O Parak Wrong About His Detractors
In response to O Parak (Pietermaritzburg), let me say this: his denial of the facts is reflected in the very words of his letter in the Daily News of 10 June. I cannot speak for my colleague Mr. Len Bennet, but as for Parak’s efforts to delegitimise my letter about Gaza and how South Africans should stop feeling sorry for them, I have the following to say:
According to Parak, I said that Israel cannot be accused of genocide as SA has its own crime… well, let me state very clearly—SA not only has the highest crime rate, with 3 of its cities ranked in the top 5 most dangerous cities in the world (Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg), but it is also plagued by extremely brutal farm killings where unthinkable acts of human aggression and hatred can be found happening often, or at least often enough for our president to take serious note hereof. But you see, my fellow readers, Mr. Parak won’t mention anything about the suffering that we face as a nation, because the narrative of Gaza is all about victimhood and martyrdom.
Whether we criticise Hamas or simply the Gazans who voted for them, we are often painted as racists or Apartheid criminals, whilst the people of Gaza, due to resiting antisemitic propaganda from a very early age, cannot help themselves from either playing the victim or wanting to be seen as a martyr. Unlike these individuals, our farmers here in SA simply carry on regardless, fighting crime without any real help from the government or sympathy from our people. I wonder why this is, Mr Parak? We don’t see pro-farmer protests erupting all over the world, or Greta Thunberg sailing to our shores to stand up for our farmers, now do we?
Mr Parak goes on to say that I ignore the international justice mechanisms which apparently stand for freedom, when there have been reports of UN officials somehow taking part in the October 7th atrocities committed against Israel in 2023! I’m sorry, but the UN has lost all credibility and owes us all a huge explanation and apology.
Parak then criticises my religious views by saying, ‘So much for secular democracy and rational debate,’ when there is nothing rational about the God that I serve. It is not I who says it, but the Bible, which states that ‘Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse them will be cursed.’ I believe what the Word of God says, unequivocally so. It is clear to see that since Hamas’ mindless attacks on Israeli citizens in 2023 at a music festival, everything has fallen apart for Gaza, Iran, and its proxies, from top Hezbollah and Hamas leaders being assassinated to air defence systems being blown up and well-planned pager attacks on terrorist leaders in Syria. Soon, we might also witness the fall of the Iranian regime, and its people finally freed from the shackles placed upon it since 1979.
I could agree with Mr Parak that no innocent civilians deserve death, but the same can then be said of Israeli citizens who were brutally attacked and separated from their families because of an evil ideology that seeks to destroy the Jews, regardless of the cost.
Mr. Parak, my religious convictions arrest me, sometimes to my own disbelief. I will never stand for terrorism but always for truth. I will never support victimhood but always stand for righteousness and freedom. I am not unsympathetic towards Gazans, I just do not understand how an obsession with martyrdom and a victim mentality can be so devastating to the ones who swear by it.
