Marika Sboros: Mandla Mandela and the anti-Israel lobby - Biznews

The first anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust has passed, echoing through global cities with rising tensions. Controversy swirls as Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, faces UK entry denials due to his support for banned terror groups like Hamas. Mandela’s radical stance, aligned with antisemitic rhetoric and associations with extremist groups, has drawn backlash and raised concerns about the spread of violent ideologies globally.

Marika Sboros

The first anniversary of the most costly violence against Jews in a single day since the Holocaust – the October 7 2023 terrorist attack in Israel – has come and gone.

In its wake, the streets of London, Johannesburg, Cape Town and cities worldwide have echoed with calls for what would likely only mean more dead Jews.

Meanwhile, the UK government is facing calls to deny entry to Mandla Mandela, eldest grandson of democratic South Africa’s first president, Nelson Mandela.

This comes after the anti-Israel lobby invited Mandela, a former ANC MP and a convert to radical Islam, to a speaking tour of the UK and Ireland. The tour is part of the global lobby’s events in support of, among others, Iran-backed proxies Hamas and Hezbollah regarding the October 7 atrocities and multifront wars the groups are waging against Israel.

Mandela, 50, is listed as a speaker at the Global Peace and Unity Festival due to take place in London later this month. Also listed as speakers are Sir Stephen Timms, Labour minister in the Department for Work and Pensions, and Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West.

According to a report in the UK daily newspaper, The Times, the Home Office is facing calls to revoke Mandela’s visa because of his “inflammatory rhetoric” in support of banned terrorist groups. Examples of that rhetoric are legion.

Timms has reportedly declined to speak at the “festival”. The Times quotes him as saying he “would not speak at the same event as someone who had expressed such views”. That’s a sensible move, given Mandela’s most recent public support for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and other extremist Islamist forces.

Cosying up to extremist Islamist forces
Bright and early on October 7, 2024, Mandela was on his Instagram account under his African name, Nkosi (chief) Zwelivelile. He posted an attack on Israel and blamed supporters of Israel for the orgy of violence on the day. This was a day so brutal and barbaric in sustained savagery that British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore was moved to compare it to a “medieval Mongol raid for slaughter and trophies”.

Mandela was simply reverting to type. He wasted little time after the October 7 attacks to support Hamas. On October 13, 2023, he was on Cape Town streets trivialising the rape, torture, burning alive, and beheading that were a feature of the killing more than 1,200 people, including women, children and babies, as justified “resistance”. And calling for more.

In November 2023, he again incited crowds in the Mother City with chants of “From the river to the sea”. That chant is widely recognised as a call for genocide against Jews.

In December 2023, Mandela hosted a conference in Johannesburg, the 5th Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine. It was yet another Jew-hating, Jew-baiting jamboree. He called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reject the “delusion” of a two-state solution.

He publicly hosted Palestinian participants in person. Among them were former Hamas Gaza health minister Basem Naim, Hamas representative in Iran Khaled Qaddoumi, and Emad Saber, who manages Hamas’s financial affairs and is a frequent visitor to South Africa.

At rallies and since, Mandela has punctuated his anti-Israel rhetoric with chants of “Viva Al Quds! Viva Hamas! Viva the Palestinian resistance!” He uses explicitly antisemitic terms and images that the Nazis used to demonise Jews.

Trivialising the Holocaust
Mandela hasn’t yet been heard to say, “Gas the Jews!”, as Australian protesters were heard to say the day after October 7. But he refers to Jews as “dogs of war”. He trivialises the Holocaust by comparing Israel’s government and security forces to the Nazis.

Dr Milton Shain, antisemitism expert and emeritus professor of history at the University of Cape Town, noted some years ago that Mandela’s rhetoric had “crossed the thin line that separates anti-Zionism from classic antisemitism”. Those who had studied Jew hatred through the ages would recognise it in Mandela’s rhetoric, Shain said.

Mandela also has links with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group banned in Egypt since 2013, now operating out of Turkey, and its offshoot, Al-Quds. The Brotherhood aims to create a state governed by sharia (Islamic law) under a caliphate. Hence their slogan, “Islam is the solution”. It seeks to apply Islamic principles to all aspects of life, including government, society, and individual behaviour.

Mandela’s political clout with the ANC has eroded since his religious conversion and since losing his seat in South Africa’s general elections in May 2024. However, under the halo of his famous family name, he has become, as a recent article in The Times of Israel puts it, “a full-time, one-issue (global) ambassador for terror”.

He incessantly “brandishes his grandfather’s name as a weapon in his publicity toolkit on behalf of the Hamas terror organisation in the wake of their brutality on October 7”.

