THEY CAME, THEY BUILT, THEY LEFT – JEWS AND ZIMBABWE

How plausible is Matabeleland in present day Zimbabwe –formerly Rhodesia – of ever gaining independence? How plausible is it for Jews to find genuine acceptance in Africa or anywhere else for that matter? Both questions were addressed – if not answered – by the founding President of the Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) Mqondisi Moyo in a statement dated 22 August 2026 where in his quest for self-determination of the peoples of Mthwakazi, laments the loss to Zimbabwe of its Jewish community.
Unique amongst political leaders anywhere in the world today, Moyo’s core question throughout his statement is in the Matabeleland of the future:
“How do we persuade the Jews to come back?”
See statement below and imagine a European leader asking the same question with any genuine sincerity.

David E. Kaplan
Editor Lay of the Land

ASK WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOUR COUNTRY

Statement by Mqondisi Moyo

President, Mthwakazi Republic Party

Date: 22 August 2026

Jewish history in this land did not begin with Rhodesia.

Daniel Montague Kisch was in Lobengula’s kingdom in the early 1870s and served as an adviser to King Lobengula, two decades before the colonial state existed. Whatever else may be said about the relationship between Jews and this land, it did not arrive with settlers. It preceded them.

I begin there deliberately, because the rest of this history has too often been filed under somebody else’s story.

There were never many

At its height, the entire Jewish population of this country numbered just over seven thousand people. The national population was then approaching four million. Jews therefore accounted for about two people in every thousand. In Bulawayo, where Jewish life was strongest, the community reached a little more than three thousand at its peak.

And yet consider what they did.

The Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation was established in 1894. Jews became merchants, industrialists, doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, teachers and civic leaders. They established industries. They were prominent in furniture, farming and clothing. They employed people. They built businesses and institutions.

Bulawayo’s first mayor was Jewish. Isidore Hirschler took office on November 25, 1897, serving from 1897 to 1898. Several later mayors were Jewish. Bulawayo’s first newspaper – The Matabele Times and Mining Journal – was owned and edited by a Jew – William Francis Wallenstein.

Rev. Moses Isaac Cohen, the spiritual leader of the Bulawayo Jewish community, helped shape the development of public education and served as a mediator in industrial disputes.

Jewish families built schools, synagogues, welfare organisations, sporting institutions, businesses and factories. They put down roots, raised families and helped build the place they called home.

Their numbers were tiny.

Their contribution was not.

We should be capable of saying that plainly.

We should also be capable of saying what follows.

I will not romanticise Rhodesia in order to honour them. The colonial order inflicted profound injustice on the indigenous peoples of this land. Honouring what Jewish families built here does not require anyone to forget conquest, racial discrimination or dispossession. A mature country must be capable of holding more than one truth at the same time. We can condemn the injustices of the colonial period. We can condemn the failures and abuses that followed it. We can recognise the ordinary human beings, including a very small Jewish minority, who nevertheless built lives, professions and institutions that became part of the fabric of this country.

There is a harder thing still, and I would rather say it myself than have somebody else say it for me.

In the 1930s, while Jews in Europe were searching desperately for countries willing to receive them, the authorities of Southern Rhodesia placed barriers in their way. People fleeing a catastrophe were treated as an immigration problem.

We know now where that catastrophe led.

There is something painful about remembering that from Bulawayo today. Governments here once asked how many Jews they should allow in.

I want the Matabeleland of the future to ask a different question.

How do we persuade them to come back?

Because we lost them.

Current community estimates suggest that only about eighty Jews remain in Zimbabwe. A community that had been here for more than a century, and that had contributed far beyond its size, has almost disappeared. Families whose names were part of the life of this city are now in South Africa, Israel, Britain, the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

I will not pretend every family left for the same reason. Political instability played its part. War played its part. Economic destruction played its part. Insecurity and uncertainty played their parts. At times there was hostility and antisemitic rhetoric as well. History is more complicated than a single cause – but the result is not complicated.

They are almost gone.

And here is what I want to say to my own people first, before I say anything to anybody else.

We understood that departure as a Jewish story. We treated it as a demographic fact about somebody else. That was a failure of comprehension, and it was ours.

The conditions that make a country unliveable for a small and historically vulnerable minority are usually conditions that will not remain confined to that minority. Scapegoating, arbitrary power, expropriation, lawlessness and the collapse of equal citizenship do not stop at the edge of a minority. What reaches the vulnerable first eventually reaches others.

The country did not decline because its Jews left. Their departure was instead evidence of pressures that would later become impossible for the wider society to ignore.

When Jews begin to ask whether their children have a future in a country, that country should treat the question as an early warning about the condition of its institutions.

We did not treat it that way. We should have.

