Johannesburg - A lobby group called the South African Friends of Israel said it was pleased with the Orlando Pirates’ decision to continue to play with an Israeli team despite concerns.
The group said it believed that Israel is not an apartheid state and that sports should not be used to divide people or fight political battles.
“For most people, they will enjoy a beautiful game organised by Fifa. South Africa and Fifa have not boycotted Israel; there is no reason for Orlando Pirates to do that,” a spokesperson for the group, Bafana Modise, said.
Modise accused the BDS movement of spreading lies about Israel and forcing the South African sports fraternity to participate in the mudslinging against Israel.
“When you look at the BDS, they have always tried to bully SA into their own agenda. They describe Israel as an apartheid state, but they do not know what they are talking about because we know apartheid in South Africa and that is not what is happening there,” Modise said.
Modise said he was not a Jew himself, but was part of the lobby group to protect the relationship between South Africa and Israel because of the religious significance of Israel to the world and the relationship that some Jewish anti-apartheid activists had with South Africa.
“Our view is that the leadership of the two states should settle for a lasting solution of peace. Both leaders should sit at the table. Israel is not an apartheid state, because Arabs can vote and are in parliament,” Modise said.
Modise said he had visited Israel a number of times and had been reassured that there is no apartheid in Israel. He said the Palestinians were feeling the remnants of historic tensions between Israel and Palestine.
Meanwhile, BDS co-ordinator Roshan Dadoo said more pressure needed to be placed on Israel by the international community to end hostilities with the Palestinian people.
“Pirates has now issued a statement detailing their role in the Struggle against apartheid in South Africa and their awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people. We call on them to join the ‘men and women of courage’ in bringing about the end of apartheid and cancel their game against Maccabi Tel Aviv,” Dadoo said.
The Star