Israel denies South African education minister entry to Palestine

"This is not only an act against him, but also an act against him as a member of the Cabinet, so by extension it's an anti-government protest by Israel," spokesperson Khaye Nkwanyana told South African news website News24.
 
Minister Blade Nzimande was due to travel to the West Bank for a six-day working visit to discuss collaborations between the University of Johannesburg and Palestinian universities, a follow up to an agreement signed when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited South Africa last year.
 
The Ministry said, however, that the Israeli consulate refused to grant him a visa as a result of his political views in what is being labeled an "attack" on the South African government itself in the local press.
 
Nkwanyana said that the visa rejection was creating a "serious diplomatic problem," noting that it effectively barred all South African officials from visiting both Palestine as well as Israel.
 
All travel in and out of the West Bank is controlled by Israel, meaning that Israeli military authorities hold ultimate control over any individual trying to reach the Palestinian territories.
 
"We must just boycott Israel," the minister said in a statement to the press, adding that Israel was trying to "minimize the number of people who can actually see what is happening on the ground."
 
He also said that he would urge South African institutions of higher education to cut their ties to Israeli institutions.
 
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki condemned the move in a statement released on the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
 
"Israel's policies would not succeed in isolating the Palestinians," he said.
 
"It will only embolden them into more struggle for ending Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories."
 
South Africa is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and numerous government officials have repeatedly compared the Israeli occupation and the systematic discrimination practiced against Palestinians to the racial apartheid policies practiced by the South African government against its black citizens until 1994.
 
Israeli authorities have repeatedly denied entry to officials from other countries and even from international bodies such as the United Nations that it feel have taken antagonistic political stances.
 
In January, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes, and consequences, Rashida Manjoo said she had been denied entry by Israel.
 
She said she had tried for months to get permission to enter in order to undertake a fact-finding mission, but had been refused entry.
 
In November, Israeli authorities banned the Colombian foreign minister from visiting the West Bank after discovering that she did not plan to meet with Israeli officials as well.