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Defaming Mandela, Defaming Israel

(Ha'aretz) Benjamin Pogrund - The death of Nelson Mandela triggered a media avalanche which inaccurately singled out Israel for its trade with apartheid South Africa. That is 100% inaccurate. The South African Institute for Race Relations estimates that in 1986, trade with Israel was about $214 million, with arms sales a further $272 million to $544 million. In contrast, two-way trade with the U.S. at that time was $3.32 billion - repeat, billion - with Japan at $3.27 billion and Britain $2.52 billion. The Soviet Union cooperated to ensure that South Africa's De Beers company could maintain its world hold on the price of diamonds and thus helped to keep apartheid in place. Moreover, apartheid was able to survive because South Africa received all the oil it needed from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and other oil states. As for arms, South Africa also bought from Britain, France, Spain and the U.S., and enjoyed nuclear cooperation with France, the U.S., and West Germany. The writer was deputy editor of the Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg.
2013-12-17 00:00:00
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