The Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Naldi Pandor, said that Israel should be defined as an "apartheid state", and called on the General Assembly of the United Nations to establish a committee that would officially determine whether Israel meets the conditions for this definition. The call to the General Assembly is an aggravation of the statements of senior South Africans towards Israel, even when taking into account that South Africa has traditionally taken a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel line.
Pandora said these things as part of a meeting of the "Heads of the Palestinian Mission in Africa" forum held in the capital Pretoria.
According to her, "The Palestinian narrative brings up from the past the experiences of oppression and separation from the history of South Africa itself. As South Africans who have suffered oppression, we have directly experienced the effects of racial inequality, discrimination and denial, and we cannot stand by when another generation of Palestinians is left behind."
Riyad Al-Malki, the Palestinian Foreign Minister who was also present at the gathering, later told the Public Broadcasting Corporation of South Africa that "if there is any country or countries that can grasp the suffering and the struggle for the freedom and independence of Palestine, it is the countries of the African continent and the people of Africa."
South Africa's hostility towards Israel has historical roots dating back decades.
During the apartheid regime, while the Western countries boycotted South Africa, Israel had a close relationship with it that included, among other things, military cooperation, and according to foreign publications, also cooperation in the nuclear field.
After the abolition of apartheid in 1990, the "African National Congress" party came to power in the country, which controls it to this day and represents the majority of the black population, which makes up about 80% of the approximately 60 million inhabitants of South Africa.
Most of the senior members of the party hold a grudge against Israel for its past ties with the apartheid regime, and lead a blatant anti-Israel line that gives almost automatic backing to the Palestinians' claims.
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