A shameful day in South Africa

David Saks' Thought Leader blog has a report on an outrageous COSATU rally for Palestine in Lenasia last week. According to Saks, at the rally, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fatima Hajaig, spewed forth age-old anti-Jewish canards about Jewish money and subsequent control of the Western world.

Read the full report at David Saks' blog: Middle East fallout is poisoning our democracy

"The dichotomy between “good” and “bad” Jews came out very strongly during last week’s Cosatu solidarity rally for Palestine in Lenasia. It also witnessed what might be the first instance of public Jew-baiting by a member of government in over half a century as Deputy Foreign Minister Fatima Hajaig informed a deliriously cheering crowd that America, as well as other Western countries, was in the grip of Jewish money power. What the honorable FJ actually said was: “They in fact control [America]. No matter which government comes in to power, whether Republican or Democratic, whether Barack Obama or George Bush. The control of America, just like the control of most Western countries, is in the hands of Jewish money and if Jewish money controls their country then you cannot expect anything else”. Comrade Fatima’s brazen invocation of the spectre of Jewish money exercising its malign behind-the-scenes influence in shaping world events was greeted with a particularly enthusiastic roar of appreciation by the audience. She even used the words “Jew” and “Jewish” rather than the code-word “Zionist”. In addition to such revolting conspiracy theorising, various other speakers at the Lenasia rally made threatening statements against the local Jewish community.This included calls that anyone with Zionist sympathies be expelled from the country, that “Israeli” businesses be boycotted (a list of Jewish-owned businesses is in fact now doing the rounds within the Muslim community and further afield) and that action be taken against South African Jews who served in the Israeli military. One presenter said: “The common enemy is making inroads in South Africa … the Zionists in South Africa must be kicked out of the shores of South Africa”. Another speaker praised “our Jewish brothers and sisters” who had come out against the Israel Defence Force, assuring them “there is a place in the world we are building in South Africa for you”. Those who had not done so, he warned, had “better watch out because the winds of change are blowing”. Regarding local Jews allegedly serving in the IDF, another presenter shouted (again to rapturous and sustained applause): “We are going to become impimpis, we are going to become impimpis … the business that we are going to carry out with the Jews, with these Zionist entities. We are going to talk to them, were going to find out if their sons have gone to fight our brothers and sisters in Palestine and then we’ll say to them come and fight us at home”. Other speakers included ANC Provincial Secretary Nazeem Adams and Eddie Makue, general secretary for South African Council of Churches. Makue denied that the fight against Israel and Zionism was anti-Semitic, saying that he and his fellow activists only wanted to bring their “Jewish brothers and sisters onto the right path”. “This is a global struggle. We are inviting you to join us in it, otherwise you will be mowed down in the annals of history as people who refuse to support justice and peace” he said, as the crowd bellowed its approval. All in all, it must have been very much reminiscent of a Nuremburg rally."

I'm ashamed of being South African today.

Comments

[the pil]

Does anyone feel that these statements are the modern do equivalent of the old Muslim adage of the Quran or the sword. In this case meaning you either support our views or you will be persecuted. Thank goodness Nathan has shown the Jewish Community the way they can survive in such an anti-semitic environment- all one needs to do is become subservient to the views of the Muslim community i.e. we Jews must know our place in the world. (Nathan before you call me an anti-semite which seems to be your de facto way of intimidating critics I was being sarcastic).

[the pil]

In a country with such a poor and uneducated population as South Africa these words can have tremendous power. After looking at the list of Jewish business to be boycotted it is possible that someone can convince the poor of South Africa that the only reason they are poor is because of the Jews- this form of anti-semitism was one, perhaps the dominant reason that allowed the holocaust to occur (after all at the time of the Holocaust in Germany the Jewish population was paying 30% of the taxes but was only 2% of the entire German Population).

I am not saying that there will be a holocaust but a progrom in South Africa in this environment is not beyond the realms of possibility. But Nathan and his ilk should not worry because I am sure that when the Progrom against Jews occurs the baying mob will ask Jews before killing them did you sign the N.M.N. pertition and if you did you are a good Jew but if not you are a bad jew and deserve death.

[Lawrence]

Unfortunately pil I think you are right. I have for some years now feared the possibility of pogroms against Jews in SA, even a few years ago it did seem to be something of a ridiculous ungrounded fear. Now it is all too frightening, repeating a disturbing pattern...

I for one appreciate your honesty re Geffen and his kind, there has been way too much false politeness and tip-toeing directed his way and to Doron Isaacs likewise and the rest of that ilk, even by those who disagree with them.

It's time to get the blinkers off. Geffen will say he doesn't care for this kind of Jew-baiting above, give me a break, he caters to it all the time with his and his ilk's vindictive obsessive Jew nation baiting, hence the support he receives from all the Jew-hating Muslims in SA.

Geffen I for one will tell you, when you accuse Mike or Steve of anti-Semitism, it is projection.

[Lawrence]

And it's not just South Africa where Diaspora Jews have to worry, read the news from the UK (never mind elsewhere), very scary...

from the Israelmatzav blog:

---------------------------

It's become fashionable to be an anti-Semite in England.

