Boycotts Divestment and Sanctions South Africa (BDS SA) has released a statement expressing deep concern around Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad’s war against the BDS movement internationally. BDS SA has indicated that it will be approaching the Ministry of State Security (SSA) to investigate the matter, as BDS SA believes the sovereignty of South Africa and the safety of human rights activists in the country are of utmost importance.

BDS SA has said that considering the dangerous reputation of Mossad globally, the SSA needs to investigate the matter and safeguard all South African human rights activists.

“This follows on what has been happening for a few years now,” said BDS SA board member, Tisetso Magama.

“We know that the Israeli government declared war on BDS. At some point, one of their ministers even went so far as calling for the assassination of BDS activists and leaders across the world. BDS SA is globally seen as one of the most successful BDS organisations in the world.”

Magama says that the recent concern expressed by BDS SA comes after a freedom of information request revealed some of Mossad’s activity in relation to BDS internationally.

“Our entire concern stems from the latest freedom of information request but also following on all the developments we’ve seen across the world, including the banning of BDS in some countries,” said Magama.

“There is an ongoing campaign against BDS. Our caution is heightened by this Haaretz article on BDS and the Israeli government’s war on BDS – in particular, their focus on BDS SA.”

When asked whether BDS SA suspects that any recent activity by Mossad in South Africa was aimed at destabilising the organisation, Magama said that there is no way to be sure. He indicated that the very nature of an agency such as Mossad is to ensure that no one would know if they had been active.

“The nature of these kinds of operations is that they are clandestine. You will never know what they are doing, and it is precisely for this reason that we want to approach the SSA with very specific questions and concerns.”

Click here for the full statement

VOC