African National Congress (ANC) leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela in Algeria wearing a khafiya after his release from prison in May 1990., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Israel: Apartheid, expansionist colonialism of a special type
By Alex Mashilo
Young Communist League of South Africa
Today is the third day in 2014 of our annual international solidarity week with the people of Palestine, and in condemnation of Israeli apartheid which must come to an end with immediate effect. The situation facing the people of Palestine under Israeli oppression and exploitation bears many similarities with the situation that faced the Africans in particular and black people in general under colonialism and apartheid.
In 1928 following the 6th Congress of the Communist International the Executive Committee of the Communist International characterised South Africa as thus:
'South Africa is a British Dominion of the colonial type. The development of relations of capitalist production has led to British imperialism carrying out the economic exploitation of the country with the participation of the white bourgeoisie of South Africa (British and Boer). Of course, this does not alter the general colonial character of the economy of South Africa, since British capital continues to occupy the principal economic positions in the country (banks, mining and industry), and since the South African bourgeoisie is equally interested in the merciless exploitation of the' [of the African people].
In 1962 following the declaration of South Africa as a republic on 31 May 1961 but with national oppression, gender domination and class supper-exploitation maintained and reinforced by the apartheid regime the South African Communist Party (SACP) characterised South Africa as a colony of a special type. In this colony of a special type the colonisers and the colonised occupied the same territory but under conditions of segregated settlements and separate development for the colonisers based on the under-development of the colonised.
As other scholars have observed, every system breeds its own intellectuals. 'Colonialism of a Special Type' and apartheid in South Africa too gave rise to their own intellectuals whose function was to distort history and facts through a propaganda of falsehoods. A point inextricably linked with this, in its 1962 programme the 'Road to South African Freedom' the SACP noted as follows.
'The White ruling classes, and especially the leaders of the Nationalist Party have manufactured a version of the past and present of this country which they systematically attempt to impose everywhere, from the schoolroom to international opinion. According to this picture, the early White settlers penetrated peacefully into a virtually unoccupied country. The African population, who are depicted as savage barbarians without culture, achievements or history, are represented as relative newcomers who entered the country at about the same time as the Whites, and conducted aggressive wars and raids against them. The impression is given that African occupation was always more or less confined to the present Reserves - the "Bantu Homelands."
As the Party points out in the programme: 'This version of South Africa's past is entirely false'.
Drawing from the South African lesson, the key question in view of all of these as we proceed, is how we would today characterise Israel, its occupation of Palestinian territories and relationship to the Palestinian people. There is no doubt Israel is a Zionist apartheid state. But, as a matter of fact, Israel simultaneously advances 'Colonialism of a Special Type' on an expansionist basis based on continuous expropriation and occupation of but not exclusively Palestinian territories. This reminds us of the words of one of the outstanding revolutionaries, comrade Joe Slovo, who exposed the link between oppression and capitalist exploitation when he said:
'It's not difficult in South Africa for the ordinary person to see the link between capitalism and racist exploitation, and when one sees the link one immediately thinks in terms of a socialist alternative' (Interview by Gaye Davis, 11 February 1991).
A Zionist apartheid state, expansionist colonialism of special type and capitalist exploitation
While we focus on the human oppression by one people over another in Israel/Palestine, who profits from the occupation and the subjugation of another people? Indeed it must be capital that takes glory in seeing the undignified and miserable lives Palestinians live. It's this capital that along with victim complex allows Israeli politicians and general Israeli public to drown out almost universal condemnation of their human rights abuses.
US military industrial complex
Apartheid Israel is an extension of but not exclusively the US military industrial complex which profits from murder, enslavement and colonisation of indigenous people. In the same way as Britain played the role of a dominant imperialist force in South Africa, the US plays a similar but more intensified and direct interventionist role in Israel's relationship to the Palestinian people. US imperialism is a major beneficiary of Israel's oppression and racist exploitation against the Palestinian people. No wonder the US offers automatic support to Israel against the Palestinian people.
Israeli army and private security companies
Like the US, the Israeli army also outsources some of its security functions. The outsourcing serves to provide the colonial master with a front and cushioning. When inevitably mercenaries act with great cruelty towards people, the governments occupying the other countries are able to distance themselves from the human rights abuses and say an investigation will take place into the private company supplying security. Meanwhile, the private security companies used remain in place while giving kickbacks to politicians for lucrative government tenders.
