(Author: David Saks, Vol. 64, #1, Pesach 2009)
No-one was particularly surprised when Operation Cast Lead – Israel’s sustained offensive against Hamas in Gaza, commencing late December 2008 and ending in mid-January this year – led to a corresponding escalation of antisemitic activity worldwide. It has come to be expected that intensified period of unrest between Israel and the Palestinian territories will act as a catalyst for intensifying anti-Jewish hostility in the Diaspora. This was very much the case during the 2006 Lebanon War, which resulted in many Diaspora countries, including South Africa, recording record levels of antisemitism for that year. Indeed, Operation Cast Lead had only been underway a few days when the predicted reports on an upsurge in such acts as assault, vandalism, hate mail, verbal abuse, graffiti and dissemination of offensive literature began flowing in.
Antisemitism levels in South Africa rose sharply during January-February 2009, corresponding to the Gaza war and its immediate aftermath. Over fifty incidents were recorded by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and Community Security Organisation, which by this country’s standards was an unusually high figure for such a short period. By comparison, the average annual total of incidents in the years 2000-2005 was a little over thirty; in 2006-8, it had risen to 68.
Antisemitic incidents elsewhere in the Diaspora were both significantly more numerous and often of a much more extreme nature. Already, some 300 incidents had been reported in the first six weeks of 2009 by UK Jewry’s Community Security Trust. France’s main Jewish association, CRIF, recorded more than 100 attacks in January including car bombs launched at synagogues, compared with an average of 20-25 a month for the previous two years. Incidents recorded included violent assaults, hate emails and graffiti threatening ‘jihad’. Similarly dramatic rises have been evident in, amongst other countries, Canada, Australia, Venezuela and Sweden.
Previously, no matter how vitriolic were the attacks on Israel, it was grudgingly acknowledged that Diaspora Jewry could not reasonably be called to account for Israeli actions. Recent developments have suggested that this is perceptibly changing, including in South Africa. Increasingly, Jews are told that it is their moral duty to join in the condemnation of Israel, and that those who dare to defend it should be regarded as complicit in the Incidents in South Africa have ranged from relatively innocuous abusive email messages targeting individuals to very serious public acts of hostility impacting on the entire community. Callers-in, and on occasion even presenters, on certain Muslim radio stations have stated that what Israel was doing to the Palestinians has made Jews anywhere in the world legitimate targets.
The Hajaig Affair
On 14 January Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatima Hajaig informed a raucously cheering crowd at a Palestinian solidarity rally in Lenasia that America and most Western countries were in the grip of Jewish money power. Her exact words were:
They [Jews] control [America], no matter which government comes into power, whether Republican or Democratic, whether Barack Obama or George Bush…Their 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.
The SAJBD laid a formal complaint against Hajaig with the SA Human Rights Commission, the concluding section of which inter alia stated the following:
Taking into consideration the prevailing environment in South Africa amongst certain elements of the Muslim community in relation to Gaza, the communication of the aforegoing statement by the Deputy Minister and the advocacy of these beliefs against the Jewish people, demonstrates a clear intention to be hurtful, be harmful or incite harm and especially to promote or propagate hatred against the Jewish people. It is undiluted and vicious hate speech which constitutes a fundamental breach of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, No 4 of 2000 (as amended) and against the spirit of the Constitution of South Africa and other ancillary legislation.
In advocating the views that she did, the Deputy Minister attempts to depict Jews worldwide as disloyal, plotting and underhand who manipulate their host societies for their own pernicious ends. It is an inescapable conclusion given the large attendance at the meeting and the radio broadcasts, that the Deputy Minister is promoting or propagating hatred against the Jewish people. The SAJBD is constrained to record that not since the pre-World War II days when there was great support for the Nazis in South Africa, has a senior politician, more especially one holding high office, behaved in this racist manner. It is shocking to hear these comments in the South Africa of today.
