It takes a special kind of moral gymnastics to invoke Nelson Mandela’s friendships as a shield against the mass killing of civilians. Helen Maisels’ letter (“The destruction of Madiba’s Jewish legacy”, February 3) does it with impressive flexibility.
We are told, solemnly, that Madiba once phoned a Zionist lawyer for advice, and therefore the Nelson Mandela Foundation must suspend its conscience while Gaza is pulverised. History is apparently not something to learn from — it is something to be selectively weaponised.
Mandela engaged Jews, Arabs, communists, capitalists and liberation movements alike because he understood a simple truth: solidarity with the oppressed is not conditional on dinner invitations. He spoke to Yasser Arafat for the same reason he spoke to Zionists — not to launder violence, but to oppose domination wherever it appeared.
To suggest that condemning the annihilation of Gaza is “apologism” for October 7 is not analysis; it is rhetorical hostage-taking. Civilians are not chess pieces, and moral clarity is not anti-Semitism with better PR.
If Zionism today cannot survive scrutiny without borrowing Mandela’s name as a human shield, the problem is not the foundation. It is the politics being defended while entire neighbourhoods disappear under rubble.
Madiba didn’t fear being unpopular with power. He feared being silent in the face of injustice.
Waleed Akherwaray
Via email
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