It's Almost Supernatural

Tony Leon’s ‘racism’ — a Jewish pathology?

  Former leader of the Opposition in South Africa Tony Leon has become embroiled in an ugly mud slinging match over the suitability of controversial Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe for a future seat on the constitutional court. Leon, no stranger to being called a racist for his outspoken criticism of ANC policy will probably not be surprised by the latest attack from the Justice for Hlophe Alliance (see Leon should apologise for Hlophe remarks - JHA). But South African Jewry should be outraged.

Leon, on account of being Jewish, is accused of trying to import the racist discourse of the Arab-Israeli conflict into South African society. Absurdly, almost a third of the response issued by the Justice for Hlophe Alliance deals with the views of an extremist fringe in Israel towards its Arab citizens. Not only did Leon not refer to the Middle East or Jewish related issues in his original article, but the issue has nothing even to do with minority rights. Somehow Leon’s use of the term “fifth column” to describe Hlophe and his supporters in relation to the constitution has been deemed to be racist Jewish language common to right wing nationalist parties in Israel. The irony of course, is that Leon began his piece elegantly explaining that the origin of the term is actually the Spanish civil war.

Now love Leon or hate (I personally am in the former camp), agree with his criticism of Hlophe or condemn it, his ethnic-religious affiliation should have no bearing on the debate. The fact that he is Jewish or that the term “fifth column” has been used by people on the political extreme in the Jewish state is just not relevant. So why was it used? For the same reason the Nationalist Party ad nauseum assailed Helen Suzman for her Jewish roots. It is a classic political trick to prey on popularist anti-Jewish sentiments in an attempt to discredit and silence the critic.

The South African Jewish Community, in particular the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, cannot let this incident go unchallenged. We cannot let the Jewish origin of public figures be used as a tool to bash them. Remaining silent would only serve to legitimise this tactic. I understand that the leadership of the community may be nervous to wade into this fiery debate, particularly given the strong support Hlophe seems to have within the ANC. But there is a need to show some backbone here and stand up and defend Jewish rights. Otherwise we will always be de facto second-class citizens in this country.

COSATU spokesperson calls on Jews to leave SA

Over the past couple of weeks there has been some disturbing correspondence between Cosatu’s International Relations secretary, Bonagini Masuku, and a number of the pro-Israel blogging community.

The correspondence was triggered by a comment placed by Bongani on this blog. The comment read:

Hi guys, Bongani says hi to you all as we struggle to liberate Palestine from the racists, fascists and zionists who belong to the era of their Friend Hitler! We must not apologise, every Zionist must be made to drink the bitter medicine they are feeding our broathers (sic) and sisters in Palestine. We must target them, expose them and doo allthat (sic) is needed to subject them to pereptual suffering until they withdraw from the land of others and stop their savage attacks on human dignity. Every Palestinian who suffers is a direct attck (sic) on all of us!

Following the posting of this comment Anthony Posner e-mailed Bongani in an attempt to understand the man behind this juvenile bigotry. Bongani replied that his comment was not much worse than a previous comment left on this blog by a racist Zionist. The comment in question was undoubtedly racist. It was posted just before Shabbat came in and was left on the blog until after Shabbat. That Saturday night, once I saw the offensive comment, I removed it. Before I had the chance to remove the comment, however, Mohammed Desai from Wits PSC emailed the comment to a PSC mailing group, of which Bongani was a member, and portrayed it as the standard racism emanating from Zionist blogs.

By the time Bongani found this blog, the racist comment had already been removed. Yet he still posted the above threatening comment. Desai’s circulation of the racist comment may have piqued Bongani’s interest, but it in no way helped formulate his opinion. Subsequent correspondence has revealed him for the unrepentantly blinkered and outrageously arrogant bigot that he is.

Since Bongani has repeatedly emailed his noxious opinions to us, I have decided to make it all public. The link at the bottom of this post will allow you to read all of the correspondence with Bongani that I have been involved in. Out of respect for the privacy of others, I have only included mine and Bongani's emails. Initially, I thought there was a certain soulful naiveté to Bongani, I even considered that he may be worth engaging on some (low intellectual) level. I later changed my mind. You can draw your own conclusions.