I do not presume to lecture countries richer, older or more powerful than ours. I have no standing to do so and no intention of trying. I can only tell them what this looks like from the other side, because we have already made that mistake and we are still living inside the result.

We once had a small Jewish community here. We watched it become smaller. We treated that as a Jewish demographic fact.

Only later did we understand that the forces making them uncertain about their future were also damaging ours.

So when Jews begin asking whether their children have a future in your country, do not ask only what is happening to the Jews.

Ask what is happening to your country.

This is not only our history.

Baghdad once had a Jewish community numbered in the tens of thousands. So did Cairo and Alexandria. Jewish communities that had lived for centuries in Tripoli, Algiers and Sana’a are now shadows or memories. They left, fled or were expelled under differing combinations of persecution, dispossession, insecurity and political pressure. Their histories differ, and I do not pretend otherwise.

Governments should notice when an ancient minority concludes that it no longer has a future among them.

I speak about this as the leader of a people whose own mass killing by the state remains unresolved, whose dead still await full accounting, and whose history has too often been treated as an inconvenience to the national story. I do not compare our suffering with the Holocaust. I say only that we know something about what happens when a state decides that memory itself is negotiable.

If we are prepared to be honest about the failures of the past, we must be equally ambitious about the future.

We are trying to recover from decades of bad governance, economic decline and institutions that too often failed the people they were supposed to serve. We do not have the luxury of recreating those failures under a different flag.

A new country has one advantage that an old political system often does not. It can ask, from the beginning: What works?

We should look around the world without embarrassment. Where another country has found a better way to protect property, educate children, encourage enterprise, attract investment, develop technology, administer justice or protect minorities, we should study it. Where an institution works, we should learn from it. Mthwakazi should take the best ideas we can find and adapt them intelligently to our own circumstances.

Mthwakazi should not aspire merely to become another state. It should aspire to become an exceptionally well-governed one.

That is why I am prepared to say now, before we hold power, what a free Matabeleland will guarantee.

A movement that possesses no sovereign state can still declare in advance the terms on which it intends to govern. I would rather be held to a promise made in advance than praised for one made after the fact.

Equal citizenship. Irrespective of ethnicity, religion or language, as a founding constitutional principle and not a later amendment.

Equal protection of religious institutions. The synagogue, the church, the mosque and the traditional sacred place, protected on identical terms, without hierarchy among them.

Rejection of scapegoating. A free Matabeleland will not tolerate the scapegoating of any community for the failures of the state. That includes antisemitism in all its forms, whether expressed as religious hatred or ethnic hostility, or repackaged for political convenience — because a country that permits hatred of its smallest community has already begun permitting hatred of everybody else.

Equal application of self-determination. Mthwakazi cannot demand recognition for itself while declaring the national self-determination of any other people uniquely illegitimate. A standard that applies to us must apply to everybody, and a standard that excludes one people alone is not a standard. It is a prejudice with paperwork.

Heritage and reconnection. The future state will establish a facilitated pathway to residence and citizenship for descendants of families with a documented historic connection to Matabeleland who wish to re-establish that connection, including descendants of the historic Jewish communities of Bulawayo and Matabeleland.

Nobody should have to be ethnically Ndebele to belong fully to Matabeleland.

Nobody should have to belong to the majority religion.

Nobody should have to surrender his history, her language, their faith or their identity in exchange for acceptance.

A Jewish child growing up in Bulawayo should be able to say, without qualification: this is my country too.

That is the standard. A future Matabeleland cannot demand justice for the Mthwakazi people while withholding it from anybody else. That would not be liberation. It would merely change who holds the power to exclude.

Today we possess no sovereign state, no national army, no treasury, no diplomatic service and no seat at the United Nations. But precisely because we are asking the world to judge whether we are capable of statehood, we should say in advance what we intend to do with state power if it is ever entrusted to us.

We intend to use it to protect belonging, not ration it.

I will go further, because a principle that costs nothing is not a principle.

A sovereign Matabeleland will establish full and resident diplomatic relations with the State of Israel from the beginning of its independence, and will apply to the Jewish people the same principle of national self-determination it claims for the people of Mthwakazi.

We do not make that commitment because we expect anything in return. We make it because one standard must mean one standard. A people asking the world to recognise its right to self-determination cannot ask the world to suspend that principle for somebody else.

Departure can tell a country something about itself. Return can tell it something too.

If one day Jewish families who left this country decide that their children once again have a future here, I will regard that not as a favour they have done for us, but as evidence that we have succeeded in changing what this country is.

It will tell us that we have begun to get the country right.

Now the part I have been building toward.

To the Jews whose grandparents lived in Bulawayo. To the families who remember the streets, schools, shops, synagogues and homes of this city. To those now living in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tel Aviv, London, New York, Sydney and elsewhere.