I am standing in a queue waiting to buy a train ticket from London to Canterbury. A well-dressed lady standing behind me informs her friend that she “can’t wait till Israel disappears off the face of the earth.” What struck me was not her intense hostility to Israel but the mild-mannered, matter-of-fact tone with which she announced her wish for the annihilation of a nation. It seems that it is okay to condemn and demonize Israel. All of a sudden Israel has become an all-purpose target for a variety of disparate and confused causes. When I ask a group of Pakistani waiters sitting around a table in their restaurant why they “hate” Israel, they casually tell me that it is because Jews are their “religion’s enemy.” Those who are highly educated have their own pet prejudice. One of my young colleagues who teaches media studies in a London-based university was taken aback during a seminar discussion when some of her students insisted that since all the banks are owned by Jews, Israel was responsible for the current global financial crisis.

Writing in the Spectator, Melanie Philips blames the silence of Britain's senior politicians for encouraging the anti-Semites to come out of the woodwork:

What is so terribly shocking is that in the face of this unprecedented wave of hatred and bigotry, Britain’s senior politicians have been all but silent. They have a duty not merely to condemn the anti-Jewish violence but also to condemn the blood libels about Israel that have been inciting it. Instead, ministers such as International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander have breathed upon the flames by condemning Israel’s behaviour as ‘disproportionate’ and regurgitating as fact the distorted propaganda of Hamas and its patsy, the UN, about the number of civilian casualties.

Repeatedly, Gordon Brown has said, as here, that ‘too many innocent people’ have died in Gaza without acknowledging these crucial points: that while all deaths of innocents in war are to be much regretted, the vast majority of those killed have been Hamas operatives; that Hamas deliberately falsify these figures by classifying terrorists as civilians; and most crucial of all, that Israel has gone to extreme lengths to avoid killing innocent civilians – lengths to which the British and Americans most certainly are not going in Afghanistan. For Brown to avoid stating any of this, and instead to lend credence to the libellous claims about Israel’s behaviour which have incited this wave of anti-Jewish bigotry and violence makes the British Prime Minister effectively an accessory to that bigotry and violence.

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[Eric]

This type of hate-speech by a member of the SA government is very worrisome. It creates a toxic political atmosphere and could well be interpreted as an incitement to violence against Jews. It is vile and pernicious racism masquerading as moral rectitude.

[Gary]

KAPOPHILIA

New term = "Kapophilia." It means the love of Jewish anti-Semites.
Kapophilia is the correct term for describing the inordinate amount of
space granted by the media to Jewish anti-Semites. The media are obsessed
with Jewish anti-Semites. People who represent perhaps a hundredth of a
percent of Jews are celebrated as the true practitioners of alternative
Jewish ethics. People of compassion. Jewish care bears. The Neturei
Karta is a serious alternative group inside Orthodoxy. Ilan Pappe is a
Jewish intellectual. Michael Lerner is a Rabbi. Gideon Levy is at least
as legitimate a representative of Israel as Moshe Yaalon. You know the
shtick.
I realize that some might object that the term is insulting to the
concentration camp kapos, who collaborated under duress and without
choice. Neverthless, it is the best term I could come up with.
Please put this new term to good use! Consider this expose of the love of
the Guardian for Jewish anti-Semites, by Emanuele Ottolenghi:
http://www.thejc.com/articles/the-guardian-just-loves-self-hating-jews

[David]

It seems that there may be merit in considering both the prospects and strategy of initiating legal proceedings against Hajaig.
Her words could be construed in context as 'hate speech' directed against Jews, which is prohibited in terms of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000.
It seems moreover that she would not be privileged from prosecution in the circumstances, merely on account of her ministerial position.

Would this be a good idea, strategically? Let's hear what others on this forum think.

[Ariel]

Have you seen this 'http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/jonathanberger/2009/01/18/gaza-madness-spreads-south/'?

[Lawrence]

wow Ariel thanks for bringing that to our attention. Berger's piece is a disgrace, dishonest and distorted, he has everything the wrong way round re his defence of Geffen and his attacks on IAS. He even justifies Geffen calling the Chief Rabbi a fundamentalist. Mike or Steve will probably respond, perhaps. It deserves its own thread, but this bears out what I have said before - it's time to get the blinkers off - Jews like Berger and Geffen will resort to any kind of misrepesentation, distortion and non-disclosure and topsy turvy thinking against those who dare to challenge their oh-so- mainstream with the SA public opinion re Israel. It's time to stop the eggshell walking with these characters...it's not going to help none, they have to be continually exposed for what they are.

from Ariel's link, Berger writes:

"So it’s Geffen, and not the Chief Rabbi, or the SAJBD, or any of their unquestioning supporters, who is primarily responsible for fanning the flames of anti-Semitism. Does that mean then that verligte Afrikaners – such as Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, Beyers Naude and Carl Niehaus – were responsible for fostering anti-Afrikaner hatred in the 1980s, and not the elected leadership of the day? PW, FW, Vlok, Malan and the rest were each entitled to a free pass?"

