Fatima Hajaig's anti-Jewish comments on YouTube

Kudos to the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) for releasing a recording of SA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fatima Hajaig's, revolting antisemitic remarks. The recording was played on e-TV last night (and 702 Talk Radio this morning) and the footage has since been uploaded to YouTube. It includes an interview with SAJBD Chairman, Zev Krengel.

So far it's only got 315 views. I call on other bloggers to post a link to the YouTube clip to increase its viewership.

Fatima's ugly remarks are again quoted below. It is in response to these abusive comments, that the SAJBD has laid a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission.

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”.

Here's some other choice quotes from the Deputy Minister

"Comrades know very well there has hardly been a day, not a single day in the last 60 years, 60 years – most of us were not born, I certainly was born, but many of you sitting there weren’t even born when the conflict in Palestine began. So, within those 60 years there has not been a single day when a Palestinian has not been killed or injured by Israel. " [...] "The society that professes to respect human rights and the ethics of justice based on the Jewish religion. As I understand the Jewish religion its value system will not condone this. Therefore one has to ask the question, what has happened to the conscience of the Jewish people, of the Jewish society that allows the horrific carnage to continue to be inflicted on innocent people, most of whom are defenceless women and children."

Update - Stephen Friedman - an apologist for anti-Semitism?

One press report on the SAJBD's decision to take Fatima to the South African Human Rights Commission that caught my eye was the Business Day, who interviewed political analyst Stephen Friedman.

Friedman is an obsessive anti-Zionist loved by the local media. He describes the Deputy Minister's statements as "ill-advised" and "foolish" and has accused the SAJBD of using this as a red herring to divert attention from the "real issue". He has portrayed himself as an apologist for a canard that has historically been used to justify the most cruel forms of persecution against Jews.

Does he really believe that the SAJBD has the power to divert attention from the "real issue"? Diverting attention? Come on! It's almost as if he believes that the SAJBD in some devillish way holds the power to end the suffering of the Palestinians, but they are cunningly using this incident to "divert attention". His lack of condemnation and description of the remarks as "ill advised" places him shoulder to shoulder with Fatima in a crowd where it's ok to have these views, but "ill advised" and "foolish" to make them public. Thankfully, the ever-reliable David Saks was on hand to put Friedman back in his place.

But political analyst Steven Friedman said that while the statement by Hajaig was “ill- advised”, the complaint was a red herring and the board was diverting attention from the real issue. “What we should really be talking about is the aggressive campaign to camouflage the attempt by the Israelis to cower the Palestinians into sub- mission.” He said the real human rights issue was that Israel was “destroying what may be the only democratically elected government in the Middle East with the exception of Lebanon”. “If the South African Jewish Board of Deputies was as concerned about the deaths of more than 1000 innocent Palestinians as they are over the foolish remark of a junior minister, I would take their claims about concern for human rights more seriously.” Responding, Saks said the two issues were entirely separate. “Whatever happens in a foreign conflict cannot justify racist attacks against Jews, especially by a government representative. “Mr Friedman is frankly being wilfully blind to the shocking extent of Jew hatred masquerading as concern for Palestinian rights.” He said the board’s position on the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict was that “the blame could be squarely laid at the door of the Hamas movement that provoked it”.

Irrespective of whether she issues a retraction of her statement and an apology, she should be sacked. As long as she is part of the South African government, they are a government which I can never trust.

Comments

[Blacklisted Dictator]

Fatima's Lenasia outburst and Farid's refusal to condemn it is the end of the "SAHRD/ Muslims Against Racism" alliance.

Of course, The Cape Town Boys have had a lot of fun. Swanning around in The Middle East at someone else's expense and carte blanching in the SA media. Who could play them for getting carried away with some pretentious petitions?

But these Jewish Jauls are now over.They even ended up having to fax Fatima (without Farid). Of course, that fax marked the end of their jaul because they finally had to publicly admit what they privately knew.

I nearly feel sorry for them now that the whole thing is is over. All the empty wineglasses in the kitchen and cigarette butts all over the floor. What a terrible mess to have to clear up!

[Blacklisted Dictator]

Subject: POKER AND ANTI-SEMITISM
Date: 26 January 2009 10:20:07 AM
To: [email protected]

Dear Prof Farid Esack,

As you know, I have alerted "Muslims Against Racism" to Fatima Hajaig's recent remarks at Cosatu's meeting in Lenasia.

Unfortunately, you have not responded to my request to comment on her views. As far as I am aware, you have remained silent.