By the end of the correspondence Bongani was calling for the removal of almost all Jews from South Africa. As the International Relations secretary of Cosatu, which is a member of the ruling ANC's tripartite alliance, these views should concern us all. Bongani writes:

In fact, all the people who deny that occupation is wrong must be encouraged to leave South Africa before they infect our society with much more racism.

He followed this up by saying, in his enthusiastic verbage, that "no pro-Israel Jews should ever consider South Africa to be their home (sic)". These are surely views that need to be challenged in the mainstream media and perhaps at the South African Human Rights Commission.

Finally, the racist comment posted on IAS was as disgusting as anything Bongani said. This savage racism is not welcome here. I guess it’s the downside to having an open forum. Despite this type of abus of our comments, we continue to see the value in open, and often unmoderated, forums where important issues can be debated.

Also, credit to Anthony Posner, whose engaging wit resulted in Bongani falling further and further down his very own twisted hole.

Click here to read the correspondence with Bongani - comments (1)

Update

Ben Cohen from Z-Word, copied in on almost all of the correspondence, has weighed in with some great analysis. Get it here: Cosatu, Antisemitism, and my Inbox

Also see this roundup of the current turbulent situation written by Alana Pugh-Jones and published on Divaid Hirsch's brilliant Engage Online: Hostility to Israel and antisemitism

The mysterious case of the missing Broederbond conspiracy

The Media Review Network’s (MRN) Iqbal Jassat yesterday authored an article dismissing claims made by David Saks that the MRN had once showcased an unrepentantly anti-Semitic article on their website about a Jewish Broederbond conspiracy "which had ruled South Africa for the past 50 years and continues to dominate the power structures of our country."

This was but one of a number of items of evidence which Saks used to dispel claims made by MRN fangirl Virginia Tilley, who said that the MRN and Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) have a noble track record in campaigning against Israeli human rights abuses and that they high-mindedly insist on distinguishing between anti-Zionism and anti-racism.

Jassat responded to Saks’ accusations by simply denying them. Here’s his article entitled “Hajaig spat takes new turn as anti-semitism debates continue in the wake of new questions about Israel's future”. Jassat writes:

To support his knee-jerk response in the form of "evidence", Saks cited a document entitled "The Jewish-Broederbond Syndicate" as having featured on MRN’s website. Again – as in the case of Fatima Hajaig – Saks deliberately finds it expedient to not only isolate any context but to intentionally conflate issues in keeping with his objective to slanderously demonise MRN as anti-semitic. Since I have no recollection of any such article published on MRN’s website, my quick google search elicited 10 results – none of them listing Media Review Network as host. In any event, it may have featured alongside thousands of articles – many of them construed by the SAJBD as anti-semitic given that authors and journalists like Mathatha Tsedu, Anthony Holiday, Tim Modise, Barney Pityana and Virginia Tilley amongst others have been cited in annual "anti-semitism reports" compiled by Saks for the Stephen Roth Institute in Israel.

Ok, so Jassat is partly right. A search for ‘Jewish Broederbond Syndicate” does not implicate the MRN. But that’s a normal search on the content on his website today, which he knows doesn’t currently contain the offensive article. I remember that the article disappeared, quite suddenly, some time ago. I think I was one of a number of individuals that contacted Talk Radio 702 after they interviewed the MRN, and asked them to read some of the views that the MRN espoused, including the conspiracy of a Jewish syndicate that was and still is, in complete control of South Africa. The MRN probably caught wind of this “why don’t you read what they want others to read” tactic, and removed some of their favourite articles.

Jassat will be surprised to know that it's actually very difficult to remove something from the Internet. Before I get to this, one more point. Jassat realises that they once showboated this anti-Semitic article, and he therefore dimly couches his denial in protective language, saying that they never “hosted” the article. In this non-legal context, that’s irrelevant. What matters here, is that the association with the articles implicates the MRN's shared conspiratorial worldview.

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine allows us to view cached pages of websites as they were years ago. I used the Wayback Machine to see if I could find this notorious article, and find it I did.

It’s important to realise that this isn’t just one of thousands of articles that the MRN links to, as Jassat claims. For years it was linked to in their section called ‘publications’ - one of, on average, 12 (not thousands!) links for the years when it was featured. There can be no doubt that they fully endorsed the views in this article and aimed to distribute it as widely as possible, even if they never “hosted” it.

