Nelson Mandela on the Palestine-Israel Issue
Ever since his death, Nelson Mandela’s political and moral legacy has been subjected to intense analysis. But one misconception that has not been adequately debunked is that he equated the Jewish state to apartheid-era South Africa.
This view is largely based on a notorious memo from 2007, which was addressed to the New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman and signed “Nelson Mandela”.
It read: “Palestinians are not struggling for a ‘state’ but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa. The so-called ‘Palestinian autonomous areas’ are bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli apartheid system.
“Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality.”
The “memo” went viral on the internet. It was cited by Jimmy Carter, the former American president, during a speech at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, later that year, and has since been a principal factor in fashioning the public perception of Mr Mandela as an anti-Israel figure.
Indeed, the notorious Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement — which William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, recently referred to as “unjust” — enthusiastically cites Mandela’s support.
The only problem is that the memo was a fake.
In 2007, Joel Pollack, the American political writer, revealed that it was actually written by Arjan El Fassed, a co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, a popular anti-Israel website.
Whether or not El Fassed intended the memo to be a hoax is debatable. In his defence, he claimed that it was submitted in the style of a series in which Friedman wrote mock memos by high-level figures.
“In a clearly labelled spoof, under my byline, I published a mock memo from Mandela to Friedman on March 28, 2001,” El Fassed wrote on his blog. “Unfortunately, someone forwarded it on the
This view is largely based on a notorious memo from 2007, which was addressed to the New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman and signed “Nelson Mandela”.
It read: “Palestinians are not struggling for a ‘state’ but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa. The so-called ‘Palestinian autonomous areas’ are bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli apartheid system.
“Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality.”
The “memo” went viral on the internet. It was cited by Jimmy Carter, the former American president, during a speech at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, later that year, and has since been a principal factor in fashioning the public perception of Mr Mandela as an anti-Israel figure.
Indeed, the notorious Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement — which William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, recently referred to as “unjust” — enthusiastically cites Mandela’s support.
The only problem is that the memo was a fake.
In 2007, Joel Pollack, the American political writer, revealed that it was actually written by Arjan El Fassed, a co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, a popular anti-Israel website.
Whether or not El Fassed intended the memo to be a hoax is debatable. In his defence, he claimed that it was submitted in the style of a series in which Friedman wrote mock memos by high-level figures.
“In a clearly labelled spoof, under my byline, I published a mock memo from Mandela to Friedman on March 28, 2001,” El Fassed wrote on his blog. “Unfortunately, someone forwarded it on the