MISGUIDED VIEWS ON IRAN AIM TO DEFLECT ATTENTION FROM ISRAEL

By: Iqbal Jassat

The attempt by Rolene Marks to divert attention away from Israel in her response to Ronnie Kasrils, "What about Iran?" [Cape Times, July 7] is futile and entirely misguided.

Its seems to be informed more by desperation than any genuine desire to understand events in the Islamic Republic of Iran.Her comments on Iran reveal a great deal of prejudice and given that she seeks to silence Kasrils' bold and courageous critique of the Zionist regime, one can assume that she is yet another victim of anti-Iran propaganda emanating from Israel.

Those that are calling for an end to tyranny, fear and oppression are the besieged Palestinians. They have also called for an end to detention without trial - more than 11,000 Palestinians have been incarcerated in Israeli jails, subject to horrendous torture as documented by respectable human rights ngos. The victims of ethnic cleansing, Palestinian refugees numbering 5million or more are demanding right of return to their original homes and farms, looted by Jewish immigrants from Europe, America, Russia and South Africa over the last six decades.
 
Perhaps Rolene Marks and her colleagues from the pro-Israeli lobby in SA will dare to venture into probing the reasons why Israel refuses to allow inspections at a secret prison dubbed as "Israel's Guantanamo Bay". In a report published in May 2009, the Committee Against Torture requested that Israel indentify the location of the camp officially referred to as "Facility 1391" and allow the International Red Cross access to it.

While I am pleased though that she had the courage, unlike David Saks, to concede that Kasrils' role in fighting apartheid injustice has been exemplary, perhaps she will also agree that the struggle to end Palestinian suffering is long overdue.