The ANC, DA, IFP, Patriotic Alliance, Rise Mzansi, UDM, and Good Party are among the confirmed members of the Government of National Unity (GNU) who will attend the World Movement for Democracy's Global Assembly event, despite the Desmond Tutu Legacy Foundation pulling out of the event due to ongoing tensions over its US funding.
The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation has officially withdrawn from the event, reasoning that its participation could be viewed as tacit approval of the ongoing violation of Palestinian rights by Israel, a key ally of the US.
This is after the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust, which owns the rights to the Tutu name, via lawyers, sent the foundation a letter demanding that they pull out from the Global Assembly.
“The Foundation participating in a US government funded event advocating for democracy, at a time that the US is supplying arms in support of the genocide in Palestine, and resolutely using its veto to block global consensus against the genocide at the UN, did not accord with Archbishop’s Tutu’s values,” it said.
The event commenced in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
“Although our client is aware that the Foundation does not support Israel’s war against the Palestinian people; that the Foundation is of the view that its participation in the WMD Assembly will not be perceived as expressing support for this war; and that the Foundation has taken some measures to mitigate this perception, such as its consultations with the Palestinian delegation,” the letter said.
In the letter, the Trust warned that participating would go against Archbishop Tutu’s principles of justice and support for oppressed people.
Many criticised the involvement of parties in the event because it was funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Two trade union federations, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), have strongly opposed the NED conference.
Both federations have demanded a boycott and have harshly denounced the summit.
Palestine solidarity organisations have taken a similar position.
The critics said this would give a wrong impression that the country supported the US over Palestine.
This is because the US is showing unwavering support to the Israeli government for attacking Palestinians.
In an opinion piece, Sikho Matiwane, entrepreneur and diplomatic commentator with a specialisation in international relations and geopolitics, described the conference as the crisis of the democratic wolf in a sheep’s skin.
Matiwane said the democratic project has little to do with freedom of choice and diversity of ideas, but the desire to dominate and manipulate the global majority into submission under Western ideals and norms.
The Global Assembly will convene approximately 500 democracy activists from 100 countries to foster engagement and facilitate the exchange of practices and insights from across the globe.
IOL has sent questions to the political parties for comment. The story will be updated as soon as we get comments.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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