LETTER: Suspension of Swift transactions for Israeli banks would get almost unanimous support

Having successfully taken Israel to the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide, our government is now rightly taking the case further, to the UN General Assembly, which in 1974 suspended apartheid SA’s membership.

Three years later, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed that apartheid constituted a threat to international peace and security and imposed a mandatory arms embargo. In 1985 then president PW Botha essentially told the world to go to hell in his notorious Rubicon speech — just like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now.

Six weeks after the Rubicon speech then Anglican archbishop, the late Desmond Tutu, and the late Beyers Naudé, launched the New York banking sanctions campaign at the UN as a last nonviolent initiative to avert civil war in SA. The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act followed in 1986 after US president Ronald Reagan’s failed attempt at a veto. 

In September 1989, at a UN sanctions meeting in Geneva (at which I spoke), the UN scheduled June 30 1990 as the deadline to abolish apartheid. Business Day declared at the time that we must “have lost our marbles” if we really thought we could abolish apartheid in nine months.

Yet three weeks later, in October 1989, then president George Bush’s government issued an ultimatum to SA president FW de Klerk to comply with the first three of five demands when parliament reconvened, namely a) the end of the state of emergency; b) release of political prisoners; and c) unban political organisations, failing which the US would close the loopholes in the anti-apartheid act.

That was the background to De Klerk’s speech on February 2 1990. Both presidents Nelson Mandela and De Klerk subsequently acknowledged that the New York banking sanctions campaign was the single most successful initiative in overcoming apartheid. The ANC was still asleep in Lusaka, dreaming of the “armed struggle”, which would have been suicidal.

In 2024 Brussels has replaced New York as the pressure point for banking sanctions. The Society Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (Swift) international financial transaction system in Belgium is essentially a giant computer, which daily authenticates 44-million international payment instructions between 11,500 banks in more than 200 countries. 

Each bank has an eight-letter Swift code, two letters of which identify the country — IL for Israeli and ZA for SA banks. All Israeli banks have for years been complicit in war profiteering from Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, and also in financing Israel’s armaments industry.

Urgent action is required of the international community as Israel’s genocide in Gaza escalates with starvation and disease, as well as bombing. Per previous resolutions regarding Gaza, a resolution now brought by SA in the UN General Assembly demanding immediate suspension by Swift of all transactions to and from IL banks would garner almost unanimous support, and no US veto. The resolution should also warn Swift directors that failure to suspend IL transactions would make Swift complicit with Israel’s genocide.

Israel’s economy is already severely strained by Netanyahu’s war. Peace negotiations with Hamas and the Palestinians could follow when Netanyahu and his cronies either come to their senses, or alternatively are ousted by Israelis. As Tutu stated: “If you want peace, talk to your enemies, not your friends”.

Terry Crawford-Browne

Milnerton

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