The archive shows that two articles in particular, one on the Jewish Broederbond Syndicate and the other on Holocaust denial were prominently displayed from at least 2001 to 2005. The screenshot below is for the year 2001.

The text at the top reads: The Publications section contains some of the publications written by the Media Review Network. Please check back often as new information is constantly added to the section.

The first highlighted article reads: The "Holocaust" - 120 questions and answers.
The second highlighted article reads: The Jewish Broederbond Syndicate.

Here are the links for your perusal: 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 (Once the pages open, look for "publications" on the left and then you will find the list of articles.)

Later in his response, Jassat says that the issue with the Jewish Broederbond article was originally blamed on some “unnamed South African Islamic website”. He then says that this website bears no resemblance to the MRN.

But in the archive links, on average 8 of the 12 or so links are directly from the website (www.islam.co.za) that actually hosted the articles in question. This makes it very difficult for Jassat to state that there was no connection between the MRN and the website.

The MRN should have the courage of their convictions and repost the links to these foul articles that attack Jews as Jews. I'm sure they will still be able to rely on the likes of Virginia Tilley for defence and legitimisation.

A Message for us from COSATU

Bongani Masuku, COSATU's International Relations Secretary, has sent us the following message in a comment.

Hi guys, Bongani says hi to you all as we struggle to liberate Palestine from the racists, fascists and zionists who belong to the era of their Friend Hitler! We must not apologise, every Zionist must be made to drink the bitter medicine they are feeding our broathers and sisters in Palestine. We must target them, expose them and doo allthat is needed to subject them to pereptual suffering until they withdraw from the land of others and stop their savage attacks on human dignity. Every Palestinian who suffers is a direct attck on all of us!

COSATU is a tri-partite alliance partner with the ruling ANC party. A vote for the ANC is a vote for Bongani.

COSATU and PSC March: Photo Album

Click below to view a photo album from the COSATU and PSC march against the South African Jewish community.

If the image above isn't showing, click here.

Photography by Jeremy Feldman.

Cosatu supports Jewish boycott!

  David Saks described the anti-Semitic Deputy Foreign Minister Fatima Hajaig as having forgotten to use the code-word "Zionist" instead of "Jew" in her recent outburst at a COSATU rally in Lenasia. Well, this time, COSATU has also forgotten to use the code-word.

IOL reports:

"We want to convey a message to the Jews in SA that our 1.9-million workers who are affiliated to Cosatu are fully behind the people of Palestine," said Cosatu's Bongani Masuku. "Any business owned by Israel supporters will be a target of workers in South Africa."

How, pray tell, will COSATU identify the businesses owned by "Israel supporters"? Well, given the overwhelming majority support for Israel amongst South African Jews, the easiest appraoch would be to just boycott all Jewish owned businesses. A Muslim e-mail recently did a good job of listing many of these, though there are tons of small businesses that need to be added to the list.

Another choice quote from the IOL report comes from Ronnie Kasrils. Ever the proffessional, Kasrils remembered to use the code-word.

Ronnie Kasrils, the former minister of intelligence, said the ongoing "butchering" of Palestinians in Gaza was unacceptable. "What Israel is doing in Gaza is creating concentration camps because people have nowhere to run. It is reprehensible that we have Zionists here who support Israel."

Given that the overwhelming majority of South African Jews are Zionists, and Kasrils considers it reprehensible that we are here, can we conclude that he wants the majority of Jews to leave South Africa? This from Thabo Mbeki's former Minister of Intelligence. From a man who might still be a parliamentarian. At a rally which has been confirmed as illegal! And remember, there hasn't been much condemnation of the shrieking calls to "Kick the Zionists Out" at the recent COSATU rally in Lenasia.

Should we conclude that other politicians involved in this week-of-action campaign, such as COPE's National Executive Committee member Allan Boesak, support this stance?

This is really serious and leads me back to a very troubling, and I concede, perhaps overly dramatic, question. Is there still a place under the South African sun for a large Jewish presence? Perhaps South Africa will surprise me and politicians, cabinet ministers, leaders of civil society, and influential newspaper editors will come out of the shadows and condemn these remarks. I won't bet on it.

One thing is for certain, our political positions will not be moved. We will remain Zionists steadfast in our support of Israel.