Come home.

Come and see the city your families helped build. Come and show your children where their grandparents lived. And if we succeed in creating the free, democratic and lawful Matabeleland for which we struggle, come and consider building here again.

We ask you to return because you belong to this history.

We ask you to return because your departure diminished us.

We ask you to return because the country we intend to build must be one in which a small minority never again has to wonder whether there is a place for it.

Bring your children. Bring your traditions. Reopen institutions. Create new ones. Pray here if you wish. Build here if you wish. Teach here. Work here. Retire here. Raise your families here. Or simply come because this was once your family’s home and you wish to make it home again.

We will protect your synagogue as we protect the church, the mosque and the traditional sacred place.

We will protect your property because the law protects everyone’s property.

We will protect your freedom of worship because religious liberty belongs to everyone.

We will protect your equality because citizens do not require the permission of a majority to belong.

If that requires us to humble ourselves before families who once concluded that their future could no longer be here, then we should humble ourselves. If we must ask them to trust us again, then we should ask.

A country’s greatness is not measured by how powerful its majority becomes.

It is measured by how safe its smallest minority feels.

It is measured by whether people want to stay.

It is measured by whether those who left would ever trust us enough to return.

Come home.

Not to the country as it was.

Come home to the country we have learned that we must become.

A free country. A democratic country. A country governed by law. A country secure enough in its own identity that it has no reason to fear anybody else’s.

That is the Matabeleland worth fighting for.

That is the Matabeleland I hope will one day be worthy of welcoming its Jews home.

About the writer:

*Mqondisi Moyo* is the founding President of the Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP), which was formally launched in Bulawayo on 11 January 2014. Born in 1978 and raised at Gwandavale in Matobo, Moyo has spent more than a decade advocating for the political rights and self-determination of the peoples of Mthwakazi. He contested the Matobo North parliamentary constituency as the MRP candidate in Zimbabwe’s 2018 elections. Under his leadership, the MRP pursues the peaceful, democratic and internationally recognized restoration of Mthwakazi and has campaigned on Gukurahundi accountability, political and economic marginalization, cultural and language rights, migration, and regional and international engagement. Moyo advocates resolving Mthwakazi’s political status through lawful and nonviolent means.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

HAMAS’S WAR ON GAZA’S CHILDREN

Gazans describe the machinery of indoctrination and coercion and why it will endure while Hamas remains armed.

By Andrew Fox

For more than a generation, Hamas’s indoctrination of Gaza’s children has sat at the edge of public discussion. As far back as 2001, human rights organisations were already reporting that Hamas had recruited 15-year-olds, with 12 being the youngest recorded age.

Public argument about Gaza speaks constantly about civilians, often at a distance from the people enduring the war. This video records Gazans interviewed in recent weeks describing their own experiences of Hamas.

They speak of discovering that Hamas had lied to them. Their accounts describe children being recruited with money and false promises, under the shadow of armed coercion. In the system they portray, a child’s life is expendable.

Their testimony suggests a strong practical link between disarmament and deradicalisation. So long as Hamas retains armed control, the teachers and preachers who sustain its recruitment system can operate under the organisation’s protection. Any attempt to reform education will remain vulnerable while that machinery retains coercive force.

**Hamas Summer Camp**. Palestinian boys take part in a semi-military exercise during a summer camp organized by the Hamas movement in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Disarming Hamas is a civilian necessity, though carrying it out is exceptionally difficult. Gaza’s children remain at risk while an armed organisation can indoctrinate and recruit them in service of its own survival. I have examined the practical obstacles to the Gaza ceasefire in depth, in an extensive three-part series (here).

Ahmad Fouad Alkhatib drew attention on X this week to an appalling video of a child being sent into harm’s way. Gabriel Epstein has collected material identifying apparent child soldiers through wartime images and eulogies released by armed groups or relatives. This phenomenon warrants far closer investigation than they have received from the world’s media.

**Training for Tomorrow.** Preparing young boys to kill Israeli Jews in 2014 at a Hamas training camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. They were ready on October 7, 2023. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Before the war, 50 per cent of Gaza’s population was under 18. Male fatalities disproportionately outnumber female fatalities in the 10–14 and 15–19 age groups, whereas the figures for children aged 0–4 and 5–9 show no comparable divergence. Evidence suggests that underage recruitment is a viable and increasingly likely explanation.

Please feel free to download and share this video, either here or on X. The full scale of this child abuse remains undiscussed. This makes the unanswered questions more urgent.

About the writer:

A veteran of three grueling tours of Afghanistan, Major Andrew Fox holds a Batchelor’s degree in Law & Politics, a Master’s in Military History & War Studies, Msc in Psychology and is currently studying for a PhD in History.