Private security companies provide the infrastructure for Israeli apartheid wall which is illegal in international law. At 9 metres high, the wall encircles Palestinian villages and cuts through homes and fields destroying normal life for Palestinians. A DA and Agang SA funder Nathan Kirch owns Magal Security which supplies the apartheid wall with surveillance equipment. The SACP as well as other progressive organisations condemned the DA, Agang SA and their funder Nathan Kirch for their support and connection with human rights abuses.
In response to the state-private security oppressive and accumulation axis, there's an ongoing international campaign to boycott G4S - the largest private security company in the world which has extensive connections with the daily occupation and oppression of Palestinians. In February 2013, a Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jarakat died in a G4S administered prison. Israel claimed his ribs were cracked during resuscitation efforts but we are aware from our own history how political prisoners mysteriously die while incarcerated.
The face of global capitalism is brutal. The Mangaung prison in South Africa was taken away from G4S and placed under administration after prisoners complained and rioted against abuses by guards. This send a strong message against privatisation and outsourcing of state functions. In addition, G4S has also been accused of disregarding SA labour laws and of a racist behaviour.
Israeli financial sector
The Israeli financial sector is one of the major beneficiaries, and by that virtue also one of the driving forces of the occupation of the Palestinian land. Israeli banks give loans and mortgages to Israeli homeowners in the Occupied West Bank. These banks lend construction companies money to build in the Occupied West Bank - against international law. They also provide business and branch services to Israeli municipalities and businesses in the West Bank. Palestinians who are forced to use Israeli currency according to the 1993 Oslo Accords and Paris Protocols, are reliant on Israeli banks, even in their own areas. Israeli banks charge high commissions to Palestinians for these services, and impose limitations on the transfer of money. Actions by Israeli banks have also left the tiny strip of Gaza in the state of a financial crisis in the aftermath of disengagement.
Israel's wine industry
We are painfully reminded 101 years later of the aftereffects of the Land Act and subsequent dispossession of people in South Africa. While millions of Palestinians live in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria as refugees who are stateless, Israel colonises their land for growing their wine industry. The Israeli export institution redraws the map of the wine regions of Israeli wine in a way that deliberately blurs the distinctions between areas inside the State of Israel and occupied territories. Israeli manufacturers of wine conceal information concerning the exact location of the vineyards from which they receive the grapes, by among others using vague descriptions. Palestinian land is very fertile and serves as ideal conditions for plating grapes and vineyard. Israelis use the wine route on Palestinian land to attract tourists and further whitewash and normalise their land grabs.
Israeli Pharmaceutical companies
Palestinians are forced to buy medical drugs from Israel, instead of Arab neighbours. This privileges drugs registered in Israel which are mainly imported from the West, including the EU and North America, and from Australia in the South. This rule gives Western drug companies a captive market over Palestinians. Cheap generic drugs that are manufactured largely in India, China, and Russia are also banned by Israel. Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Bayer among other drug companies don't have to cross checkpoints and have easy access to the West Bank. They aren't subject to import and custom tariffs and even sell their drugs to an Arab speaking population without Arabic labels causing major problems for patients.
In conclusion
It's impossible to separate capitalism from Israeli apartheid. But where do we as activists, revolutionaries and internationalists go from here? International activists struck at the very heart of capital in the struggle for a free South Africa. Students withdrew their money from Barclays Bank and Kodak faced an international campaign. South Africa was left broke, in debt and isolated from the world. As consumers we need to twist capital for our needs. While we struggle against capitalism and for a just and peaceful world, we can use our power against capitalism in the struggle for a free Palestine.
Private security company G4S has promised to pull back on its operations in the Occupied West Bank due to public outcry and the fear of losing lucrative contracts in other countries.
We must add to the pressure on G4S which has contracts with major SA banks and some municipalities. In general we must wage a just war against companies profiting from Israeli apartheid. It's through these actions we show our solidarity as citizens of the world as well as our power to overcome capitalism. Particularly we must mobilise sustained mass action against Israeli apartheid and colonialism.
Let's deepen and intensify the struggle against capitalist exploitation and its highest form imperialism! The victory of this struggle is the victory of universal human emancipation and freedom!
Mashilo is YCLSA Deputy National Secretary and SACP Spokesperson, and writes as an activist in the revolutionary movement
References:
http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/apartheid-lawsuit-dismissal-a-blow-1.1567003#.UxodBfmSxf0
http://www.whoprofits.org/reports
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