IN THE MEDIA

Letter: Voice of Mandela

May 1, 2019 | Allon Lee

Nelson Mandela with Shimon Peres in 1999
Nelson Mandela with Shimon Peres in 1999

Mercury, May 1, 2019

I THINK one more important voice can be added to Peter Wertheim’s excellent response to Greg Barns’s comparison of Israel to Apartheid South Africa (Talking Point, April 26). That voice comes from no less an authority on apartheid than Nelson Mandela himself.

During his 1999 visit to Israel, Mandela never made any such comparison, never questioned Israel’s right to exist and even expressed understanding of why Israel was still occupying the West Bank and Gaza, saying, “I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing (from the territories) if Arab states do not recognise Israel within secure borders.”

The conflict persists because the Palestinian leadership denies that Jews have legitimate rights to national self-determination in any part of the land where they became a people and have continually maintained their existence as a people for more than 3500 years. Attempting to delegitimise Israel out of existence with spurious claims about apartheid will neither change this fact, nor help the Palestinian people.

Allon Lee
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

RELATED ARTICLES

RECENT POSTS

Screenshot 2025 06 27 At 4.03.57 pm

Weekend Hebrew media update: Gaza, Iran and Israel

Targeted Israeli strikes in Teheran (Source: Heute.at)

Inside Israel’s strike on Iran: The intelligence coups that made it possible

An Iranian atomic energy exhibition at Islamic Revolution & Holy Defense Museum, 2018 (Source: Shutterstock)

Fact Sheet: Why did Israel attack Iran?

An American B2 bomber (screenshot)

Sometimes a military solution is necessary

Image: Screenshot

Food, lies and videotapes

SORT BY TOPICS