Bloom Warns SA Jews About Minister Kasrils

Jack Bloom, Democratic Alliance Gauteng MPL and author of the book ‘Out of Step’, has spoken out about the bullying tactic employed by Minister Kasrils in his vendetta against South African Jews and Israel. In a brave letter to the South African Jewish report, Bloom provides a concise and hard hitting analysis of Kasrils’ unacceptable behavior as well as a rebuke of SA Jewish leaders for their timid response. Here it is:

WE SHOULD move beyond the debate as to whether (Intelligence Minister) Ronnie Kasrils is an anti-Semite, to observe merely that his actions and words are indistinguishable from that of a clever anti-Semite. He always attributes the very worst motives to Jews, and exculpates or denies the most outrageous acts of the enemies of the Jews. The torrent of explicit genocidal threats from Hamas and Iran, leave him totally unmoved, but he is quick to taint Israel with Nazi analogies. His many historical errors all follow the same trend: He dismisses the Nazi collaborating Mufti of Jerusalem as an “obscure Palestinian”, which is like writing out DF Malan from the history of apartheid. He paints Jews as the aggressors in 1948 when Jamal Husseini of the Arab Higher Committee told the UN Security Council in April that year that: “We have never concealed the fact that we began the fighting.” As Jews in South Africa we should be very concerned that Kasrils has said that his entry into the Israel debate was “on the instructions” of his party. He clearly serves the purpose of deflecting accusations of anti-Semitism while promoting a view of the conflict at odds with officially espoused government policy but closer to the real views of those in power. No other community is subject to such a constant torrent of abuse from a Cabinet minister who is given total leeway to speak outside his portfolio and evade the principle of collective Cabinet responsibility. Why does Kasrils feel stirred to contradict government policy on the Middle East but not speak out against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, Darfur, Syria or Iran? The Jewish communal leadership response to Kasrils has been abysmal. Government needs to be told very firmly that we object to his deployment as a battering ram against us. He should be made to stick to his portfolio, or else we must draw the conclusion that we do not have equal status with other communities in South Africa because everything he does has official approval.

Comments

[Brett]

I think Jack is absolutely right, particularly on the issue of the SA Jewry's response, or lack there of. That said, I will bring up a point I made on this blog a little while ago. Kasril's anti semitism is blatant, open and like all other anti semetic opinions in history, not based in any logic, fact or reality. To counter his arguements with logic, fact and reality is like trying to eat soup with a fork. Karils' arguements cannot be argued because there is no arguement to counter lies. But Kastrils the man can be. Discredit him as a source of information, as a minister, even as a human being, and you muzzle his bark. This may involve tredding the line of libel but there are plenty of good lawyers out there that can give their input on that.

[Michelle Nochumsohn (ISRAEL)]

EXACTLY!!!!!

Something from years ago needs to be dug up, along the lines of back page Sunday Express etc.
A nut case of this magnitude will cetainly have some serious "scandaal" lurking.

Alternatively, perpetuate the rumour that he is actually a spy for the mossad. giggle.

On a more serious note, this blog made Ynet, which is how I got hear of it. One very proud ex-pat here, thanks to you all for your efforts.

We are not very happy with Mr Kassrils over here at the moment.

Thoughts and prayers with you all from the holyland.

Well there are some unanswered questions about his role in the ANC death camp Quatro, and of course someone who was a brigadier in the Soviet Totalitarian apparatus has a lot of question to answer too.

[The Blacklisted Dictator]

Wise words indeed, but words that have changed their tune. On the "It's
almost Supernatural Blog" Jack Bloom wrote the following on Nov 16th
2006 when The SAJR furore re Kasrils's "Israeli / Nazi" slur engulfed
us. : " My view is that we just hurt ourselves whenever we respond to
Kasrils because he is always afforded the last word. He has now had his
views on Israel as Nazis repeatedly in all sorts of media and
regardless of the arguments this is going to stick. This is in line
with the Durban strategy of demonising Israel, and we are now going to
be murdered in the name of the Holocaust since we are just like the
Nazis. Truly Orwellian, but effective.

He has positioned himself as the martyred "Jew of conscience" and
Jewish Report walked right into the trap although I agree with their
decision not to publish his offensive claptrap.

My advice IGNORE HIM, IGNORE HIM, IGNORE HIM (except that the Board
should vigorously complain to Mbeki about a Cabinet Minister who is
allowed to escape collective cabinet responsibility in constantly
talking on the forign affairs portfolio)."

I immediately responded on the blog with the following comment : "Jack,
I really think that you are confused. Ignore him?? He is a government
minister! If he wasn't in government you might have a point."

I have to conclude that Jack Bloom has changed his mind about how to
deal with Kasrils and is in no position to criticize The SAJBD.

[Brett]

Dictator, you illustrated my point beautifully. For some reaon, and you are entitled to your reasons, you chose to attack Jack Bloom.(Whilst I hold nothing against Jack personally and do not even know him, he is a politician, and so attacking him can always be justified. Without offending anyone, my personal feeling is that the best of politicians fall somewhere below beach sand but just above news reporters in the scale of effective uses of oxygen. Back to the point. Without engaging at all in what Jack said, you made the credibility of what he said questionable. This is the approach I recommend.

[Steve]

Brett,
If these statements do not discredit him then what will!

[mike]

Anthony, I don’t feel that those comments are fair. I think Jack Bloom should be praised for speaking out — not attacked.

I think you have unfortunately oversimplified Jack position. As far as I understood it, he was calling on South African Jews not to engage in this devastating ping pong match in the letters pages of South African newspapers with Minister Kasrils. I think that it did the Jewish community tremendous damage. What ever we may think of Kasrils, he is still a minister in the government and as such has the respect of millions of South Africans.

