Andrew Feinstein, a Jewish former ANC member of parliament noted that while Jewish South Africans featured prominently in the struggle against apartheid, they were shunned by the Board of Deputies, which claimed to speak for the majority of the Jewish community. The organisation collaborated with the white regime and chose instead to honour figures such as Percy Yutar, the prosecutor who sent Nelson Mandela to prison. Feinstein said that underpinning South African criticism of Israel is the ANC’s longstanding support for the Palestine Liberation Organisation and what he saw as the growing view that Israel was practising its own brand of apartheid in the occupied territories. Feinstein added that far from damaging South Africa’s international standing, as the board of deputies claimed, the ICJ case was likely to strengthen respect among allies such as India, Brazil and China.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN