Here’s an interesting experiment: Google the sentence “African National Congress approves Israel boycott.” You’ll see from the results (at least as of January 115, 2013) that the only sources with any information on this story are those related to the BDS movement or a few Israeli news organizations. Here are related pieces from The Jerusalem Post, Jewish News online, and the Jewish Journal. Remarkably, there is virtually no coverage of this story in the mainstream media in the West. And yet it is highly significant that the ANC, South Africa’s ruling party, voted in December 2012 to make boycotts, divestment and sanctions of Israel part of its official policy and to call on all South Africans to support the boycott of Israel. It is significant given the support that Israel gave South Africa during its apartheid past and given the fact that the ANC knows, perhaps better than anyone else, about the importance of solidarity and boycotts. This is a story that clearly deserves international media attention.