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter – 30 August 2026

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THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 24–27 August 2026
(Click on the blue title)

Lay of the Land’s Image ‘Photo/Image Pick of the Week‘

OLD PILLAR, NEW DESIGN

While Israel’s kibbutzim and moshavim have shed many of its iconic founding structures, October 7reveals that the core fundamentals of ‘social bonds’ and ‘community identity’ remain deeply resilient.

Circulating this week on *Jerusalem Post* online, this image of members of all ages taking part in festive celebrations earlier this year at Kibbutz Hukok in the Lower Galilee, captures that enduring spirit and preservation of values. (Photo: MICHAEL GILADI/FLASH90)

ARTICLES

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

THE GHOULS FEEDING ON HIND RAJAB’S DEATH

An IDF investigation has produced no verdict and no new evidence of guilt. The online mob is exploiting the tragedy for clicks anyway.
By Andrew Fox

**Carrion Call**. Literally feeding off the dead, the moment the criminal investigation was announced, a
a malicious media called it as an admission of guilt designed – asserts the writer – “*to trick*”
news consumers into confusing “*suspicion with conviction*.”

THE GHOULS FEEDING ON HIND RAJAB’S DEATH
(Click on the blue title)

(2)

THE RAMAPHOSA / PEREZ MEETING–PATHOS OR POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM?

What truly lies behind the much-publicized meeting between South Africa’s President and the Rabbi parent of a SA-born Israeli soldier killed in the war in Gaza?
By Peter Bailey

**Mixed Messaging**. Endangering Jews globally by maligning the Jewish state with dangerously false accusations of genocide, SA president, Cyril Ramaphosa meets with Rabbi Doron and Shelly Perez, parents of slain son, Daniel, killed in action on the 7 October, 2023.

THE RAMAPHOSA / PEREZ MEETING–PATHOS OR POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM?
(Click on the blue title)

(3)

WORDS AND DEEDS MATTER: THE ALARMING RISE IN STOCHASTIC ANTISEMITISM IN SOUTH AFRICA

Is a Jewish presence in South Africa inextricably tied to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has led to localized harassment?
By Yoram Blumstein

**Disturbing Question**. In the face of rising anti-Israel sentiment in South Africa, is it still safe for Jews
in South Africa – outside the protective safe zones – to visually identify themselves in public?

WORDS AND DEEDS MATTER: THE ALARMING RISE IN STOCHASTIC ANTISEMITISM IN SOUTH AFRICA
(Click on the blue title)

(4)

ELUL, REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS

Elul reminds us that repentance is not only about regret for past shortcomings but choosing a better direction for the future.
By Jonathan Feldstein

**Taking Stock of one’s Self**. Currently in the Biblical month of Elul, we examine where we have been, where we are going, and how our actions align with our values with each morning the Shofar blowing to awaken the conscience as we prepare for judgement.

ELUL, REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS
(Click on the blue title)

LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

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ELUL, REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS

Elul reminds us that repentance is not only about regret for past shortcomings but choosing a better direction for the future.

By Jonathan Feldstein

We are almost half way through the Biblical month of Elul during which Jewish communities around the world enter a sacred season of prayerful reflection. Elul is the time of cheshbon nefesh, the mother of all soul searching, an honest accounting before God. It is a season of repentance, of examining motives in our own hearts. Closely connected to repentance is forgiveness, and for both of which at this season there is a systematic approach.

Just as some couples might mark a significant anniversary with a renewal of their wedding vows, we turn to God annually to renew our commitment to Him with deep sincerity and actions. Part of that reverence for God is also a commitment to repair relations between people. We cannot revere Him, and be thoughtless or insensitive to one another with impunity. During Elul, the shofar is sounded each morning as a vivid wake-up call, reminding us to awaken and prepare for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah – the New Year – and Yom Kippur – the Day of Repentance.

I wish you could hear the shofar outside my window each morning, from nearby synagogues and the balconies of people’s homes. It’s spiritually stirring and essential. Every day. It’s like a snooze button on an alarm clock that you can’t turn off, and shouldn’t want to.

This ancient rhythm of introspection and repentance speaks powerfully to us in many ways. Scripture calls us to examine ourselves, to repent, and to realign our lives with the purposes of God. In this season, we dig deep about not only what needs repair in our private lives, but also what faithfulness looks like toward one another personally, and toward God.

We can and should renew that at least annually. Through prayer, introspection, and action.

The interrelated theme of forgiveness also is actively present as we make a proactive commitment as part of the soul searching to assess who we might have harmed over the previous year, apologize, and seek their forgiveness. I am approached by Christian friends frequently to understand Jewish concepts. Recently forgiveness has been one of the more common themes. Forgiveness is a unique concept in Judaism and Christianity, yet Jews and Christians approach forgiveness differently. In Judaism, especially at this season, the obligation is to do a soul searching and ask for forgiveness. There’s a general notion that forgiveness is not to be dispensed like a product from a vending machine, but actively sought out with sincerity.