So Farid, do you really deplore anti-semitism? Or is your petition just part of a smoke-screen to make your anti-zionist views seem more "progressive"? You might, together with Nathan Geffen, have thought that the petition was a clever ploy but raising the stakes has its pitfalls when you have a weak anti-zionist hand and your anti-semitism bluff is called.

I am well aware that you will probably ignore my email. However, please be aware that this email is in the public domain and many recipients will now expect you to state your case in an open and truthful manner.

viva
blacklisted

[the pil]

Mr Friedman if you were as concerned with the anti-semitic remarks of a government minister as you are over the death of 1000 people than I would take your claim about concern for human rights more seriously. However seeing that you feel that the comments were only ill advised (what does this term even mean, does it mean that it would be ok for her to hold such views privately but not to express it). I don't think you have respect for my right to live in South Africa free from prejudice.

Also not sure what people think but he seems to be suggesting that Israel is not a democracy- all that talk about Gaza being only democracy in the ME. On what grounds is he claiming that Israel is undemocratic while Hamas in control of Gaza is - what a joke-in Gaza no freedom of association,religion, speech etc. Now I know why he feels so comfortable with the left- a bunch of people not known for their democratic tendencies (Cuba NKorea etc)

[Lawrence]

the thing is this must not be forgotten, that is Geffen and Isaac's buddy buddy associations with Esack, the whole SAHRD thing, the fact that Geffen et al's vilification of Israel has been endorsed by openly and visciously anti-Semitic Muslims and COSATU types. If Geffen et al dare to raise their heads over the parapets on Israel again, they need to be continually exposed over it, over their roles in all this. They must never be let off the hook on this. Don't let the passing of time cloud the memory.

Actually the world over, not just in SA, the mask is slipping from the Internationalist Left re their Jew-hatred. They used to pretend it was not about the Jews, hiding behind anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism, now over time, inevitably, the mask has slipped off, the gloves are off - in Toronto and elsewhere Leftists march arm in arm with Muslims who call for the Jews to be sent to the ovens. In Italy socialist and communist groups have called for a boycott of Jewish businesses in Italy, not just boycotting Israel. In the UK Leftists are increasingly dropping the pretence, bad-mouthing the Jews, no longer bothering to hide behind the Zionist and Israel cover terms. And on and on around the Western world.

The truth outs as it always does, sooner or later.

[Blacklisted Dictator]

FAX FATIMA
Fatima, was taped, screaming in Lenasia.
"whether Obama or Bush, the control of America
Is in the hands of Jewish money."
She wasn't being funny.
It all appeared on a blog penned by David Sacks
And led to Nathan Geffen sending an unusual fax.
"The alleged remark is an affront to our dignity"
He castigated the foreign minister's deputy.
Zev Krengel then appeared on E TV
And asked for some sort of ANC apology.
He's taking Fatima to The SAHRC
But who knows when that will be.
Although its PC to sprout anti-zionism
It's not kosher to propagate anti-semitism
So some members of The SAHRD
Will now support The SAJBD.
Unfortunately, Esack's Muslims Against Racism
Which supposedly abhors antisemitism
Hasn't signed that Fatima Fax.
What a disaster for Geffen and Isaacs!

[Gary]

By the way in Sri Lanka 500 civilians were killed when government forces bombed a rebel town and seized it from the Tamil Tigers.

But there has been no reaction at all in the world against Sri Lanka.
I could fill up this blog and beyond with other examples.
I have never received a satisfactory reason why Israel is singled out for defending herself.

[Gary]

I am happy, Lawrence, that the facade and disguise of 'we are merely anti-zionists' is strating to be unmasked.
I have never understood why prejudice against Israelis is more acceptable than prejudice against Jews per se.
I think it is extremely hypocritical of Zackie Achmat to have signed the letter to Hajaj, after Achmat wrote that "95% of Israelis are racist".
Now isnt making a blanket statement about a nation just that i.e racist.
The truth is that the majority of Palestinians voted Hamas, which has an openly racist and genocidal agenda, which is not matched by any Israeli political orgnaization, no matter how far to the right.
But if I said any blanket statement about the majoirity of Palestinians I would be immediately be accused of racsim , and probabely 'fascism', 'nazism' and 'imperiliasm' to boot.
If you are free of prejudice than you can be prejudiced against Israelis any more than Jews.
Something Friedman, Geffen, Isaacs Berger, Achmat etc have never had an answer to.