The SAJBD publicised the matter widely (including posting a television interview with its National Chairman Zev Krengel, in which footage of Hajaig actually making the offending comments featured). In its media statement, Board Director Wendy Kahn described the comments as “classic anti-Jewish stereotyping and conspiracy-theory mongering” of the type typically used by those wishing to portray Jews as scheming, manipulative and disloyal to the countries in which they lived”.
The Hajaig affair became something of a media cause celebre, with most commentators roundly condemning the Deputy Minister. On her return from Japan, Hajaig issued what purported to be an apology but that was in fact so evasive as to compound the original offense. The SAJBD rejected it outright in a further media release:
[Hajaig’s] statement failed to address, let alone repudiate, the blatantly antisemitic sentiments originally expressed by her, but merely apologised for any hurt it might have caused to the Jewish community.
The bulk of the statement in fact focused on the Middle East situation and Ms Hajaig’s viewpoints in this regard.
It can only be concluded that Ms Hajaig stands by her previous statement that the United States and most other Western countries are controlled by Jewish money power. As such, her latest statement does not constitute an acceptable apology but in fact serves to compounds the original insult to the Jewish world, the people of South Africa and the United States government.
The following day (4 February), Cabinet discussed the issue at its fortnightly meeting in Cape Town, that same day issuing the following statement:
Cabinet expressed concern about the statement as is was contrary to the stated policies of this government regarding antisemitic sentiments. Subsequent to the Cabinet meeting, the President held discussions with the Deputy Minister to discuss her statement. The Deputy Minister expressed her deep regret to the President for making the statement. She accepted that the comments were contrary to stated government policy. She subsequently apologised unreservedly and unequivocally for the comments and agreed to withdraw them unconditionally.
Further, she assured the President that she does not harbour any antisemitic feelings or views and that in her statement issued yesterday, she had stated that ‘she condemns, without equivocation, all forms of racism including antisemitism in all its manifestations’. The President has accepted her withdrawal of the comments and her unqualified apology and trusts that the matter has been concluded satisfactorily.
While the SAJBD believed that Hajaig should directed her apology directly to the Jewish community as well, and took this question up with the SAHRC, it decided to accept the apology – which this was unequivocally and unambiguously worded – and commend the President and Cabinet for ensuring that it had been made.
Prior to this, Hajaig had already been noted for her vitriolically anti-Israel views. On 29 December, she called the newly appointed Israel Ambassador to South Africa, Dov Segev-Steinberg, to a meeting, in the course of which she lambasted Israel for its actions in Gaza. At the conclusion of the meeting she effectively described Embassy Spokesperson Elias Imbram as being a token black whose appointment was due only to his race. Referring to Imbram, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, she asked the Ambassador, “When your colleagues in Europe attend a meeting like this do they also take someone along like the person sitting next to you?” When Segev Steinberg queried what she meant by that remark, she remarked disparagingly to her colleague, “I think we are dealing with an Ambassador here who doesn’t understand questions.” Hajaig’s behaviour on this occasion provoked an official complaint by Israel to the SA Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Threats and Boycott Campaigns
Even more troubling than Hajaig’s conspiracy theorizing were statements made at the same rally that explicitly threatened the local Jewish community, inter alia that those with Zionist sympathies be expelled from the country, that ‘Israeli’ (in fact, Jewish-owned) businesses be boycotted and that vigilante action be taken against South African families whose members were serving 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: “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 of the South African Council of Churches. Makue denied that the fight against Israel and Zionism was antisemitic, 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, again to loud applause.
It was around this time that a boycott campaign targeting Jewish-owned businesses was launched. The specific perpetrators were unknown but it was aimed primarily at the Muslim community. An unsigned e-mail stated that “most SA Jews” supported Israel’s attacks on Gaza and continued that “as consumers we can avoid supporting businesses affiliated to those who believe incendiary-bombing helpless children is justified”. It named well-known chains with what it terms Jewish connections, including Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Foschini, Nando’s and Discovery Health. A number of Muslim leaders urged Muslims to dissociate themselves from the ‘racist’ campaign against Jews and instead focus solely on boycotting Israeli products.