Cosatu, PSC march against Jewish community

On Friday at 2pm the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) held an illegal demonstration against the Jewish community in the residential heartland of South African Jewry.

The march was illegal. On Thursday, the Johannesburg City Council denied permission for COSATU to hold the rally. But they went ahead anyway. They are a law unto themselves.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be there, but I did manage to organise a correspondent who will write a guest blog for us detailing the atmosphere.

I was, however, in the area over Shabbos and the reaction from the community has been one of unification, strength, and resoluteness in support for Israel.

Rabbi Perez at the Mizrachi synagogue on Friday night gave a stirring sermon about the rally. He was one of the 250 or so Jews who managed to, at the last minute, rally to Beyachad in support of the community. I don’t think it’s correct to say in support of Israel – this march wasn’t outside the Israeli embassy, it was within our community – it was a march against us.

Just two hours before the march, e-mails, phone calls and text messages stormed through the community like wildfire, calling on Jews to meet at Beyachad in a show of solidarity. Amazingly, around 250 Jews managed to turn up. The communal leadership decided to stage the solidarity rally inside the walls of Beyachad in order to ensure its legality. This unfortunately meant that most people couldn’t get a glimpse of the protest action beyond the walls. The general sentiment from those who managed to attend was one filled with pride, inspiration and love for this community and for Israel.

Rabbi Perez related that during the protest march, a small number of Jews left the Beyachad building and went to stand directly opposite the crowd of protestors, to send a message that we will not be moved and that we are not here in South Africa on their sufferance. He took his young son with him to stare in the faces of those who wish to crush our freedom both as Jewish Zionists in South Africa and in the land of Israel.

Apparently the police closed off the street where the Jewish communal offices stand – so where did the COSATU and PSC demonstrators move to? Down the road, outside Sydenham Highlands North Synagogue. That’s probably a place more representative of their true feelings anyway.

Ronnie Kasrils was there, along with a swastika bearing banner equating the hatred symbol of Nazism to the Magen-David. An Israeli flag was later burned and stomped on by the crowd. Now just imagine for a moment if a group of Jews had to go and burn a Palestinian flag in Lenasia. They would be donnered by the local community and no one would have much pity for them given such a stupidly provocative move. The Jewish community managed to hold back except for one individual who reportedly threw a plastic bottle at the bus which was transporting the protestors. The protesting crowd immediately launched forward at the area where the bottle thrower was standing, but the police quickly intervened.

The Jewish community outside of the Beyachad building was incensed, to the extent that some of the Muslim protest leaders needed escorts through the crowd in order to get to their cars. The police were about to provide the escort when the national chairman of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Zev Krengel, stepped in. He told the officers that their presence wouldn’t be necessary and he would personally escort them to their cars. How embarrassing for them. Here was the leader of the Jewish Board of Deputies, personally providing an escort to the petrified pro-Palestinian protest leaders, who were there to tell us that we no longer belong in South Africa!

The fallout from this action should be severe. It was an illegal protest against the opinion and presence of the Jewish communal leadership and the Jews who feel represented by them. More and more Jews I have spoken to are wondering if there will still be a future for them under the South African sun. It used to be that the question of violent crime was the only factor on the scales when a future in South Africa was considered. This seems to have changed.

One thing is for sure though – our political positions will not be changed through coercion or pressure. The overwhelming majority of South African Jews are proud Zionists and will continue to bravely stand against COSATU and the PSC’s illegal intimidation.

Perhaps the saddest thing about the recent pressure tactics placed on South African Jews is how it has reduced the space for dialogue within the community about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moderate voices that supported the withdrawal from Gaza, and even future withdrawals from the West Bank, have been completely silenced. Whereas last year I found myself arguing with Rabbis about the importance of making compromises, this year I find myself alongside the rest of the community – ostracised and back-to-the-wall in an environment where all energy needs to be directed around supporting Israel’s right to exist. Targeting Jews is one fool-proof way of uniting all Zionists.

View a photo album from the march here: COSATU and PSC march - photo album

Note: Whilst some Jews may argue that the march was not against the entire "Jewish community" but only against those who stand behind the communal leadership's support of Israel, when I refer to the "Jewish community", I am referring to the overwhelming majority of its residents. The 300 odd (plus ten) names we have seen on petitions -  though still members of the community who are welcome to their opinions and political positions - need to appreciate that 70 000 less 310 does indeed consitute an overwhelming majority. 

