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Members of the Kensington Palestine Solidarity Group – Johannesburg – bear witness at a pro-Israel rally outside the Nelson Mandela Foundation, exposing Christian Zionism.
On Friday, January 30, the South African Friends of Israel staged a rally outside the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF). Their stated demands were the resignation of Naledi Pandor from the Foundation’s board and the rejection of the principled stance the NMF has taken – consistent with Nelson Mandela’s legacy – in support of Palestine.
A handful of members of the Kensington Palestine Solidarity Group attended as a counter-protest: to bear witness, gather insight on the Christian Zionist movement, and to show support for the Foundation, Minister Pandor and all who stand principled with Palestine.
The KPSG activists in attendance are deeply concerned about the global rise of the far right as a direct threat to democracy and to life itself. We understand that if we fail to organise a principled, unified, progressive movement from below, these forces will grow here as rapidly as they are elsewhere. We also know that a world without genocide, imperialism, settler colonialism and war is a safer world for everyone.
This is our collective account of the experience:
We arrived shortly after the rally’s advertised start time, around 10:20am. The area was flanked by large buses and minibus taxis, and police presence was small but prominent. Demonstrators had gathered in front of a covered stage, waving Israeli and South African flags – all new and crisp. Many carried additional empty flagpoles and small Israeli flags. As we walked into the area, we were immediately identified as counter-protesters, and a woman approached us eagerly, saying she was ‘with us’. She joined our group as police officers instructed us to move away from the demarcated area.
We reminded the officers that, as a group of fewer than fifteen people, we were legally permitted to stand where we chose. They insisted that they were not denying our right to protest but wanted to put distance between the larger crowd and us. We were escorted to the corner of Central and 17th, about 20 metres from the Zionist rally.
There, we unfurled our ‘Kensington Stands with Palestine’ banner and spoke with Chrissy, our unexpected ally. She told us she had arrived on a bus with members of her church, fully aware she would ‘defect’ to the other side. She is a pro-Palestine activist online and attends actions at the Israeli embassy. She enlightened us that participants had been instructed to wear white; many wore white or blue shirts.
Soon after, a young man approached us, introducing himself as a leader in the ANC Youth League and SA Communist Party in Orange Farm. He said he had been told he was going to a ‘church event’ and was shocked to discover he had been brought to a pro-Israel rally. Several other young men joined him – politically active in the ANC Youth League, Communist Party and the EFF, all unapologetically pro-Palestine. They spoke with pride about South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel and anger at being misled. We conducted spontaneous video interviews with them.
We noted immediately that this Islamophobic speech, and its obsessive focus on Iran, bears little relation to South Africa’s geopolitical context and instead echoes Israeli and American talking points.
By then, the crowd – mostly black and a few whites – had grown to a couple of hundred people, and the rally began in earnest. Speaker Bafana Modise’s rhetoric was immediately alarming: that South Africa is a Christian country, which he equated with Zionism and inherent support for Israel; that ‘radical Islam’ posed a threat to Christians and to South Africa; and that Iran was the harbinger of this threat. We noted slogans such as ‘South Africa belongs to Jesus, not to Allah’, alongside claims – and songs – that Christians are being genocided by Muslims across Africa, particularly in Nigeria.
We noted immediately that this Islamophobic speech, and its obsessive focus on Iran, bears little relation to South Africa’s geopolitical context and instead echoes Israeli and American talking points. The signs, chants and speeches of the event were overwhelmingly white supremacist narratives, delivered through dogmatic language that reflects neither religious scripture nor the values and laws of a democratic South Africa.
As the rally continued, a distinction became clear. A smaller, highly mobilised core appeared ideologically committed: hostile to South Africa’s stance on Palestine, eager to punish anti-imperialist movements, and invested in Christian nationalism. Surrounding them was a much larger group that seemed largely disengaged – drifting in and out, sitting on the grass, buying snacks nearby. Yet all were exposed to a steady stream of Israeli propaganda.
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Standing in full view of passing traffic, we received encouraging hoots and calls of ‘Free Palestine’. The speaker at the pulpit then turned his attention to us, calling on the police to ‘REMOVE THESE PEOPLE AT ONCE’, prompting the inner group to move towards us aggressively. Police intervened, and we crossed the road to create distance. The officers acted professionally and successfully de-escalated the situation.
The demonstration handed over its memorandum to an NMF delegate, and we left shortly before the rally dispersed to ensure our safety. The young men we spoke to expressed concern about travelling home with the group they had come with, and we assisted them with taxi fare.
In reflecting on our experience, we want to reiterate that Israel is an apartheid state. It governs through racial classification, segregation and systemic oppression. Israel was founded in the same year as apartheid South Africa and maintained close ties with the apartheid regime.
Christians are among Israel’s victims in Palestine. Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus, a Palestinian – is in the West Bank, where settler violence continues to kill, pillage and plunder.
As progressive activists and organisers, we know people feel isolated and burned by deepening inequality and political betrayal. If we do not offer a strong, united movement from below with an inclusive vision of justice and dignity, the far right will fill the vacuum. The KPSG members in attendance believe in a secular and socialist South Africa that actively resists hatred and Islamophobia. We are convinced that this requires intervention in our social and educational landscape to dismantle hierarchical, dominator ideologies in which Christian nationalism thrives.
We believe in a democratic South Africa where everyone is free and safe to practise their faith. That is also our vision for a free Palestine.
This statement was issued collectively by members of the Kensington Palestine Solidarity Group, Johannesburg.
