Denis Goldberg, a proper mensch and a true hero
JVL Introduction
Denis Goldberg, a South African liberation movement hero, imprisoned with Nelson Mandela and others for 22 years, has just died.
We’re reposting Tymon Smith’s warm appreciation from New Frame, a not-for-profit, social justice media publication based in Johannesburg.
Further notices can be found all over the net. Here are two: The boy who would build a nation (Daily Maverick) and Anti-apartheid veteran Denis Goldberg dies in South Africa (Morning Star)
And there is a recent interview with Denis Goldberg for the South African Broadcasting Service, just released. It is posted on YouTube in four bite-size morsels: In Conversation with Denis Goldberg. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.
Added 3rd May: See also Nick Stadlen’s obit in the Guardian; and Gideon Levy’s in Haaretz
This article was originally published by New Frame on Fri 1 May 2020. Read the original here.
Denis Goldberg, a proper mensch and a true hero
The anti-apartheid stalwart was a forthcoming, funny, angry, brutally honest and impressive man who never stopped fighting for what he believed. He spoke his mind, regardless of what others thought.
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Goldberg went a lot further than fighting the Palestinian cause – he attacked Israel for its apartheid. Note though that he also referred to “the exclusionary policies of the feudal Arab states”. Those who attack the left often accuse us of being selective – but we’re not. Jonathan Cook, for example, has noted the corruption among the Palestinian authorities.
https://www.haaretz.com/jewish-freedom-fighter-calls-israel-apartheid-state-1.5380379
“Apartheid exists, he said, in states that enforce laws and policies that discriminate between people on the basis of race or religion, and this holds true in Israel proper as well as in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
“There is no doubt in my mind that Israel is an apartheid state,” Goldberg told the gathering. “Having lived through apartheid in South Africa, I cannot allow in my name the same kind of oppression to go on.”
He added, “I have to be an opponent of the exclusionist policies of Zionism, but let me say straight away that I have to be opposed to the exclusionary policies of the feudal Arab states of the Middle East as well.”
A very brave and inspiring man – his death is a huge loss in this world.
I urge everyone to listen to the four television interviews – they are full of humour, insight, incredible strength, and humility, And they are great fun. I am sure Dennis Goldberg would have said – enjoy!
I am really sad. I went to a speech by him at Stratford Town Hall when some Trotskists tried to storm the stage & I had to physically eject one. Later I saw him at the SA Embassy just after the fall of apartheid. Great guy!
What are “Trotskists”?
Glad they aren’t Trotskyists.