Update - we got mail

A member of the Muslim community has sent me the following mail in response to the question I posed in this entry:

You posed the question, on your blog, as to if the time is right to leave Non Racist RSA? Well let me answer that for you……… YES and the sooner the better!!! And like you mentioned ,,,, all "70 000 minus the 310" !!!!

Corrections

I was originally told that around 2000 Jewish people turned up at the counter rally. This was a serious over-exaggeration. I think 250 is a closer approximation. Apologies for the error.

Cosatu's hateful boycott - Ship with Israeli goods turns back

On Thursday night, COSATU members belonging to the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) refused to offload goods from a ship carrying Israeli goods, apparently in the face of severe provocation and threats from the dastardly pro-Israeli lobby.

COSATU has announced that they will intensify their efforts in support of the campaign of hate. Their decision to hold an illegal march against the Jewish community on Friday is an example of the increasing pressure that will be placed on South African Jews to either toe their line or leave the country.

Judging by the turnout of Jews who rushed to a last-minute solidarity rally on Friday in opposition to COSATU, I don't think we will be adopting their sickening political positions anytime soon, no matter what pressure they place on us.

South Africa - Palestine: Victory for Worker Solidarity

The worker action last night took place despite attempted subterfuge on the part of the owners of the shipping company. There was an attempt to confound the plan by arriving earlier than originally scheduled, which was 8 February. Dates for the berthing of the Johanna Russ were changed constantly. Yesterday morning, SATAWU members were told that the ship would dock this morning (Friday) at 02:00. Thanks to the vigilance of the dock workers, SATAWU discovered that the ship had docked on Wednesday morning and was due to be offloaded last night at 21:00. But the vigilant workers were on guard and immediately they realised that it had docked, they then refused to handle it, despite pressures from management. SATAWU members maintained their refusal to offload the ship and also attempted to ensure that scab labour would not be used. A few hours after berthing, at 23:00, the Johanna Russ sneaked out of the Durban Harbour. From the beginning of this action, COSATU workers remained resolute about their position and were convinced that, following the recent Israeli massacres in Gaza, they will take determined action against Israel. Israel’s terror included flagrant breaches of international law, the bombing of densely populated neighbourhoods, the illegal deployment of chemical white phosphorous, and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities and places of worship. COSATU has now decided to intensify its efforts in support of the struggles of the Palestinian people. The worker victory in Durban yesterday spurs COSATU members on to more determined action in order to isolate the Apartheid state of Israel. Other Cosatu unions are currently in discussion about how they might also give effect to Cosatu resolutions on boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, including a refusal to handle Israeli goods, and continuing pressure on our government to sever diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. The momentum against apartheid Israel has become an irresistible force. We are proud to stand with the millions around the world who say ‘Enough is enough’. They are doing what we asked them to do when we faced the apartheid regime in our own country.

Update at 2009-02-08

The Jerusalem Post has a different take on this debased COSATU "victory". Teaches me to rely on reporting from the "Anarkissimo"!

JPost: Israeli cargo ship unloaded in Durban

The Port of Durban has turned to non-union workers to unload an Israeli ship that docked on Thursday, circumventing a boycott of Israeli shipping declared by the South African transport workers union on Wednesday. According to Israeli diplomatic officials, the South African government and port authorities were "more worried than us" about the boycott announced by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU). "The historic and heroic struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination... is a struggle that SATAWU supports," said Randall Howard, general secretary of the union, as he announced the boycott on Wednesday after the union noticed an Israeli vessel in line to enter the busy port. However, dock workers discovered a legal impediment to the boycott, since strikes at the port require 48 hours notice. Regardless of the legalities, the union announced on Thursday afternoon it would go through with boycotting the ship, leading the port's management to organize non-union laborers to unload it.

So once again, COSATU took action against Israel deemed to be illegal under South African law.

Fatima Hajaig issues a veiled apology - Board accepts!