Three years ago, a rabbi friend shared with me words that have stayed with me since. “To ask for forgiveness involves a bit of embarrassment, a humbling of one’s ego, a recognition of the frailty of the human condition; so it pains us, but we do it, eventually. But this experience pales in comparison to the final level of forgiveness, bestowing it! Asking for forgiveness involves one set of character traits, using one’s ‘humility muscles’; giving forgiveness on the other hand involves a whole other area of human nature compassion, love, and respect.”

More succinctly, the simple truism “To err is human; to forgive, divine” is the rudder for this process this season. When there is a sincere plea for forgiveness, our response can be divine in nature, or it can be very human. It’s up to us.

Both traditions offer profound teachings on mercy, repentance, and reconciliation rooted in Torah, the Prophets, the Gospels, and centuries of interpretation. But many questions, nuances, and differences exist. How do Jewish concepts like teshuvah and divine pardon relate to Christian ideas of grace and atonement? How do we approach forgiveness from our respective traditions on an individual basis, and in relation to God? Where do the traditions converge, and where do they diverge in theology and in practice? As we enter the High Holiday season, on August 27 there will be a deep, honest, and thoughtful conversation on the Inspiration from Zion webinar series doing a deep dive into Jewish and Christian perspectives on forgiveness. Registration is free.

I look at this overall topic definitely from the perspective of creating understanding, but I also think these are the cornerstones of what make me a better Jew and human being. There are specific Jewish customs that make the idea of forgiveness universal which make the topic relevant to us all whether we are specifically mindful of these during this season, or anytime.

As an overall theme, ideas surrounding forgiveness come up a lot in my regular engagement with Christians. But this year there was one unsettling experience, a message I received from a Pastor I used to respect and with whom I had not been in touch for many years after he did something terrible to me, the ripple effect of which I still feel. Out of the blue he wrote:

“There is so much I need to share with you including a long overdue apology for horrible act of selfishness from many years ago I have never forgotten that cruel act that I have to confess to you and seek your forgiveness.”

Albeit without the details and context here, I will look forward to use this to illustrate the conversation, my response, and about which I will make myself vulnerable to open evaluation by the rabbi and pastor who will represent their respective traditions. Was his appeal to me sincere?

Should I have forgiven him?

Given him a hearing?

I’m interested in what the rabbi and pastor have to say.

Elul reminds us that repentance is not only about regret for past shortcomings. It is about choosing a better direction for the future. Both on a personal level and vis-à-vis God, forgiveness and repentance must be cornerstones of doing so. One might ask more than rhetorically what might appear to be a chicken and egg question of which comes first, or in this case which is the foundation for the other: can there be repentance without forgiveness or forgiveness without repentance.

None of us are perfect and I stand as personal testimony to that. If I am being honest, I need to acknowledge my shortcomings interpersonally and to and in relation to God. If I am being honest, I should dub myself King of the Imperfect because this season is about me and my behaviors, not about or judging others.

The alarm clock is sounding. Sounding the shofar each day is a good literal and figurative wake up call for each of us. Let me give you one.

Whether in personal prayer and introspection, or part of an important interfaith dialogue to explore the parameters, if only once a year this is a good time to take personal accounting of one’s behaviors and even if we don’t come out of it perfect, at least not to make the same mistakes again in the coming year.

About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Journal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 24-27 August 2026

24 August 2026 – Why are kites a source of anxiety, the hypocrisy of the international community and more on The Israel Brief.

25 August 2026 – A $10 million bounty on who? Why kites are an issue and more on The Israel Brief.

26 August 2026 – Will Saudi Arabia recognize Israel and Roro has a teary moment honouring an icon. This and more on The Israel Brief.

27 August 2026 – IsraAID team deploy to Nepal, UN Sec Gen admits special rapporteurs “out of control” and so much more on The Israel Brief.

WORDS AND DEEDS MATTER: THE ALARMING RISE IN STOCHASTIC ANTISEMITISM IN SOUTH AFRICA

Is a Jewish presence in South Africa inextricably tied to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has led to localized harassment?

