestinian statehood, the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted overwhelmingly to accept Palestine as a member. That set the stage for an effort the following year to upgrade the status of the PLO’s mission to the UN to that of a non-member observer state – a campaign fiercely opposed at the very highest levels by the United States and Israel

The South African government not only supported the Palestinian statehood effort, but a Weekly Middle East Bulletin dated 29 October, 2012, suggested that “South Africa should assist in lobbying undecided votes for the Palestinian statehood bid”.

A secret cable dated 22 November 2012 from a South African agent in communication with Palestinian leaders records that the South Africans had been told that US President Barack Obama had phoned and “threatened” PA leader Mahmoud Abbas not to proceed with the bid. The agent reported, however, that Palestinian leaders were unfazed and “were quite adamant to go ahead” despite Obama’s phone call.

When the General Assembly voted on November 29, 2012, 138 member nations approved recognising Palestine, while 41 abstained and only nine – including the US and Israel had voted no.

The Goldstone Report

Gaza had been the subject of another exchange revealed in the Spy Cables, this time between the South Africans and the head of Israel’s Mossad agency. A 2009 document disclosed that then-Mossad chief Meir Dagan had broken protocol by directly phoning South Africa’s spy chief, seeking to persuade the country to vote against recognising a landmark UN investigation into allegations of war crimes in Gaza.

In April 2009, the UN Human Rights Council launched the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, investigating alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” that had left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead when it ended two months earlier.

The investigation into the actions of both Hamas and the Israeli military was headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Goldstone initially claimed that Israel had deliberately targeted civilians in the 22-day campaign, but later retracted that statement.

The Spy Cables reveal that Dagan had contacted the South African spy chief directly on his mobile phone, to “emphasise a few points” which could influence the South African vote at the UN on Goldstone’s report.

The move triggered a frantic attempt in South Africa to verify the call, and a Mossad agent later had to cancel a flight home to Israel in order to meet with the South African spy chief and liaison officer and brief them.

‘A victory for terrorism’

In his briefing, the Israeli agent told the South Africans that “Mossad fears that by acknowledging the report, it could give the impression to other terror organisations that highly populated areas could be used as human shields, during terror operations,” the cable notes.

“By this a new form of terrorism and warfare could be implemented and could be seen as a victory for terrorism”.

The Israeli spy added that Dagan feared that acceptance of the report could be a blow to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which had been essentially moribund for more than a decade at that point: “Israel will feel that it will not be able to defend itself and will have much more reservations in a peace process”.

The Mossad briefing maintained that President Mahmoud Abbas shared the Israelis opposition to the UN accepting the report. According to the Israelis, the Palestinian leader felt that acceptance of the report would “play in the hands of Hamas and weaken his position.”

But, the Israeli explained, Abbas could not openly take this stance, and had to be seen to “agree with the report in public”.

The Mossad briefer also gave strong backing to Abbas, saying that the Israelis see him as “key to stabilising the situation in order for the peace process to continue”.

The South African spy chief agreed to convey the message, but warned that he would not be able to influence decisions on a political level.