(C) Common Dreams
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Rasool – a hard sell for SA in Washington [1]
['Nicola Miltz']
Date: 2025-01-30 11:00:43+00:00
South Africa’s recently appointed ambassador to the United States (US), Ebrahim Rasool, known for his anti-Israel advocacy, faces an impossible mission – selling South Africa to Washington while aligned with ideologies that potentially undermine American interests and national security.
A growing body of information has recently surfaced claiming Rasool’s links to extreme Islamist organisations and terror-linked individuals. Rasool, who is now starting his second term as South African ambassador – his first was during Barack Obama’s presidency between 2010 and 2015 – allegedly supports extremist organisations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
His longstanding hostility toward Israel is no secret. As a prominent advocate for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, he has accused Israel of apartheid and consistently aligned himself with anti-Israel and anti-Zionist movements. His connections to groups with extremist ideologies such as Hamas has raised critical questions about how he will represent South Africa on the global stage, especially Washington, where Israel is a key ally.
Rasool, 62, presented his credentials to then President Joe Biden on 13 January, a week before President Donald Trump was sworn in. He said at the time he was looking forward to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. South African leadership is concerned that Congress will carry out the threats made by Republican and Democrat legislators to rescind South Africa’s benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA programme gives South Africa and other sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for many of their products. AGOA expires later this year.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed legislation which would demand that the US administration review US-SA relations because South Africa was seen as too friendly to Russia, China, and Iran and openly hostile towards Israel.
Tony Leon, the former leader of the official opposition and former South African ambassador to Argentina said, “The key job as an ambassador is to be a salesman for your country and the sale is going to be hard.
“Rasool will be on a hiding to nothing if he repeats the talking points of DIRCO [the department of international relations and cooperation]. He is smart enough to realise this, but unfortunately there is a huge paper trail that precedes him,” he said.
Rasool has publicly criticised Trump, which won’t garner him any favours.
South Africa hasn’t featured on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s list of countries to call following Trump’s inauguration, and, as Leon said, “From this you can draw your own conclusions.”
“His alleged ties to Hamas and PIJ raise serious concerns about his ability to represent South Africa’s interests without compromising the nation’s international standing,” political commentator Kenneth Mokgatlhe wa Kgwadi said in a recent article. “Through his influence within the African National Congress, Rasool has been accused of advancing a narrative that demonises Israel while promoting the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he wrote in Lay of The Land.
Political analyst Steven Gruzd said, “Rasool is obviously a veteran African National Congress politician and loyal to the party and to South African foreign policy. He has said that South Africa is a ‘moral superpower’, and he will be pushing that notion in Washington. Bilateral relations are strained at the moment. The US already has South Africa’s closeness to China, Russia, and Iran under the microscope, as well as with Hamas, the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] and many other Iranian proxies. I would hope Rasool wouldn’t let his personal views on the Middle East and his faith overshadow his professional role.”
One political commentator who wished to remain anonymous told the SA Jewish Report, “Rasool may be in the firing line of the Trump administration, especially with his alleged links to Islamist organisations. The world is also very different from when he served as ambassador in the Obama administration. Will his being a radical Muslim be like a red rag to a bull for Trump? Why would South Africa want to add this layer to our already difficult relationship with the US?”
Sam Westrop, who writes for Focus on Western Islamism described Rasool as a “terror-connected Islamist diplomat” and said Rasool had “shown a consistent willingness to embrace terrorists and radicals for decades”, even possessing a signed scarf given to him by late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Irina Tsukerman of The Washington Outsider Center For Information Warfare, writes that “Rasool’s record reveals deep ties to global Islamic networks aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly through his personal relationship with the late Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. His alignment with Hamas-related narratives and promotion of ‘lawfare’ against Israel at the International Court of Justice [ICJ] have drawn scrutiny.” Tsukerman also questions his capacity to navigate relations with Trump after his forceful criticism of the man in his previous administration.
Wendy Kahn, the national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), said the Board, especially the Cape SAJBD, had an amicable relationship with Rasool, especially when he was premier of the Western Cape. “That said, we’re shocked to learn of clear and expanding information linking Rasool to the Muslim Brotherhood. These linkages render him unfit to serve in this role.
“South Africa’s misguided and libellous lawfare campaign against Israel has fundamentally damaged its relationship with Washington. It’s crucial that it takes the necessary diplomatic steps to try to repair the damage with an ambassador best suited to serve its interests,” she said.
Spokesperson for the South African Zionist Federation, Rolene Marks said Rasool’s appointment was “deeply problematic”.
Rasool’s stance directly contradicts US policies, especially the Abraham Accords, which normalised Israel’s relations with four Arab states. While the US seeks to build on these agreements, groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran aim to dismantle them, often through violence, Marks said. Rasool’s alignment with these forces undermines South Africa’s credibility on the global stage.
With a Republican administration in power, patience with South Africa’s hostile foreign policy is likely to be thin. Rasool’s appointment sends entirely the wrong message at a critical time, said Marks.
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[1] Url:
https://www.sajr.co.za/rasool-a-hard-sell-for-sa-in-washington/
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