By Yoram Blumstein

Recently, while I was having a drink at a restaurant in a South African city, an American woman approached me and complimented my Magen David (Star of David) necklace. I responded that I wear it proudly as it signifies my Jewish and Zionist identity. Since she wore a splendid Magen David gold bracelet, I returned the compliment. However, as the conversation gravitated towards our common Jewish identity, she mentioned that wearing her bracelet has elicited negative comments from some South Africans. This was unnerving and dawned upon me that antisemitism in South Africa has increased exponentially since October 7^th. It would be wholly inaccurate to label South Africa as inherently antisemitic. Still, the South African government, some opposition parties, and pro-Palestine organizations have provided an enabling ecosystem for the oldest form of hatred to flourish in the country. Against this background and based on recent evidence, this article examines the rise of stochastic antisemitism, the key drivers and agendas behind it, and the strategies that the South African Jewish community should employ to counter this diabolical trajectory.

WHAT IS STOCHASTIC ANTISEMETISM?

The concept has roots in its parent concept: “stochastic terrorism”. In short, stochastic antisemitism refers to the use of mass media, febrile political rhetoric, and public platforms to “demonize” and spread disinformation and malicious conspiracy theories about Jewish people and Israel. How does it work in practice? Firstly, while the actor is careful not to issue a direct command to commit a crime (antisemitic act), the hostile ecosystem or cosmos they generate makes an “act of violence or harassment statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.” Secondly, the actor fans rhetorical flames, and when an extremist or radicalized individual acts on it, the actor claims plausible deniability. South Africa fits this framework through a toxic mix of state and non-state tiers.

**Disturbing Question**. In the face of rising anti-Israel sentiment in South Africa, is it still safe for Jews in South Africa to visually identify themselves in public?(Photo: Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

FACING THE FACTS

Since October 7^th, global antisemitism has become violent, normalized, and familiar tropes about the Jewish people and Israel have been amplified on university campuses, multilateral institutions (like the United Nations and its associated agencies), workplaces, and tourist destinations frequented by Jews and Israelis, while Israeli artists and academics have been constant targets for boycotts and exclusions. Jews in Australia, the United States (US), Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK) have been subjected to deadly attacks, while state-sponsors of antisemitism – Spain, Ireland, Turkey, and South Africa – claim plausible deniability for their false assertions of genocide against the only Jewish state. The only genocide that occurred was on October 7^th when Hamas terrorists breached the Israel-Gaza border fence and murdered more than 1,200 Jews and Israelis. In Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered documents detailing explicit instructions from the late Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, to kidnap and kill as many Jews as possible during the terrorist organization’s “Al-Aqsa Flood” offensive.

**It’s an Israeli Plot**. Amidst South Africa’s 2026 embarrassing xenophobic wave of unrest, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola joined Justice Minister Kubayi, suggesting that foreign actors — implying Israel — may be responsible to undermine South Africa’s global human rights standing. (Photo: DIRCO)

In South Africa, considered by many Jews to be a safe space to practice their religion and traditions, antisemitism, albeit not violent relative to other countries with large Jewish Diaspora communities, has reached stratospheric levels since October 7^th. The then African National Congress (ANC)-led government’s decision to charge the Jewish state with a spurious genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) provided fodder for extremist elements in government and civil society to use the narrative and physical battle space to spread modern blood libels against Jews in South Africa, garnished with familiar racists tropes such as “Zionists”, “settler colonialists”, “occupiers”, “baby killers”, “an apartheid state”, “death to Israel and the IDF”, and other stereotypes. In addition, senior government ministers such as Ronald Lamola (Department of International Relations and Cooperation – DIRCO) and Mmamoloko Kubayi (Justice and Constitutional Development) made oblique, yet absurd, remarks that Israel may have stoked the recent xenophobic attacks against African migrants, as its purported foreign involvement is linked to the ICJ case. Relatedly, extremist foreign pundits and celebrities breached the threshold for idiocy and conspiracy theories by blaming the Jewish state for the recent influx of 60,000 African migrants from Morocco to Spain. This is nothing more than an aggregation of modern blood libels against Jews and the State of Israel.

**Jews behind Turmoil**. In the midst of the ugly 2026 anti-illegal immigration protests in South Africa, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi’ (above) suggested that Israel was behind the turmoil to try undermine South Africa in retaliation for its “genocide” case against Israel at The Hague. Joining the antisemitic bandwagon, former EFF MP, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi insinuated that Israel had been waiting for an opportunity to damage the country’s reputation. (Photo Frennie Shivambu )