[Lawrence]

yes it is hypocritical of both Achmat and Geffen to condemn Hajaig's remarks, it rings hollow since both Achmat and Geffen are anti-Semitic themselves. Achmat and Geffen just employ the standard Leftwing cover terms and the standard Leftwing tropes associated with modern-day anti-Semitism - viscious misrepresentations and slander on Israel, and hand in hand with this the whitewashing of the terrorism and open fascism of Israel's many enemies in the Middle-East. This is anti-Semitism in principle.

Geffen and Achmat employ these cover tropes in order to disguise their anti-Semitism from themselves as much as any other, even though as I have pointed out before, their very unfair anti-Israelism exposes their anti-Semitism. This is simply obvious, which is why hardly anybody notices it and sees it for what it is. As George Orwell observed "it is a constant struggle to see what is in front of one's nose".

What Achmat and Geffen condemn is honest anti-Semitism of the Hajaig variety, dishonest anti-Semitism of the anti-Israel/anti-Zionist variety is just fine of course. In fact more than that it is actively sought after and encouraged, since it pretends it is not anti-Semitism; on the contrary this modern-day anti-Semitism of anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism lies behind the banner slogans of non-racism and human rights, of progressivism - truly Orwellian.

So when Mike or Steve (I forget who) commends Geffen for criticising Hajaig, and Pollak does likewise re Achmat's remarks on e-tv over the Hajaig affair (over at his blog), well this is absurd and misplaced, naive even. They are commending closet anti-Semites for speaking out against honest anti-Semitism! even as both IAS and Pollak then proceed straightaway to rightly criticise Geffen and Achmat respectively. Yet the point is missed, it's as if dishonest anti-Semitism is ok (to IAS and Pollak), so long as our opponents employ all the cover terms and cover language of anti-Israelism, then we will go along with their anti-Semitic disguises (even though we vehemently disagree with what they have to say on Israel), since our opponents insist on it! Why else "commend" Geffen and Achmat at all?

After all Achmat and Geffen share the same negative views on Israel as anti-Semites like Hajaig, the same fixed, unreflective and unquestioning support for the Palestinians no matter what as Hajaig - gee what does that tell us? I have pointed this out to Geffen - on this blog, that on several points his position on Israel is identical to that of openly and visciously anti-Semitic Muslims (like Hajaig for example) and Leftists. Naturally Geffen cannot see the implications of this, even though they are obvious. Of course he can't see it, he wouldn't want to, it would mean facing up to very uncomortable and unsettling truths about himself.

And Achmat's hypocrisy is identical to Jonathan Berger's, since both are gay. There is only one country in the Middle-East where the civil rights of homosexuals are protected by law, and it's not Egypt nor Syria.

[Gary]

http://www.zionismontheweb.org/Anti-Zionism_is_racism.htm

About the Author: Judea Pearl
Judea Pearl is a professor of computer science at UCLA and president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, named after his son.

Daniel Pearl was a journalist who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan while investigating the case of a convicted shoe bomber. The Foundation seeks continue Daniel Pearl's mission and uphold his principles which included: uncompromised objectivity and integrity; insightful and unconventional perspective; tolerance and respect for people of all cultures; unshaken belief in the effectiveness of education and communication; and the love of music, humor, and friendship.

Judea Pearl is co-editor of “I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl” (Jewish Lights, 2004), winner of the National Jewish Book Award.

Anti-Zionism is Racism
by Judea Pearl

In the past three months, I have visited four “troubled” campuses — Duke, York (Canada), Columbia and UC Irvine — where tensions between Jewish and anti-Zionist students and professors have attracted national attention. In these visits, I have spoken to students, faculty and administrators, and I have obtained a fairly gloomy picture of the situation on those and other campuses.

Jewish students are currently subjected to an unprecedented assault on their identity as Jews. And we, the Jewish faculty on campus, have let those students down. We have failed to equip them with effective tools to fight back this assault.

We can reverse this trend.

Many condemn anti-Zionism for being a flimsy cover for anti-Semitism. I disagree. The order is wrong. I condemn anti-Semitism for being an instrument for a worse form of racism: anti-Zionism.

In other words, I submit that anti-Zionism is a form of racism more dangerous than classical anti-Semitism. Framing anti-Zionism as racism is precisely the weapon that our students need for survival on campus.

Anti-Zionism earns its racist character from denying the Jewish people what it grants to other collectives (e.g. Spanish, Palestinians), namely, the right to nationhood and self-determination.