Today the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fatima Hajaig issued a crocodile apology for her recent anti-Jewish statements. Earlier reports today said that the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) had rejected her "veiled apology" but later reports have indicated that it has been fully accepted. First the earlier report - here's one from the Citizen:

An apology by Deputy Foreign Minister Fatima Hajaig yesterday for allegedly anti-Semitic remarks has made little impression on the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD). “This statement failed to address, let alone repudiate, the blatantly anti-Semitic sentiments originally expressed by her, but merely apologised for any hurt it might have caused to the Jewish community,” said the board in a statement. “It can only be concluded that Ms Hajaig stands by her previous statement that the US and most other Western countries are controlled by Jewish money power.” Hajaig said in a statement: “To the extent that my statement may have caused hurt and pain, I offer an unequivocal apology for the pain it may have caused to the people of our country, and the Jewish community in particular”. Hajaig is alleged to have said in a speech in Lenasia on January 14 that “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.” Hajaig said she wanted to reiterate that the major issue in relation to the Palestine-Israel conflict was the “enormous suffering of the Palestinian people, and the struggle for peace for all its people based on justice and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike”. The SAJBD urged the government to “unequivocally distance” itself from Hajaig’s allegations. SAJBD chairman Zev Krengel called her statement a “veiled apology” and said she had used her apology to make another statement towards the Middle East and almost “justify” what she had done. “You don’t have to be anti-Semitic to be pro-Palestinian,” he added. — Sapa.

The major change between the earlier reports and the later reports is that President Motlanthe had a meeting with Fatima were he apparently rapped her on the knuckles - see Motlanthe raps Hajaig's knuckles - following which she withdrew her comments. It's been reported that Motlanthe has refused to make the details of their discussion public. But she will keep her job.

Since then SAJBD chairman Zev Krengel is quoted as fully accepting the apology and thanking the Cabinet and President for getting her to apologise. IOL reports:

Maseko said Hajaig had accepted that the comments she made were contrary to stated government policy. "She subsequently apologised unreservedly and unequivocally for the comments, and agreed to withdraw them unconditionally." Earlier, Cabinet had "expressed concern about the statement as it was contrary to the stated polices of this government regarding anti-Semitic sentiments", he said. Maseko said Hajaig's remarks were "something that may have been an error of judgement on her part". While he could not divulge details of the conversation between Motlanthe and Hajaig, he said it was "safe to say that the president would have reiterated government policy that in fact anti-Semitism equates to racism in this country and we will not support any form of racism". The president had accepted Hajaig's withdrawal of the comments and her unqualified apology and there would be no further action against her. "The deputy minister has owned up to the mistake she has committed and government is satisfied," Maseko said. SA Jewish Board of Deputies national chairman Zev Krengel said Hajaig's apology on Wednesday was fully accepted. "We are very happy with the apology and happy that the cabinet and the president took it seriously. "We can thank cabinet and the president for getting her to apologise as she did," he said.- Sapa

I still reject her apology and stand by my statement that I cannot trust a government with her in it. In any other normal democracy she would have been sacked. Perhaps we shouldn't expect more given our department of Foreign Affairs' recent record.

More to follow, hopefully including an exaplanation from the SAJBD on why they changed their tune. I have also heard unconfirmed rumours that they are considering cancelling their case at the Human Rights Commission.

For more commentary and reporting see:

• Z-Word: Fatima - "I meant to say Zionists not Jews"
• Haaretz: S. African politician apologises for saying Jewish money controls America

Update

The SAJBD circulated the following press release to explain their decision. The important thing which a member of the Board pointed out to me, is that the label will stick. Hajaig is now known world-wide as the anti-Semitic Deputy Minister. 

Jewish Board thanks Government for Hajaig Apology 5 February 2009 The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) commends President Motlanthe and his Cabinet for ensuring that Deputy Foreign Minister Fatima Hajaig has now made an unequivocal apology for and full retraction of the unacceptable antisemitic statements she made at a rally in Lenasia last month. Previous to this, the SAJBD rejected the Deputy Minister’s original statement purporting to be an apology on the grounds that she had very clearly avoided addressing, let alone repudiating, the blatantly anti-Semitic sentiments originally expressed by her. The SAJBD is satisfied that her second apology, which came about as a result of Cabinet’s discussions on the matter and President Motlanthe’s subsequent meeting with the Deputy Minister, constitutes an appropriately unambiguous and unequivocal expression of regret for those statements. The SAJBD thanks President Motlanthe and his Cabinet for the decisive and forthright manner in which they have addressed this serious matter. This is a welcome reaffirmation of the Government’s firm commitment to combating all forms of racism and prejudice in our society, including antisemitism.