Although the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) painted a rather sanguine picture of the safety of Jews in the latest edition of The Jewish Report, the methodology and statistics used by the Board’s antisemitic monitoring unit compare violent incidents relative to larger Jewish Diaspora communities in the West, which belies the increased weaponization of antisemitic propaganda on media platforms in South Africa. Batsheva Shulman penned an article in The Jerusalem Report (July 28, 2026) wherein she posits that South African Jews feel relatively safe to wear religious symbols (such as kippot) but often conceal their Zionism due to a torrent of campus and institutional pressures, as well as the anti-Israel mien of the South African government and the pro-Palestine lobby. Shulman’s article neglected to mention that most South African Jews, including this writer, cherish the State of Israel as their eternal homeland, whose establishment was the culmination of Theodore Herzl’s (z”l) vision of a permanent homeland for the Jewish people. References to Israel as a Zionist state are rather an affront to the Jewish people, as the Zionist debate ended when David Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Admittedly, the principles of Zionism (as evidenced in naming conventions of Jewish organizations) exist as an eternal flame of our Jewish identity, and it would be remiss to treat that ideology through a negative prism. This is exactly what anti-Zionist cheerleaders, such as Megan Choritz, are espousing. Choritz is currently contesting a R500,000 ($31,000) defamation case brought by Professor Adam Mendelsohn of the University of Cape Town (UCT), who alleges that she maligned his reputation on social media platforms. When it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the narrative or cognitive battlespace is controlled by the anti-Zionists. The narrative domain, as Ajit Maan (a leading expert on narrative and cognitive warfare) has noted, has emerged as the new center of gravity in modern conflict, and this applies to extremist actors as well. Maan’s theory upends the great Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz’s canonical traditional centers of gravity, which often treat information or psychological operations as support mechanisms for kinetic warfare. By contrast, Maan cogently argues, by way of “narrative identity theory,” that messages or narratives not only target the “audience,” but effectively become the “audience.” For example, malicious actors (especially the pro-Palestine lobby in South Africa) can manipulate an “audience” by linking the Israel-Palestine conflict to that audience’s historical trauma (misguided analogies between apartheid South Africa and Israel’s relations with the Palestinians). By cementing this narrative, the target “audience” rejects countervailing perspectives and foolishly believes it is in control of the “objective reality.” This dynamic has galvanized extremists, both on the right and left, to resort to information warfare against South African Jews and Israel. Their actions have spurred egregious statements by organizations and individuals with strong ideological ties to Iran, Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad during public rallies.

**Sign of the ‘Times’**. Out in the public domain, the county’s popular Sunday Times headlines that Justice Minister Mamoloko Kubayi implies Israel was behind anti-immigrant protests.

AN UPTICK IN ANTISEMETIC STATEMENTS AND INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE

According to community security organizations (CSOs), there has been a discernible spike in antisemitic incidents since mid-2026, especially in Gauteng. These incidents include verbal abuse, online harassment and doxxing, while physical assaults remained rare. The pro-Palestine “useful idiots” continue to protest outside Cape Union Mart – a large Jewish-owned retail outlet. Philip Krawitz, Executive Chairman of the Cape Union Mart Group of Companies – a mensch and humanitarian – received repeated online and verbal threats to his life, so much so that he spent a period abroad and beefed up his security. To protect his reputation and businesses, Krawitz took the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) to the Western Cape High Court on the legal basis that labeling him a “genocide funder” and “baby killer” are defamatory and breached the threshold of peaceful protest and freedom of speech. Subsequently, the said court heard arguments over three days from Krawitz’s legal team and the PSC’s in mid-June 2026. The court reserved judgment, and at the time of writing, no date has been announced for a final ruling. The PSC’s political slogans, “From the river to the sea…”, “Zionism is colonialism”, and “Globalize the Intifada” are political shibboleths as these canards are being used to create a Manichean view of Israel and the Jewish people. Therefore, these shibboleths are used in a nuanced way by “useful idiots” to unilaterally determine who is an enemy (Zionist) and ally (anti-Zionist).

**Attacking Jewish Business**. Anti-Israel activists’ picket outside the Western Cape High Court where Cape Union Mart and its Jewish owner Philip Krawitz are petitioning the court to prohibit the Palestine Solidarity Campaign over weekly protests held outside the company’s stores since 2023 and from making “defamatory statements” and intimidating customers. (Photos: Matthew Hirsch)

To add fuel to antisemitic fire, on August 2nd, 2026, Haroon Orrie, the national coordinator of the Cape Town-based extremist and vigilante movement, People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), addressed a pro-Palestine rally in Cape Town, where he warned Zionists (by implication, Jews) and their supporters to “find a rock to hide under” and threatened to “unleash the party of Allah.” At the same gathering, the supporters (who were predominantly Muslim) waved flags of Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the head of the terrorist octopus, the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Cape Council of the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) has exhorted the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to investigate Orrie’s vituperative statements for potential violations of the Riotous Assemblies Act, the Intimidation Act, and anti-terrorism laws. PAGAD, which was previously outlawed in 2002 due to erstwhile urban bombing campaigns and high-profile assassinations in its anti-crime ideology on the Cape Flats, has managed to reconstitute itself as a movement bent on social activism. Yet, glimpses of its status quo ante are resurfacing in extremist mode. Hitherto, no action has been taken against Orrie and those of similar ilk, who continue to spew Jew-hatred in the digital and physical domains. This is indicative of a tolerant cosmos, spearheaded by the Hamas- and Iran-enamored South African government, which continues to threaten South African Jews, who serve in the IDF, with arrest. This is utter balderdash and hypocrisy since leading pro-Palestine activists continue their antisemitic encouragement with reckless abandon.

