South Africa Jewish students protesting envoy’s recall

A South African Jewish student group is protesting the government’s decision to recall its ambassador to Israel following the flotilla incident.

A protest letter from the South African Union of Jewish Students was to be given Tuesday to Ebrahim Ebrahim, deputy prime minister for international relations and cooperation, outside his offices in Pretoria.

South Africa is the only country aside from Turkey to have engaged in such action, described by the student union as being “of an extreme nature, premature and biased.”

“While we regret the deplorable loss of life that occurred during the incident—we fully recognize Israel’s right to defend her borders and citizens,” the letter says. “We cannot remain silent in the face of such severe hypocrisy and injustice. We call on the South African Jewish community as well as all concerned citizens who disagree with the actions taken by our government to join us in protest outside the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.”

Several Christian groups, among others,  were expected to join the student union in solidarity.

Nine Turkish nationals on a six-ship flotilla delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza were killed during clashes with Israeli Navy commandos on May 31.