South African Jewish leaders condemn ‘alarming’ antisemitic attacks in recent days
South African Jewish leaders condemned “alarming” amount of antisemitic attacks this week.
According to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, there has been a flurry of antisemitic and threatening attacks made against South African Jews both on social media and in face-to-face encounters in recent days.
On Thursday, a video showed passengers awaiting their luggage from an El Al flight into South Africa being verbally abused, and called “wicked Jews.”
A Facebook post stated:
“You people are wicked. Jews are wicked people, very wicked people.” Just landed on the El Al Flight From Tel Aviv this morning at OR Tambo International and this is what we get upon walking into the airport ! It’s time to make Aliyah !!!”
A mural with a Germany flag, with a swastika inserted in it, also appeared in Johannesburg.
There have also been increasing antisemitic rhetoric online as well in recent days, the South African Jewish group said.
“While it was unfortunately common to find antisemitic content online, it was rare for it to take so virulent and inflammatory a form as the latest reported comments,” SAJBD Chairman Shaun Zagnoev said in a statement.
“The posts show how easily radical anti-Israel sentiment can spill over into hateful slurs and threats against Jewish people in general. We are being told that we are ‘scum’, ‘rats’, ‘bastards’, ‘pigs’, ‘swine’ and ‘fat-nosed f***ks. We are further being warned that “our time is coming” and that “the Holocaust will be a picnic after we are done with you.”
The Jewish group said that it is “no coincidence” that these antisemitic incidents are coming out after South African supermodel Shashi Naidoo sparked controversy after calling the Gaza Strip a “shithole” on social media. The supermodel received several death threats from the remarks and later apologized. Naidoo had been defending popular South African DJ Black Coffee who had been attack by pro-BDS group for performing in Israel earlier this year.
South Africa has become a hotbed of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel policy and behavior in recent years.
There has been increasing pressure from pro-Palestinian organizations pushing the BDS movement in the country, as well as from the ruling African National Congress Party, which has long been hostile to Israel.
In May, South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel in the wake of the deaths of Palestinian protestors along the Israeli-Gaza border. Last December, senior Hamas figures attended the ANC’s national conference.
Earlier this month, a group of 1,500 Jews and Christians attended four pro-Israel events throughout the country focused on strengthening local pro-Israel community and countering BDS and Israel delegitimization.
JNS
Many South African Jews lived comfortably under the apartheid government, although some were in the ANC and anti apartheid, as were other South Africans.
After the corrupt ANC (post Mandela) government was re-elected over 20 years ago many Jews and White South Africans immigrated.
One has to wonder at the extreme hatred evident in passionate outbursts of anti-Semitic slogans and statements from South Africans, as well as the ridiculous accusation of apartheid aimed at Israel time and again from a people who know only too well what apartheid really is. No doubt both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu contributed to the situation with their pro-Palestinian stance, Tutu in particular being very outspoken and biased.
South Africa is an ugly place for Jews and they’d be better off out of it. The intensity of hatred for Israel has been around for many years in South Africa and now they’re turning on Jews. It’s dangerous. Let no one in the world say we don’t need the State of Israel for the Jewish people.
Part of the problem is misreporting the events. This report refers to “the deaths of protesters.”They were not merely “protesters” but mostly armed Hamas violent rioters. Why support propaganda?