{"id":99520,"date":"2025-08-01T15:42:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=99520"},"modified":"2025-08-01T15:42:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:42:43","slug":"asri-report-the-wests-grip-on-narrative-weakens-as-south-africa-emerges-a-defiant-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/asri-report-the-wests-grip-on-narrative-weakens-as-south-africa-emerges-a-defiant-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"ASRI Report: The West\u2019s Grip on Narrative Weakens as South Africa Emerges a Defiant Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/strong>
\n01 August 2025 | 15:39 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Caption: South Africa remains firmly pinned on the map of global conscience as it continues to challenge dominant Western narratives on Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

South Africa is increasingly challenging the dominance of Western narratives, especially in the wake of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which resumed on 18 March 2025. With over 1,000 Palestinians killed since, and reports of forced expulsions and deadly airstrikes, the global spotlight is shifting, not just to the humanitarian crisis, but also to the information war surrounding it.<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s ASRI Report<\/a>,<\/em> Dr. Imraan Baccus unpacks how critiques of Western power structures are often silenced or discredited under the guise of defending democratic norms. \u201cIn the early stages of South Africa\u2019s ICJ case against Israel, conspiracy theories were weaponised to undermine the country\u2019s credibility. Claims that Iran had bribed the ANC surfaced without evidence,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He argues that individuals and NGOs voicing support for Palestine were maligned. \u201cPeople were labelled, discredited, and the Western narrative was held as sacrosanct,\u201d Baccus said, adding that this pattern reflects a deeper geopolitical struggle over truth and legitimacy.<\/p>\n

When asked about China and Russia\u2019s role in spreading disinformation, Baccus was unequivocal: \u201cThey are certainly guilty. But the West acts as if it is the custodian of truth. The U.S., for example, has a long history of regime change operations and false narratives from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to the unverifiable stories of beheaded babies in Gaza. These aren\u2019t exceptions, they\u2019re strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naming culprits, Baccus pointed fingers at former Daily Maverick<\/em> editor Branko Brkic, the Brenthurst Foundation led by Greg Mills, and academics like Herman Wasserman, accusing them of pushing Global North propaganda. \u201cThey all downplayed South Africa\u2019s principled stance at the ICJ and labelled it as external manipulation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet, there\u2019s a shift. \u201cUnder new editor Gillian Green, Daily Maverick<\/em> is more open to critique of Israel,\u201d Baccus noted. \u201cAnd interestingly, the Brenthurst Foundation has quietly shut its doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Baccus warns that vigilance is necessary. \u201cThink tanks, media houses, and academic institutions backed by Western funding often carry embedded agendas. We must examine their messaging critically.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concludes: \u201cThe West speaks of democracy and human rights, but those words are too often cloaks for geopolitical interest. South Africa\u2019s voice in international arenas is critical and it\u2019s gaining resonance.\u201d<\/p>\n

As South Africa asserts itself on the world stage, the question remains: can truth ever be free from power?<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full ASRI Report<\/em> <\/a>on Sabahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Dr Imraan Baccus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 01 August 2025 | 15:39 CAT South Africa is increasingly challenging the dominance of Western narratives, especially in the wake of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which resumed on 18 March 2025. With over 1,000 Palestinians killed since, and reports of forced expulsions and deadly airstrikes, the global […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":99521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,5451],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-political"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ASRI-Report.jpeg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pTa","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 12:11:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}