Kristallnacht in Caracas

Late Shabbat evening, 15 heavily armed men stormed the main Sephardi Synagogue in Caracas. Torah scrolls were damaged, prayer books ripped apart and anti-Semitic graffiti like ‘death to all’ and ‘Jews get out’ was strewn on the walls. The administrative officers were also broken into and official documents and computer hard drives stolen. The group also called for Jewish people to be expelled from the country.

This attack against the Venezuelan Jewish community is not an isolated incident. Over the last two years anti-Semitism in the country has sky-rocketed as the relationship between Israel and the Venezuelan government has worsened. In particular, since the outbreak of the recent war in Gaza and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, the government controlled media has been spewing anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has reported that there is a well-orchestrated campaign on TV, radio, print and Internet media owned by the government, openly questioning Israel’s right to exist. There has also been the publication of such anti-Semitic materials as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and a group of pro-government journalists is urging the population to boycott of businesses owned by Venezuela Jews.

More frightening, a system 'plan of action' was published in a pro-government digital newspaper, Aporrea.org, for mobilizing the society against Venezuela’s Jewish community and Israel. The plan calls for among other things:

• Publicly denouncing by name, the members of powerful Jewish groups in Venezuela, names of their companies and businesses in order to boycott them
• Avoiding products, stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and where Kosher food is sold which either belongs or has links with 'Zionist Jews'
• Shouting pro-Palestine and anti-Israel slogans at Jews on the street
• Inviting anti-Zionist Jews living in Venezuela to publicly express their disassociation from 'Zionist war crimes' and the imposition of artificial State of Israel on Palestine
• Nationalisation of companies, confiscation of properties of those Jews who support the Zionist atrocities of the Nazi-State of Israel, and donate this property to the Palestinian victims of today’s Holocaust
• Sending all type of aid to Palestinians including weapons
• Organizing an international conference about the creation of the theocratic - Nazi state of Israel as a genocidal European colony, and about the myths and facts of the alleged Jewish Holocaust or Holohoax (a blackmailing industry)
• Support the dissolution of the artificial State of Israel

Understandably, many in the small Venezuelan Jewish areas (about 20 000) now fear for their personal safety. One of my good friends who grew up and whose family still live there relayed to me yesterday the level of anxiety his grandmother a Holocaust survivor was feeling. Crying hysterically on the phone after hearing the news of the synagogues desecration, he tried to reconcile her by telling her to remain at home. She replied it is happening all over again. They know where we live, that’s what happened in Germany last time. They took us from our homes. Nowhere is safe now.

Many may read about the plight of Venezuela’s Jews and dismiss it as a consequence of living in an unstable Latin American country, with no relevance to them. But this analysis would be mistaken. Contrary to the perception among the mostly ignorant Anglo-Jewish world, Venezuela is the oldest democracy in South America (since 1958). Moreover, it has historically been remarkably tolerant towards Jews. It was one of the few countries after the Holocaust that opened its doors to Jewish immigration. This explosion of anti-Semitism in recent years has come as a shock to the community and is contrary to what they believe to be the values of the country.

For South African Jews in particular, Venezuela’s horrible experience should resonate strongly. Our community is also currently experiencing the early stages of a similar phenomenon. We too have been targeted by pro-Palestinian groups for a Jewish boycott (see Muslim anti-Semitism takes a leaf from the Nazis), have government ministers sprouting classical anti-Semitic canards, so far without censure (see Deputy Minister's anti-Jewish remarks on YouTube) and are being placed under tremendous pressure by civil society to denounce Israel. A recent, Pew research report found that South Africans tend to have the most negative views of Jews of all non-Muslim nations surveyed - though this has been challenged.

Now is the time for us to show solidarity with the Jews of Venezuela. The leadership of our community should at a minimum issue a press statement in support and call on our government (which has strong ties with Chavez) to denounce these acts.

In these difficult times I think it is important for all of us to keep in mind the poem "First they came..." by Pastor Martin Niemöller.

First they came... Pastor Martin Niemöller When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Below is a CNN video on the desecrated synagogue. If the video isn't showing, try the BBC version here.