Mandela has a checkered personal background. In 2014, he was charged with assault and pointing a firearm at a teacher in a “road rage” incident. He was found guilty of assault and the firearm charge was dropped. He is estranged from senior members of his grandfather’s family and once launched “a televised tirade” against relatives “whom he accused of trying to grow rich from the Mandela name”.

While there remain serious political concerns back home, the implications of Mandela’s support for radical Islamist groups extends far beyond South Africa’s borders.

Rising tide of antisemitism
Of concern to the UK is that his visit will further exacerbate the rising tide of antisemitic hate crimes. For the first time, the number of hate crimes directed at Jews in London has overtaken Islamophobic incidents.

In the week leading up to the first anniversary of October 7, London’s Metropolitan Police took to X to remind people that Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed (banned) organisations and the law is “very clear”:

“Anyone displaying symbols, wording or otherwise indicating support for a proscribed organisation risks arrest. The same is true for anyone who appears to be endorsing, celebrating or justifying the actions of those organisations.”

The police have been strongly criticised for pandering to pro-Palestinian protesters who break the law, but they have recently made more arrests.

A more immediate concern for countries classifying Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations is the potential diplomatic fallout from Mandela’s rhetoric, as it undermines global counter-terrorism efforts and could negatively affect trade relations.

Countries such as the US, UK, Israel and within the EU have dedicated significant resources to combating terrorism. They maintain strong counter-terrorism policies that oppose any form of engagement or support for groups involved in terrorism.

The US has a zero-tolerance policy for individuals or organisations providing support to designated terrorist groups. Israel, a primary target of Hamas and Hezbollah, also views Mandela’s statements and ongoing calls with concern.

Critics say that Mandela also undermines South Africa’s ability to work alongside other nations on global security if his views reflect broader national policy.

On that score, Ramaphosa, with his statement to the nation marking the first anniversary of October 7, could have been working in concert with Mandela.

Radicalising the youth
Ramaphosa began with a lengthy reference to Palestinian casualties in Gaza since October 7. He paid brief lip service only to the more than 1,200 killed in Israel on the day. He blamed Israel for the atrocities Hamas committed. He repeated the genocide blood libel against Israel.

Critics say that Mandela’s utterances could have far-reaching consequences for countries dealing with youth radicalisation. By lending credibility to terrorist narratives, he potentially inspires young people who are already susceptible to radical ideologies.

Mandela regularly chants “Takbir!”, a battle cry of Muslim extremists and terrorists.

Takbir (Arabic for the act of saying “Allahu Akbar“), as Muslim scholars point out, is a much-misunderstood Islamic religious phrase. Its meaning clearly goes beyond a simple translation.

It embodies a profound declaration of faith and acknowledgement of God’s supremacy in Islamic belief. Contrary to common belief, it is not in the Koran, Islam’s holy book. It is, in fact, a hadith (saying attributed to the prophet Mohammed).

An opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post notes that takbir is also found on flags of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. It is essentially an expression that “sends shivers down (Jewish) spines” because of its violent and at times genocidal implications.

Allahu Akbar is another common, misunderstood clarion call of anti-Israel protesters. It is, in fact, part of the muezzin’s call to prayer, according to the same Jerusalem Post article. For devout Muslims, it is used “in times of happiness and joy, at the birth of a baby, during the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and during festivals, such as Eid. And yes, also in wartime and in jihad (holy war)”.

Literally translated, Allahu Akbar means “God is Greater”. It is commonly used to mean “God is the Greatest” or simply “God is Great”, depending on the context, say Muslim scholars.

Ideological quarrel
Examples of extremist groups and individuals misappropriating Takbir and Allahu Akbar as battle cries made before or during violent acts are many and varied.

There are audio clips of the 9/11 hijackers chanting Allahu Akbar before ploughing into the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, killing more than 3,000 civilians and first responders and injuring and maiming many more.

In 2002, on the eve of Passover in Netanya, Israel, the Palestinian suicide bomber who detonated and killed 32 and wounded over 100, shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he entered the dining room where innocent families, including Holocaust survivors, sat defenceless.

In his defence, Mandela claims that his ideological quarrel is with the Jewish state, not Jews. Presumably, that’s his version of the old some-of-my-best-friends-are-Jews canard.

But you don’t have to be a Zionist to empathise with the victims of terrorist atrocities of October 7. You just have to be compassionate, know history and understand the Holocaust – and that antisemitism is little more than a modern euphemism for ancient, unfettered Jew hatred.