Despite calling for a halt to the letter writing, Jack did still call on the Board to vigorously complain to Mbeki about a Cabinet Minister who is allowed to escape collective cabinet responsibility in constantly talking on the foreign affairs portfolio. This is the same sentiments he expresses in this new letter.

So as far as I see it Jack was not advocating a complete ban on anti-Kasril activities. He was just calling for a more intelligent approach. Something that I completely support.

Anthony, I fail to see what your agenda is. Why have you wasted so much time in trying to unfairly rubbish the character of some who is trying to do some good?

[Steve]

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for letting us know. Glad you like the blog and that you consider yourself a PROUD ex-pat.

[The Blacklisted Dictator]

Mike,
I will let people draw their own conclusions on the available evidence.

Ronno Einstein states that i am "deaf and myopic with no concept of
politics" so perhaps I have misunderstood what Jack Bloom wrote on the
SUPERNATURAL comments page in Nov 2006??

Btw, I don't think that "ping pong" did the Jewish community damage.
However what did extreme damage to the memory of those who were
murdered in the holocaust was NOT confronting The "Nazi/Israeli" slur
by NOT writing 6 million letters to newspapers all over the world.

[peter]

Israel, Apartheid and the Minister for Unintelligence
By David Singer
MichNews.com
May 21, 2007

Mr. Ronnie Kasrils is South Africa's Intelligence Minister.

He has chosen to make many unintelligent remarks in an op-ed piece written by him for the Mail and Guardian on 18 May titled "Israel 2007 : worse than apartheid" which can be located at:

http://www.monitoringsa.com/PDFS/2007_05_18_380d2.pdf

Such remarks require rebuttal, especially as they have been uttered by a person of his prestige and stature.

Let me deal with some of these remarks that mouth so many similarly wild and unsubstantiated claims being uttered with growing frequency in the media by others under the guise of free speech.

1. "The West Bank and Gaza have become hermetically sealed prisons"

Freedom of movement between Gaza and Egypt is available through the Rafah border crossing and between the West Bank and Jordan through the Allenby Bridge.

Movement between Gaza and Israel and the West Bank and Israel is permitted but is more limited and subject to frequent closure during terrorist attacks or terror alerts.

How does this inflammatory and misleading statement serve any purpose?

2. "Its [the security barrier] route cuts huge swathes into the West Bank to incorporate into Israel the illegal Jewish settlements - some of which are huge towns - and annexes more and more Palestinian territory."

The Israeli settlements are permitted in international law under article 6 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter provided that nothing is done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.

Where prejudice has been proved to have occurred in construction of the security barrier, Israel's High Court of Justice has intervened and ordered relief and will continue to do so.

The West Bank is the only territory of the Mandate for Palestine remaining unallocated between Jews and Arabs, both of whom maintain claims that are still to be resolved.

3. "The West Bank, once 22% of historic Palestine,…"

The West Bank is only 5% of historic Palestine.

Gaza is 1% of historic Palestine ,Israel is 17% of historic Palestine and Jordan is 77% of historic Palestine .

4. "It is shocking to discover that certain roads are barred to Palestinians and reserved for Jewish settlers. I try in vain to recall anything quite obscene in apartheid South Africa"

Really, is Mr Kasrils' memory that short ? - no blacks in restaurants or on "whites only" buses, no rights for the black majority to vote or control their own futures, separate toilets at the airports and all other public places, the banning of sex between the races - to name but a few.

Mr Kasrils was in the forefront in fighting apartheid in South Africa. What on earth did he think he was fighting?

Mr Kasrils is really insulting our intelligence with this kind of fatuous remark.

Mr Kasrils' concern for the Palestinians is obviously sincere and well intended .

However his inane remarks leads one to conclude that his views have been formulated as a result of some fairly basic misunderstandings of the conflict that has been going on since the 1880's in what was once called Palestine.

The ongoing refusal of the Arabs to countenance the right of Jews to have their own State in their biblical and ancestral homeland comprising 0.001% of the territory freed from Ottoman occupation by Britain and France in 1917 as part of a package deal that handed the Arabs the remaining 99.999% - eventually leading to the creation of such states as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan - still remains the sticking point in the throats of the Arabs to this very day.

Looking at Palestine only in isolation is the trap into which many well meaning persons stumble.

The Arabs now have 22 States in which hardly a Jew lives and in which selling land to Jews is punishable by death . Arabs involved in selling land to Jews in Jerusalem have been hunted down and murdered. Try and enter Saudi Arabia if you are a Jew.

The Jews have one state - Israel - in which over 20% of the population - or more than one million - are Arab citizens. They eat in the same restaurants, travel on the same buses, use the same toilets and yes, vote in elections and even intermarry with Jews.

Who is practising apartheid?

Yes, the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza are doing it tough - but they have no one but themselves and their intransigent brethren to blame for the sorry position they find themselves in.

There was a time between 1948-1967 when Statehood in the West Bank and Gaza and even part of what is now Israel could have been achieved with the stroke of a pen. What is yearned for now was rejected then. What was available then is not available now.

This reality still eludes the Arabs as they call for 400000 Jews to pack up and vacate every square inch of the West Bank. This is cuckoo land thinking and is bound to ensure the conflict will continue.

Whilst persons like Mr Kasrils continue to make their judgements based on facts that are demonstrably wrong, they will continue to give fuel to Arab demands that are impossible for Israel to accept.

Let the influential Mr Kasrils support handing over sovereignty of the Arab occupied areas of the West Bank to Jordan as a means of ending the indignities he witnessed on his recent wanderings.

That would be an intelligent contribution to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. His article certainly isn't.