Are Jews a nation? A collective is entitled to nationhood when its members identify with a common history and wish to share a common destiny. Palestinians have earned nationhood status by virtue of thinking like a nation, not by residing where their ancestors did (many of them are only three or four generations in Palestine). Jews, likewise, are bonded by nationhood (i.e., common history and destiny) more than they are bonded by religion.

The appeal to Jewish nationhood is necessary when we consider Israel’s insistence on remaining a “Jewish state.” By “Jewish state” Israelis mean, of course, “national Jewish state,” not “religious Jewish state” — theocratic states (like Pakistan and Iran) are incompatible with modern standards of democracy and pluralism. Anti-Zionist racists use this anti-theocracy argument repeatedly to delegitimize Israel, and I have found our students unable to defend their position with conventional ideology that views Jewishness as a religion.

Jewishness is more than just a religion. It is an intricate and intertwined mixture of ancestry, religion, history, country, culture, tradition, attitude, nationhood and ethnicity, and we need not apologize for not fitting neatly into the standard molds of textbook taxonomies — we did not choose our turbulent history.

As a form of racism, anti-Zionism is worse than anti-Semitism. It targets the most vulnerable part of the Jewish people, namely, the people of Israel, who rely on the sovereignty of their state for physical safety, national identity and personal dignity. To put it more bluntly, anti-Zionism condemns 5 million human beings, mostly refugees or children of refugees, to eternal statelessness, traumatized by historical images of persecution and genocide.

Anti-Zionism also attacks the pivotal component of our identity, the glue that bonds us together — our nationhood, our history. And while people of conscience reject anti-Semitism, anti-Zionist rhetoric has become a mark of academic sophistication and social acceptance in Europe and in some U.S. campuses.

Moreover, anti-Zionism disguises itself in the cloak of political debate, exempt from sensitivities and rules of civility that govern interreligious discourse. Religion is ferociously protected in our society — political views are not.

Just last month, a student organization on a UC campus hosted a meeting on “A World Without Israel.” Imagine the international furor that a meeting called, “A World Without Mecca,” would provoke.

So, in the name of “open political debate,” administrators would not think twice about inviting MIT linguist Noam Chomsky to speak on campus, though his anti-Zionist utterances offend the fabric of my Jewish identity deeper than any of the ugly religious insults currently shocking the media. He should be labeled for what he is: a racist.

Strategically, while accusations of anti-Semitism are worn out and have lost their punch, charging someone with racism makes people ask why anyone would deny people the right of self-determination in a sliver of land in the birthplace of their history. It shifts the frame of discourse from debating Israel’s policies to the root cause of the conflict — denying Israelis their basic rights as a nation.

Charges of “racism” highlight the inherent asymmetry between the Zionist and anti-Zionist positions. The former grants both Israelis and Palestinians the right for statehood, the latter denies that right to one, and only one side. This asymmetry is the most effective weapon our students should use in campus debates, for it puts them back on the high moral grounds of “fair and balanced” and forces their opponents to defend an ideology of one-sidedness.

For example, I have found it effective, when confronting an anti-Zionist speaker, to ask: “Are you willing to go on record and state that the Israel-Palestine conflict is a conflict between two legitimate national movements?” Western audiences adore even-handedness and abhor bias. The question above forces the racist to unveil and defend his uneven treatment of the two sides.

America prides itself on academic freedom, and academic freedom entails freedom to teach hatred and racism — we graciously accept this fact of life. However, academic freedom also entails the freedom of students to expose racism, be it white-supremacy, women-inferiority, Islamophobia or Zionophobia wherever it is spotted. Not to censor, but to expose — racists stew in their own words.

In summary, I believe the formula “Anti-Zionism = Racism” should give Jewish students the courage to both defend their identity and expose those who abuse it.

This opinion piece appeared in The New York Jewish Week.

Source - http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=14207

Notice - This article is reprinted by permission of the author. He has also given us permission to allow others to copy this article for their own websites. Please do post a copy fo this article if you feel it is relevent to your site. A link back to Zionism and Israel on the Web (ZionismOnTheWeb.org) would be greatly appreciated.

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

Note - Commentary does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Zionism on the Web

[Lawrence]

Another thing, I hate to say I told you so.
But on the whole "Muslims against Racism" thing, I did write on this thread (repasted below)

http://supernatural.blogs.com/weblog/2009/01/a-clarification.html

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

What is it with the applause and approval of this "Muslims against Racism" statement Berger so approvingly cites and with such gravitas? That is so quickly commended without reflection. Namely why is it taken at face value? I mean we have many Western Leftists who pretend they are not anti-Semitic but clearly are given their selective rage against the Jew nation and their deafening silence on all the other nations? You think it different in this respect ie with SA Muslims?

