The controversy erupted after the South African minister of higher education, Blade Nzimande, was denied an entry visa into Israel by the Israeli embassy in Johannesburg.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman lashed out Friday at the South African government after it reacted angrily to Israel’s refusal to grant a visa to a higher education minister who was invited to an academic conference in the West Bank.
The controversy erupted after the South African minister of higher education, Blade Nzimande, was denied an entry visa into Israel by the Israeli embassy in Johannesburg.
Nzimande, a member of the South African Communist Party, was scheduled to arrive this weekend at Birzeit University for the opening of the Center for African Studies.
“The Israeli government is trying by all means to hide their atrocities against the Palestinian people, and minimize the number of people who can actually see what is happening on the ground,” Nzimande told South African media.
The minister said he believes Israel’s refusal stems from the Communist Party’s decades-long support for the Palestinian cause.
“The wild attacks by the South African Community Party against Israel following our refusal to allow the higher education minister to pass through Israel en route to the Palestinian Authority is hypocrisy,” Liberman said.