David Saks at Thought Leader

David Saks, the Associate Director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies has a new blog at the Mail & Guardian's Thought Leader.

I have always enjoyed David's columns in the SA Jewish Report and other publications. He is battle-scarred from the numerous and often personal attacks on Israel in the media - just witness the recent attacks on him led by Ronnie Kasrils. He is also the unsung-hero of South African communal affairs whose articles and letters to the press have always managed to calmly portray an accurate picture of the issues in Israel.

His first entry has already received a welcome response - check it out: David Saks - A society where discrimination has no place

Ironically, the Mail & Guardian is a newspaper where anti-Israel discrimination has a very warm and welcome place.

I regard myself as more pragmatist than idealist yet I can’t help but feel some disappointment that David will be supporting the M&G’s online presence – a newspaper whose editor has called for the SA Jewish community to apologise (or was it condemn, same difference really) for the actions of Israel.

Perhaps I am wrong on this issue. Perhaps it’s better to have David contribute and thereby hope to achieve some balance in an online community that gives voice to the likes of Jarred Cinman (Let’s Talk about the Jews) and Na’eem Jeenah. They won't go away and boycotting them certainly won't achieve anything.

Another new blogger writing on Jewish Affairs worth checking out is Mike Berger at Solar Plexus. Mike provides excellent analysis on what the media is saying about Israel -- you may be familiar with his name from the numerous letters he gets published in the local press.

Comments

[BLACKLISTED DICTATOR]

Steve,
I think David's column really emerged from the massive fall-out over Jarred Cinman's "Let's talk about the Jews."
However , I have also wondered whether David should have accepted a Thought Leader blog, especially when one bears in mind that The M&G has recently been giving a platform to antisemites.

[Marlon]

God...here we have the Jewish board playing nice with the mail & guardian & their director uses the platform to bretend SA is all that.
humulisting.

[BLACKLISTED DICTATOR]

Thought Leader's editorial guidelines do not allow "racist " comments.
Hoewever, the following comment has not been deleted and suggests that the M&G is willing to give a platform to antisemites:

” Killing millions apparently isn´t something that worries the minds of the Zionist leadership as their ideology teaches them that they are “the chosen people”, the master race - an ideology where the rest of the world are “goyim”, expendable sub-humans, i.e. non-Jews - to which the Jewish bible prophecises complete destruction if they resist the Jewish God´s promise of complete Jewish domination.”

[BLACKLISTED DICTATOR]

I have referred to this comment on Michael Trapido's blog about "humanitarian racism" and the following were posted and published in response...

Hello Blacklisted.
I’d like to enquire - are the comments made above, (which you say are anti-semetic)true or false?
i.e do Jews feel they are superior? does the Torah say they are? does it say anyone who opposes jews will be destroyed? do the Zionist leaders kill millions of people?

If it is true, is it anti-semetic? If it is false, then of course you should stand up against it. But let us not make the mistake of thinking that taking offence to a statement made about your own, is an unfair attack. If it is a factual statement, let it be.
But of course i can’t give the answer because i’m not privy to the ins of the jewish religion & culture.
Dawn on April 29th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

@Dawn

he he. Good points you make. Text to justify the above are found aplenty in the Talmud, and from the mouths of Israeli leaders. The quote in reference was made about Israeli leaders stating that they would launch nukes as a first strike if they were losing a conventional war. So does killing millions worry them? Is this a nation the world should allow to own nukes?

The fact that they get offended when confronted with their own writings and rhetoric just proves ‘the truth hurts’.

I guess to refer to jewish writings and utterances is ‘anti-semitic’. Yet afrikaners must apologise for skielik etc.
Consulting Engineer on April 29th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

[traps]

Blacklist forwarded this URL to me.

I am a proud Orthodox Jew - I receive many many unkind (to put it mildly) comments. Comments are left to the editors.

Thought Leader is not anti-semitic.

Maybe being a criminal attorney acting for some our most violent geniuses has thickened my skin.

Great website guys.

[BLACKLISTED DICTATOR]

Traps,
If Thought Leader is not antisemitic, why does the editor allow repulsive antisemitic comments which are clearly in breach of the editorial guidelines?

[BLACKLISTED DICTATOR]

Traps responded via email:

"I am openly proudly Orthodox and tell my readers as much.

If you want to query editing comments policy please ask someone else."

Well... it seems like The Blacklisted Dictator floored him ! Has it occurred to the thick-skinned criminal attorney that the "editing comments policy" is antisemitic ?

[Wessel van Rensburg]

Here is another SA jewish blog form a .

[Wessel van Rensburg]

Oops, that did not come out right,

Here is another SA jewish blog form a 'Boere jodin'

http://samblixer.wordpress.com/2008/05/09/raak-gevoelens-besluite/