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On Tuesday the 21st of November in the year of our Lord 2023, the South African National Assembly will vote on a motion sponsored by the Economic Freedom Fighters, to have the Israeli Embassy in South Africa closed down, and to some degree for South Africa to cut all ties with Israel as a result of its continued bombardment of Palestine. When this motion was first tabled in Parliament, leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Reverend Kenneth Meshoe brought forward a Biblical argument in favour of the continuation of diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Jerusalem. We zoom into this argument ahead of that ‘all important vote’.
While defending his country from invasion by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, the Jewish guerrilla leader Judas Maccabeus
sought to prevent the imposition of Hellenism upon Judaea, and preserving the
Jewish religion, undoubtedly a quest for self-determination. In his
narration of the events of 163 BCE, Maccabees tells us that “the king spoke to them deceitfully in peaceful
terms, and they believed him. Then he attacked the city suddenly, in a great
onslaught, and destroyed many of the people in Israel. He plundered the city and set fire to it, demolished its
houses and its surrounding walls. And they took captive the women and
children, and seized the animals.”
(1 Maccabees 1:30-34). Ironically, today the world stands in awe, watching
similar atrocities by Israel on Palestine, divided in opinion and ideology. In
the context of South Africa, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe advanced an argument
that suggests that he (by extension the political party he represents) is in support
of the atrocities of Israel against palestine. Most interestingly he submits to
Parliament that "God gave Abraham the very war torn piece of land, long
before Christianity" (K. Meshoe, 17 November 2023, https://youtu.be/LQNn9-OFSKM), from
this statement we can deduce that Reverend Meshoe relies on Genesis
12:1-3, which reads “the Lord says to Abraham, “Go from your
country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show
you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your
name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the
earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV). Interestingly, this blessing
included ‘land that, at the time the promise was made, belonged to other people,
the Canaanites’. We know that the Canaanites are best known from this
biblical account that portray them as a hostile, pre-Israelite indigenous
population residing in the “promised land”, the land situated in the territory
of the southern Levant, which today encompasses Israel, the West Bank and Gaza,
Jordan, and the southern portions of Syria and Lebanon. We therefore pose a theological
question aimed at understanding Reverend Meshoe’s theology in this regard “if
the Israelites later came to occupy an already occupied land, who then is the
original people of this the land”?
The theological question need not be answered because the aim
of this inquiry is not really about the theological correctness of the
statement or the conflict in Gaza, but rather about the contemporary realities
of the world and what he understands the current situation in the Middle East
is, as a politician who happens to be a theologian. There is a genocide taking
place in Palestine, men, women and children are being wiped off the face of the
earth before the eyes of the world. Therefore, we needs to distinguish between Reverend
Kenneth Meshoe speaking as a politician and as a priest, perhaps more
especially as a politician during the silly season of elections, one of the
hotly contested elections that promises to change the political landscape of
South Africa. Ordinary South Africans, Christians included, and the
international community will be closely watching the vote in Parliament, most
certainly the Biblical argument which Reverend Meshoe has advanced are likely to
form very little part if not at all in their considerations of the reality in
the contemporary.
Perhaps what comes out most glaringly in Reverend Meshoe’s submission is the deafening silence of the Church in the matter, even if the argument may be countered, one cant help but realise how quiet the local Church is. Theologians and Christians alike may argue as to whether that argument hold water in the contemporary, or if it was just another politician speaking, but the silence of the Church remains deafening. The very congregant that sits in the church pew is the same person that will be lining up at the polling station in 2024, the very congregant that applies the teaching of scripture in their daily lives, South Africa's silence is just too deafening. It is my considered view that the voice of the citizens should not only be heard through political statements in Parliament or a political party marching on to the Israel embassy. The church at local level must raise its voice through prayer, preaching, lobby and demonstrations. Many a time a voice of a politician has proven to be a double edged sword that even when the intention of the message is of a good nature, political considerations including diplomatic protocol may easily dilute the message.
We continue
to pray for the people of Palestine, the many women and children that have lost
their lives at the hands of the Israeli military forces and its leadership, may
God the almighty extend his hand and save the children of Palestine, extend his
wisdom into the hearts and minds of Jerusalem and its supporters, to enable the
world to speak sense and bring peace to it.
K. Phejane
Writing in my personal capacity as an active world citizen
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