Minister who led South Africa to sue Israel for genocide to visit Milwaukee

Photo credit: DIRCO South Africa

The Nelson Mandela Foundation chairperson and former South Africa Foreign Minister Dr. Naledi Pandor will deliver the keynote address at the Milwaukee Premiere of Muslim Network Television, Friday, Nov. 14, in Brookfield.

A pioneering Muslim media and communication organization headquartered in Chicago invited a leading Muslim organization in Wisconsin to collaborate in bringing the world leader who became the public face of South Africa’s international legal case accusing Israel of genocide, former Foreign Minister of South Africa Naledi Pandor, to Milwaukee next week.

Dr. Pandor will be the honored speaker at Sound Vision’s debut event in Milwaukee, Friday, Nov. 14. The Muslim Women’s Coalition is assisting Sound Vision as a local partner.

Billed as “the Milwaukee premiere of Muslim Network Television,” the event will introduce Sound Vision’s mainstream Muslim channel to Greater Milwaukee. The benefit aims to support the independent network that is “dedicated to amplifying Muslim voices.”

It is also an occasion to honor Dr. Pandor, who is traveling from Cape Town to support the rise of Muslim-led media in the United States, for her bold stand for justice—bringing Israel before the International Court of Justice for genocide in Gaza, said Sound Vision president and founder and Muslim Network Television CEO Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid in an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal last week. (Dr. Mujahid was selected one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world eight times.)

The event, which includes Dr. Pandor’s keynote, a Muslim Network Television presentation and dinner, begins at 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 14. Tickets ($100) are available here.

Bringing Dr. Pandor to Milwaukee

“When Dr. Mujahid contacted us and said, ‘If you assist us, we will work to bring (Dr. Pandor) to Milwaukee,’ we couldn’t say, ‘No,’” said MWC founder Janan Najeeb. “To have her come to Milwaukee is huge!”

MWC, an organization that works to foster understanding, break down barriers and support the Muslim community, is a go-to contact in Wisconsin for organizations around the country wanting to connect with the state’s Muslim community. MWC is helping market Sound Vision’s event.

“Dr. Pandor is such an important and courageous voice,” Najeeb continued. “We’re very excited and honored she’ll be here.

“As a Palestinian, I really appreciate her work. The people of South Africa’s long fight to overcome apartheid is a symbol for all Palestinians. It represents our aspirations to overcome oppression and occupation. The fact that Dr. Pandor, a woman of color, stood up to bring Israel to the International Court, stood up for Palestinian human rights, is something that makes us incredibly indebted to her. 

“She has faced so much harassment from the Trump administration, from Israel and other countries that have supported colonialism. South Africa’s well-researched and eloquent case is something that will live in the archives of history forever.” 

A preview with Dr. Pandor

In email correspondence with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, Dr. Pandor, a Muslim revert, answered three questions about topics she will address in her Milwaukee visit. 

Here’s the Q & A:

You are coming to Milwaukee to support Muslim Network Television. Why?

I regard Muslim Network TV as critical due to the glaring need for increased availability of information resources that are diverse, non-aligned and able to convey perspectives and voices that are sorely missing from mainstream media. Media helps shape attitudes and views; they inform or they can distort and mislead. Sound Vision offers a credible, trusted alternative source of information.

What are the worst repercussions you have faced for the bold stance you have taken against the genocide of Palestinians? 

Being able to speak in support of the cause for self-determination of the Palestinian people has been a powerful reminder of my country’s struggle for freedom. The supporters of the state of Israel in my country have made every effort to use their control of so-called community media to malign me and my family. Use of the labels like antisemite, evil person and hater of Jews have become common references to me and, at times, my family. There have also been threats to harm me, including name-calling, stares and odd gestures when I walk alone in public places.

Sadly, these persons never refer to the situation of Palestinians while I do refer to the important need for Israeli and Palestinian to find a resolution to the current situation, hopefully together, as we did in our own struggle. 

What gives you the courage to continue?

I have been an activist for many years. My political movement, the African National Congress, has a long-standing policy of solidarity with the oppressed and occupied people of Palestine. To us, this is patently a human rights struggle, similar in many ways to our apartheid oppression experience. 

Increased action resulted from the decision of the Cabinet of South Africa to take the matter of the genocide we observed as intended and underway from October 2023. Taking a stand in the interest of ending harm and a 21-century genocide, our government decided to act in accord with international law.

As signatories to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, we believed we could not idly observe the killings on our television screens and do nothing. 

The world acted when we sought help. We strongly benefited from international solidarity. This placed an obligation on South Africa to act (on behalf of the Palestinians).

Supporting Sound Vision

The Milwaukee event is a fundraiser for Sound Vision and its Muslim Network Television. That’s another reason MWC is supporting it, Najeeb said.

“Sound Vision’s groundbreaking initiatives has, for decades, been bringing new education and media options to America,” she explained. “It is something unique for the Muslim community in the United States. We feel it is really important to support them.”

Sound Vision, founded in 1988, is the premier developer of content about living Islam in the Western context. Its mission is “to cultivate harmony among Muslims and their neighbors through art, media, strategic communication and education.” 

In its almost three decades, Sound Vision has produced approximately 50,000 pieces of content, including documentaries and children’s programs, Dr. Mujahid said. An early project was the groundbreaking children’s series Adam’s World, which he described as “a cross between Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and Sesame Street.”

It ran Radio Islam in Chicago for about 20 years before it began producing Muslim Television Network in 2020. The network produces a news program that airs daily at 8 p.m. Central Time.

Reflecting on how it all started, Dr. Mujahid, an imam and a political science and Islamic scholar, recalled feeling a gap between Muslims in America and other Americans. “I felt we could build bridges of understanding by connecting with our neighbors, by raising a generation of American Muslims who realize it is their responsibility to connect with their neighbors,” he said. 

“Initially, I was just telling others that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, used every means of communication to connect with people. So, we, as Muslims, should also master the art and technology of communication in America.

“People started telling me, ‘You are preaching this all the time; why don’t you practice it?’ I did.” 

The self-described academic went to work at a television station in Chicago to “learn the whole discipline.” Thirty years at the helm of a groundbreaking media organization followed.

“I invite people to come to our Milwaukee event and benefit from an extraordinary double opportunity of learning about the only Muslim Television Network in America and from the wisdom of Dr. Pandor, a person who struggled against apartheid in South Africa and is standing up for justice now in her capacity as the chair of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.”