The Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously condemned today the apartheid policy practiced by the government of South Africa and voiced concern about recent developments there of mass arrests, violence and killings.
The Knesset committee action followed similar expressions by Premier Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Sara Doron, a Likud Knesset member, told the committee that at the United Nations End of the Decade Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Israel was accused by African delegates of being equivocal about apartheid.
Abba Eban, committee chairman, said that while Israel should maintain its close relations with South Africa, as it should with all countries regardless of the nature of their governments or regimes, the South African apartheid policy “recalled voices from the depths of Jewish history, telling us what happens when people are categorized into different categories of rights and obligations.” (By Gil Sedan)
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.