There may well be plenty who signed that petition who are not anti-Jewish, but there may well be plenty who are anti-Jewish but pretend they are not and hide (and reveal) their anti-Jewishness behind a selective anti-Israelism just like the anti-Semitic Left who pretend they are not...

Some deeper reflection is called for, and not merely a parroting of the self-important opinions of a Jonathan Berger who engages in so much misrepresentation on Jewish persons in SA alone (read what I write above). My God was everybody born yesterday? Talk about naive.

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

Told you so.

[gunjam]

"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."

As a US evangelical Christian, methinks the claims of Jooooo-ish control of the US are greatly exaggerated. However, if I am wrong -- and it turns out that the Jooooos actually do control the US -- I can only thank G-d: I would MUCH rather be ruled by evil Jooooos than by enlightened black Revolutionaries the likes of Mugabe or gifted Muslim "leaders" the likes of Fatima Hajaig..... ANY DAY! I found this email address online: [email protected] but I don't know if it is current. No harm and emailing this "stateswoman" and expressing your "appreciation" for her recent remarks (unless, of course, you live in SA, in which case, you might NOT want to email her!).

[Adriana Stuijt]

Latest update on Fatima Hajaig:

"Jews control Obama' speech retracted by S.African deputy

South African deputy foreign minister Fatima Hajaig has apologised 'unequivocally,' and retracted her ''unacceptable antisemitic statements' she admitted making at a public rally on Jan. 14 in Lenasia.

This was said by an official government spokesman.

SEE LINK
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/266692

[Karin Friedemann]

Where's the link to the actual cool comments? Anyway I congratulate Fatima for the courage to stand up to the Jewish Nazis!

[Shereen]

I've just come from Palestine. Inter alia,
I came across a boy of 10, traumatized after being kicked into a coma by a gang of 18-20 year old Israeli thugs, whose favourite post-worship game on a Saturday, is to catch a Palestinian child and beat, stone or shoot him or her. It's in fact the favourite sport amongst a lot of settlers, living on stolen land.
I met women forced to give birth at checkpoints because armed thugs won't let them through to go to hospital.
I met the children of people who died of heart attacks at checkpoints because they weren't far-sighted enough to predict they were going to get a heart attack and get a certificate to go to hospital - their local hospital, usually a short ride away, now a wall, an apartheid road and checkpoints away
I met people forced to go past machine gun manned checkpoints to go to their local mosque on a Friday and who are subjected to constant abuse by their new neighbours, who with state assent got rid of their old neighbours by simply stealing their homes
I met the parents of a boy who was shot by settlers and whose body was sent back minus the internal organs
I met people who live on a fraction of the water the WHO deems necessary for human beings, while Israelis have nearly 5 times as much and run swimming pools and golf courses while Palestinians thirst for water
I met a five year old beaten by soldiers for going to buy milk for his baby brother when he didn't understand their orders to turn back
This is a tiny fraction of what I saw. I could go on and on, listing the daily humiliation the constant attacks the ongoing suffering of Palestinian people - murder, torture, torment of every kind, day and night.
So yes, way to go anyone who criticizes Israel. There's nothing anti-Semitic about saying that Israel is a terrorist state (by the way, Arabs are semitic too), run by thieving, barbaric murderous thugs, most of whose population either commit or condone atrocities perpetrated against Palestinians, young and old

[SZ]

You also no doubt met many people who launched a genocidal war against Jews in the levant; you no doubt met many genocidal, theocratic, homophobic, misogynistic, fanatical theocrats who fire thousands upon thousands of missiles on Israeli towns, intent on murdering as many civilians as possible. This after all settlers and soldiers were taken out of Gaza, etc.

You must also know that the settlers aren't the cause of the conflict; the Arabs launched a genocidal war long before there were any settlers, and again started fighting after all the settlers were removed from Gaza. You must know that what caused the checkpoints, the border fence, etc. were constant attacks deliberately targeting Israeli civilians. You must know that Jews are prevented from visiting their own holy sites, etc. After all, many of the folks you visited boast loudly and constantly about this, and more.

You should perhaps devote yourself more to South Africa where the situation is far worse. Just compare the statistics on health care, murder, food, etc.

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