The Middle East conflict was brought into the heart of Jewish Johannesburg on 6 February when, at the instigation of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, an abusive mob gathered outside the Sydenham-Highland North shul to protest against the Jewish communal leadership’ stance on the Middle East question. The rally took place in defiance of the municipal authorities, who denied the requisite permission because the application to demonstrate was made at too short notice. The majority of protestors seeking to join the rally were prevented from doing so by police.
In the course of the demonstration, a banner bearing the image of the Magen David juxtaposed with a swastika was burned and stamped on. Cosatu spokesman Bongani Masuku said: “We want to convey a message to the Jews in South Africa that our 1.9-million workers who are affiliated to Cosatu are fully behind the people of Palestine. Any business owned by Israel supporters will be a target of workers in South Africa.”
An Israeli witness further reported that “Death to the Jews” was being shouted in Arabic.
Masuku went on to post a threatening and abusive comment on the It’s Almost Supernatural blogsite, part of which read: “Every Zionist must be made to drink the bitter medicine they are feeding our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We must target them, expose them and do all that is needed to subject them to perpetual suffering until they withdraw from the land of others”. Challenged on this by a Jewish community member, he responded (amongst other offensive comments) that anyone who sought “to justify the murderous state of Israel” should not merely be encouraged but forced to leave South Africa.
Masuku made further public threats when speaking on Wits University campus on 5 March. On four occasions, he used the expression “… make their lives hell …” when referring to what COSATU’s intentions were regarding those who supported Israel. This included a specific reference to students (clearly Jewish students) on the Wits campus by stating, “… COSATU has got members here even on this campus; we can make sure that for that side it will be hell …”
Particularly menacing language was used by Masuku in reference to Jewish families whose children were supposedly serving in the Israeli Defence Force: “… The following things are going to apply: any South African family, I want to repeat so that it is clear, any South African family who sends its son or daughter to be part of the Israeli Defence Force must not blame us when something happens to them with immediate effect ….”
On 25 March, the SAJBD lodged a formal complaint against Masuku with the SAHRC.
Also taking place on 6 February was a mass protest rally at the Buzme Adab Hall in Actonville, Benoni. Amongst those participating were Gauteng MEC for Safety and Security Firoz Cachalia, COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, SA Council of Churches General Secretary Eddie Makue, and former Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils. Neither had anything to say when one of the speakers, Moosa Alkumi, blamed the First and Second World Wars and war in Iraq on Jewish machinations, described Judaism as “a religion based on lies on deceit” and declared: “To the Zionists who are listening in, we want you to drown in the blood of the victims”.
An environment is clearly being created in which Jews, and anyone else, who wish to defend Israel are being intimidated into remaining silent, with the intimation that before long even silence will not be an acceptable option.
Biased and emotive media reports continually focusing on Palestinian civilian casualties without holding the Hamas leadership accountable also greatly intensified anti-Israel hostility. In all, the Gaza crisis was a major fillip for those campaigning for the country to sever all its ties with Israel, whether diplomatic, economic or cultural. However, in a meeting with the leadership of the SAJBD and SAZF on 16 January, President Kgalema Motlanthe unequivocally affirmed that South Africa had no intention of following the boycott route.
In March, antisemitism levels in South Africa declined dramatically, with only a handful of minor incidents being reported. This, as much as the surge in antisemitic behaviour in the previous two months, showed how interconnected the Middle East situation and Diaspora antisemitism have become.
The current assessment must be that South African Jewry is in no more, and indeed somewhat less, immediate danger than its counterparts in Europe and other Western countries. Balanced against this, however, is the reality that it must endure a far more intensive degree of public hostility to its traditional Zionist loyalties.
David Saks is Associate Director of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs.