Hamas terrorists videoed themselves chanting Allahu Akbar on their way to the mass rape and slaughter of innocents, including children and babies. They uploaded and livestreamed the videos online for posterity.

The videos are freely available. They make nightmarish viewing that only the hard-hearted could watch without weeping.

Fellow travellers against Israel
Mandela is far from alone on his anti-Israel journey. Fellow travellers include fellow convert to Islam and former South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor. Mandela is so close to her that he sounds, at times, like he is channelling ­(others might uncharitably say parroting) Pandor at rallies.

Another of his close allies is Sheikh Riad Fataar, president of the South African Muslim Judicial Council. In September 2024, Fataar was publicly expressing strong support for Hamas in Cape Town:

“I am Hamas, Cape Town is Hamas. Viva Hamas Viva!” Fataar declared. “We support Hamas because Hamas follows the Aayah (verse) in the holy Quran…: ‘Fight those who fight you’.”

Mandela’s religious mentor is Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels who introduced him to Islam. Gabriels is an outspoken advocate for groups designated as terrorist organisations in the West.

He was instrumental in bringing Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the Muslim figure who shaped the concept of violent jihad (holy war), to South Africa, to meet Nelson Mandela. Gabriels is a trustee of the Islamic Relief South Africa, an NPO and a global organisation allegedly involved in support for terror and antisemitism.

As head of the Al-Quds Foundation in South Africa, Gabriels has worked closely with other groups labelled as fronts for Hamas funding. This includes the Al-Aqsa Foundation’s South African branch.

Although the US and others have sanctioned organisations such as the Al-Aqsa Foundation for funnelling resources to Hamas, similar entities remain legally active within South Africa.

Critics also highlight Gabriels’ long-standing ties to prominent Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal. He has participated in events with the Union of Good, an umbrella “charity” implicated in Hamas funding.

His public support, in the context of broader anti-Israel sentiment within South Africa, has led some to view him as a key figure in boosting Hamas’s influence. Along with other key political figures in a country that has failed to cooperate with international terror sanctions, critics say that Mandela provides a “friendly, enabling base for Hamas’s representatives and activities”.

They argue that this reflects South Africa’s broader official position, a function of the government’s consistently voiced sympathy for Hamas, while overlooking its internationally recognised terrorist activities​.

Orwellian language
Mandela has chosen sides, as is his right. He has swallowed whole the binary, Orwellian perception of the Middle East (ME) conflict as Israel bad and terrorists good. That sticks in the throat of long-standing critics of Israel, among them the atheist US Jewish neuroscientist philosopher Sam Harris.

Harris has memorably said that there are “not many bright lines that divide good and evil in our world, but (October 7) is one of them”. He also said that the ME conflict is not just a numbers game. Just counting the number of dead bodies is no way to judge moral equivalence.

After all, there’s nothing binary about being able to feel anguish and horror at the number of civilian casualties in Gaza – over 40,000 at last count, if you believe Hamas figures ­– and anguish and horror at the 1,200 massacred by Hamas in Israel on October 7 and the around 100 hostages still languishing in Gazan tunnels.

And there is no moral equivalence between an army that keeps collateral damage (a euphemism for innocents killed in war) to the absolute minimum and the deliberate massacre of civilians and use of human shields.

There is a chasm of difference.

“Intentions matter,” Harris said soon after October 7, 2023. “It matters what kind of world people are attempting to build. If Israel wanted to perpetrate a genocide of the Palestinians, it could do that easily, tomorrow. But that isn’t what it wants.

“The truth is that the Jews of Israel would live in peace with their neighbours if their neighbours weren’t in thrall to genocidal fanatics.”

That harks back to a quote attributed to former Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir: “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there will be peace. If Israel puts down its weapons today, there will be no Israel.”

Meir also said that peace would come only “when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us’.

That held true during her tenure as prime minister from 1969 to 1974. It holds true in the wake of October 7, 2023.

* Since publication of this piece, the Sheffield Palestine Coalition Against Apartheid Israel issued a statement on X and on their website that Mandla Mandela has not been given a visa to enter the UK “despite high level approaches from senior ANC figures”. Mandela was due to address a meeting of the coalition in Sheffield tonight (10 October). According to the statement, Mandela will address the meeting via Zoom. He is also free to travel to southern Ireland that the coalition says has waived the visa requirement. Reportedly, the UK Home Office does not confirm approval or denial of visa applications because of data protection regulations.

Marika Sboros is a veteran journalist

https://www.biznews.com/global-citizen/2024/10/11/marika-sboros-mandla-mandela-anti-israel

This article was first published on the Daily Friend.