Committee Report on Symposium on Israeli/Palestine Conflict and Palestinian bid for statehood; Committee Report on Gaza trip: 7-11 December 2011
International Relations
22 February 2012
Chairperson: Mr T Magama (ANC)
Meeting Summary
The Committee considered its Draft Report on a trip to Gaza from 7 to 11 December 2011. Some Members found issue with the report for being one-sided in favour of
The Committee Report on the symposium held on 16 November 2011 was also considered. The Chairperson addressed issues brought up in the previous meeting. The report was adopted, and it was agreed to suspend judgement on the report until the trip to both
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation was going on a study trip to other countries to see how they dealt with Development Partnership Agencies in light of the South African Development Partnership Agency, and requested that the Committee nominate one person to participate in the study trip. Members expressed concern at only having one person represent the Committee, and it was agreed that they would ask Parliament to pay for two additional members to attend.
Meeting report
Consideration of the Draft Committee Report on its trip to
The Chairperson said that the
Ms C Dudley (ACDP) commented on the ‘attack’ of
Mr I Davidson (DA) wanted clarification on the purpose of the debate. If members simply gave their opinion, the debate would be highly subjective and personal. It was important to get a real handle on the issues of the area and to use
He said there was a need to focus on a two-state solution, recognise that there were two parties, and engage with both. A significant problem with the report was that no opposition members were present. He added that it was enormously one-sided, and members could not begin to address resolutions if the report did not even reflect on the Israeli situation. Members needed to know both sides before rushing into resolutions on the matter. He suggested taking out all ‘loaded’ words, and proposed a fact-finding mission to both
Mr B Skosana (IFP) said he shared the sentiments of his colleagues. The parties that submitted to the workshops on the issues supported the two-state solution, the peaceful coexistence of
The second recommendation stated that Parliament needed to foster ‘Parliament to parliament relations with the PLA’. Mr Skosana said that the Israeli Legislative Authority needed to be added. Not long ago the Committee requested the creation of a presidential multi-party peace envoy for the
Ms F Hajaig (ANC) said that in the report on the symposium of 16 November 2011, there was input from the Jewish Board of Deputies, the International Christian Embassy of
Ms Hajaig said that if Ms Dudley had not been to
Mr Davidson asked again what the Committee was debating; the report on
The Chairperson said that the issues were so intertwined that there was no way that members would not at least refer to the issues. He advised members to be tolerant, and allowed them to make references to the symposium.
Ms R Magau (ANC) said that the report on the symposium had been in the Committee for some time. She suggested considering the symposium report prior to addressing the
Mr Davidson said he heard the Chairperson tell members to address the
The Chairperson reiterated that the
Mr S Ngonyama (COPE) came to the same conclusion as Ms Dudley. The Committee had to be careful in the manner in which they covered their report. He could not contest the issues that were factual and empirically-backed. However, the recommendations were leading to a point where the position of the country was reflected. He feared this, and disagreed with the recommendations because they compromised the country. A previous initiative tried to find the solution on both sides, but the process was hampered because of the ANC’s historical alliance with
He advised that the ‘parliament to parliament relations with the PLA’ were needed, but should be undertaken in the future and not presently.
Mr M Booi (ANC) said that the Committee faced a difficult situation. Due to the recent change in regimes in the Middle East,
Ms Dudley mentioned that with regards to symposium report, there were pro-Palestinian organisations there as well. She said it would be helpful for opposition parties to be invited on the Palestinian trip.
The Chairperson said that there was consensus about the fact-finding mission, but there was a fundamental problem with the ‘solidarity’ issue.
Mr E Sulliman (ANC) mentioned that if the Committee went to
Ms Dudley said that certain people went to
On the topic of ‘solidarity’, she asked how much the Committee was going to interfere. They should want people to move forward to a place they wanted to be.
Mr Booi said it was important for all of them to give support to the
Mr Davidson said he had a problem with adopting the report and accepting the problems within it. There had been no attempt to test the veracity of the facts given to them by
Mr Booi interrupted and said ‘accept the report’, and then deal with the contents of the report.
The Chairperson wanted members to come to a conclusion on the matter.
Mr Davidson thought the Committee should note the report and was content with the idea of visiting both
Mr Ngonyama was worried about the manner of the debate and said the Committee should be at one with the issues. The recommendation of ‘parliament to parliament relations with the PLA’ was premature. The first recommendation seemed to be agreed upon;
Ms L Jacobus (ANC) asked if the Committee could note the report on
Mr Skosana said they could note the report and rephrase the recommendations.
The Chairperson clarified how the delegation to
Mr Skosana said the third recommendation should not be removed, but changed to read “Parliament highlight the crisis in the
The Chairperson asked if the second recommendation should be expanded or deleted.
Members agreed to expand it.
The report was adopted with the proposed amendments.
Consideration on the Report on the Symposium held on 16 November, 2011
The Chairperson wanted to dispose of issues raised in the previous meeting. There had been a debate about the theme of the symposium, what the representatives of the Zionist Federation may or may not have said, and what Ambassador of Israel Mr Dov Segev-Steinberg may or may not have said.
The theme under which the symposium was held was: ‘Experiences from
During the previous meeting, Ms Dudley had noted that the representative of the Zionist Federation could not have said that
There had been contention about line six, point seven on page five. To clarify, he quoted the Ambassador verbatim: ‘we cannot understand why the international community, especially
The Chairperson said Ms Dudley had recommended adding ‘Security’ to Land and Religion to page seven.
He said there had been extensive discussions on the report, and he had just clarified the flagged issues. The report was up for adoption by the Committee. Various parties had submitted recommendations, but he wanted to finalise the report, and then discuss the resolutions afterwards.
The report was adopted. The Chairperson invited members to engage about the various parties’ recommendations.
Mr Davidson commented that the DA was not at the symposium and therefore, it was difficult to submit much input. He noted that they needed to be careful that the resolutions did not conflict with the resolution that was tabled. He suggested suspending judgement until the trip to both
Ms Magau agreed with Mr Davidson about suspending judgement until the trip to both countries was done.
Mr Skosana agreed with the proposal and added that the parties had ‘views’, not resolutions.
Ms Jacobus agreed. She advised to put the matter on hold, but when they did come with their views, the Committee should consolidate them into one document. It was too time-consuming to have various party documents.
All parties agreed.
The Chairperson said there had been a request from the Minister to Speaker about a visit to
Mr Booi advised to consult with the Minister to see what he expected out of the Committee’s trip.
Mr Nyogama said it would be advisable to visit with a broad mandate and truly look at the situation.
The Chairperson said he would try that route, and if it were not possible, he would make a completely new application.
Ms Dudley asked if they could include asking opposition members on the next trip.
Mr Davidson said he had expected that the ACDP would not be invited to
The Chairperson said that under no circumstances was there to be a situation where the Committee should go, and subsequently have the report disowned by the members who did not go.
Ms Hajaig said there was a formula and smaller parties’ members went on a rotation basis.
The Chairperson concluded the discussion.
Discussion
The Chairperson reported that he had received a communication from the Ambassador Jerry Matjila, the Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, on the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA) exposure. Amb Matjila said the Department was going on study trips to other countries to see how they dealt with Development Partnership Agencies, and requested that the Committee nominate one person to participate in the study trip.
A member nominated the Chairperson.
Mr Davidson said that since
Mr Ngonyama said that the Chairperson was the best-placed because he oversaw the Committee.
Mr Booi advised the Committee to accept the letter.
The Chairperson said that he would attempt to apply for Parliament to pay for two additional members to participate in the study trip.
The meeting was adjourned.
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