Berger is living in la-la land, what he writes above is nonsensical, and note the popular SA Jewish support for Israel, the SAJBD and IAS are equated by Berger with the fascist apartheid regime of the National Party, the subtext is clear - we are fascists, maybe the Chief Rabbi is P W Botha, and Mike and Steve are Ferdie Barnard and Eugene de Kock....Of course Berger and Geffen are the verligte Jews showing the way for the rest of us to follow and correct the error of our ways...

Not only that, Berger implies that just like the National Party enforcing apartheid and generating anti-Afrikaaner sentiment, Jews like ourselves, IAS, the SAJBD, the Chief Rabbi are fanning the flames of anti-Semitism by daring to uh oppose it and expose it in the form it takes today - lies and misinformation about Israel, and that would include exposing the useful idiot status of Geffen! Such an argument made by Berger is not only idiotic, it is in fact anti-Semitic. Blaming Jews for fanning the flames of anti-Semitism for you know daring to stand up for Israel against the onslaught of lies and slander and those espousing them (be they Jewish or not), is simply anti-Semitic.

For the record (somebody informs me) Berger is a good friend of Geffen's and Isaac's and Achmat, he is involved with the TAC in some capacity.

[Gary]

what has the TAC got to do with the conflict between Israel and the Arabs?

[Lawrence]

it's got nothing per se to do with the TAC and HIV/AIDS, it's got everything to do with the fact that the TAC is a Leftist organisation, NGO in this case; and so they parrot Leftwing opinion re Israel and the Palestinians.

[Lawrence]

the thoughtleader blog informs us that Berger is an openly gay man, so what you may respond. However it is not so what, it touches on the typical hypocrisy of so many of the cappuccino drinking Left, Berger personifies it. Like his fellow friend at the TAC Zackie Achmat (who calls the majority of Israelis racist), Berger makes it clear his stance on the Middle-East conflict is the same as his other mate Geffen's who of course he rushes to defend (by misrepresenting the facts) from IAS, the Chief Rabbi and other fellow travellers, who Berger clearly implies are fascists, as I point out above.

Berger if as you clearly imply, most of your fellow SA Jews are fascists for sticking up for Israel, and opposing you and Geffen's "verligte" approach, don't you think you might be more comfortable in say Gaza with the non-fascist tolerant of alternative lifestyles Palestinians where Hamas are the ruling party and enjoy widespread popular support. Hamas initiated Sharia law prior to the latest war (not that we heard boo about it but there you go), I'm sure it will be business back as usual with Sharia now that the war has subsided perhaps..and Hamas police can get back to what they are so good at enforcing...

Do you know what Sharia law means to gay men and women Berger? In Tel Aviv nobody looks twice at two gay men walking hand in hand down the street, even kissing, there are gay bars and gay hang outs, in Gaza City it is another story though. But Berger I am sure you are willing to live dangerously and put your money where your mouth is, maybe the Chief Rabbi and the SAJBD will even offer you a free flight there, one-way (a return ticket will not be necessary...you will see why once you are seen walking hand in hand down the streets of Gaza.)

[Brett]

"I for one appreciate your honesty re Geffen and his kind, there has been way too much false politeness and tip-toeing directed his way and to Doron Isaacs likewise and the rest of that ilk, even by those who disagree with them."

Lawrence, I agree. I do howver wish to point out that the childish name calling that is filling this blog does not accomplish anything and that the "gloves-ff approach" should be at the level of intellectual debate and "character assassination"

[the pil]

To Gary I like your word but I disagree that a new term needs to be invented for these people, a term already exists-arrogant. These people believe that they are the only ones who have knowledge of the situation and the moral authority as well as the intellectual ability to analyse the situation correctly. Supporters of Israel must thus be ignorant and stupid if they disagree with their superior Intellects and therefore not to be taken seriously. For goodness sake how much more arrogant do you get. I wish these people would go live in Palestine and instead of always criticising Israel help build a state but THAT WOULD BE TOO HARD. It is much easier to sit in sunny SA intimidating people who disagree with you.

[Eric]

David - regarding your comment about initiating legal proceedings against Hajaig - I agree with you.

Those who foment racial hatred should be met with the full force of the law. She is not fit to hold the position of deputy minister.

[Samuel]

Is Cosatu and it,s hierarchy ( comrade Patrick & Zwelinzima )a workers representative council or a political party ?Who funds this Mickey Mouse organisation and how ?What happens across South Africa,s nearest border is diabolical, tragic
etc. ,but comrade clown Fatima doesn,t care one
iota as she is to busy insulting diplomats and other international figures who try and mend what is already broken .(Zimbabwe,Somalia,Darfur)
Is comrade Fatima as concerned about events in the Islamic Republic of Sudan and Somalia(Mogadishu)and if not why not?

[JoeTalin]

One difference between now and 1933 is that Jews will never again be led like lambs to the slaughter.
The speakers at this rally are really more stupid than threatening as they are impotent to do anything more than talk.
A boycott of the stores on the list would bring the economy down to its knees, and if Jews were forced out of the country various sectors other than the retail sector would also implode.