**Looking for Scapegoats**. It is images like this of an anti-migrant protest march through Johannesburg’s Alexandra township on 16 July 2026, that government ministers are suggestion Israel may have a hand in. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu via Reuters)

WHO ARE THE KEY DRIVERS OF THE STOCHASTIC NARRATIVE?

As pointed out earlier, stochastic antisemitism in the South African context refers to hostile anti-Zionist political discourse that can indirectly incite and normalize antisemitic incidents by providing a permissive environment. However, calls for direct violence or hatred against Jews are not intended. Notwithstanding this, in the South African context, the stochastic narrative gains traction at the intersection of the ANC-led government’s geopolitical posturing, as well as historical anti-Jewish/Israel racial stereotyping and tropes. These narratives have been operationalized and weaponized to equate Jews, pro-Israel institutions and businesses with the actions and military policies of the Israeli government. Thus, the vast majority of South African Jews, in the eyes of the extremist pro-Palestine, bear collective responsibility for the actions of the Israeli government in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), as well as Gaza. While not every criticism of Israel is necessarily antisemitic, the conduct of the South African government and its supporters in the pro-Palestine lobby makes the distinction inscrutable. Government officials, ANC bigwigs, and pro-Palestine advocacy groups are the key drivers of stochastic antisemitism in South Africa.

**Rot begins with the ‘Funnies’**. Creating the disturbing ecosystem of today, this 2021 South African cartoon in the local online newspaper *Daily Maverick*, exposes the ugly face of antisemitism. The cartoon depicts the Miss Universe organisation, Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Naftali Bennett, and a man representing the “Zionist lobby” at a beauty pageant.

South African government (ANC-led) policies and statements: The South African government’s aggressive pro-Palestine position and the decision to charge Israel with genocide at the ICJ were the immediate trigger for a rise in antisemitism since October 7^th. On October 8^th, public celebrations, praising the Hamas attacks, took place in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and some Arab capitals (although Arab leaders did not endorse these). In South Africa, Ronnie Kasrils, former minister of intelligence and a current member of the obscure and extremist South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) movement, grotesquely praised the Hamas attacks as “brilliant and spectacular,” while Naledi Pandor, former minister of international relations and cooperation, was in direct contact with Hamas leaders after the attack, drove the false genocide narrative claim, and even inverted the Holy Quran by asserting that while “Muslims are peace-loving people…they are permitted to engage in jihad when necessary.” Pandor delivered these remarks on August 23^rd, 2025, at the Langa Masjid in Cape Town, while wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinians. Under Pandor’s watch, the South African embassy in Tel Aviv was closed, while bilateral relations with the US administration reached an all-time low. Similarly, during a post-Cabinet media briefing in October 2023, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who has a proclivity for idiocy and baseless utterances, accused the Israeli government of perpetrating a “Palestinian Holocaust.” These historical inversions have been amplified by Zane Dangor, director-general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), who made dilettantish and infantile remarks about the origins of Zionism.

A clear pattern is emerging from the South African government policies: the creation of a permissive, rabid environment for antisemitism to flourish. Aside from its stochastic encouragement, it is a clear case of state-sponsored antisemitism.

**In the path of the Nazis**. A much older political cartoon widely disseminated by BDS South Africa utilized the classic Nazi trope of portraying Israeli and Jewish figures – some wearing yarmulkes – with long rat tails and exaggerated facial features gnawing on a block of Swiss cheese full of holes with then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the centre The drawings are reminiscent of how Jews were depicted as vermin by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

PRO-PALESTINE OPPOSITION PARTIES:

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is the fourth largest party in Parliament and the most anti-Israel. The party’s leader, Julius Malema (who, by the way, is appealing a jail sentence for illegal possession of a firearm), has consistently called for the closure of the Israeli embassy in Pretoria, severance of business ties between Israel and South Africa, a boycott of Israeli goods, and cutting academic links with Israeli institutions. The EFF has repeatedly called for closure and defunding of Herzliya High School in Cape Town, under the spurious claim that the school acts as an “agent of a foreign genocidal state” because former students purportedly serve in the IDF. In the aftermath of October 7^th, Malema led several pro-Palestinian rallies where he uttered slogans and statements directed at Zionist and Jewish institutions. For example, the EFF’s leadership chanted, “we know where the murderers live…”, directed at Jewish community members. Led by former President Jacob Zuma, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) is the official opposition after the Democratic Alliance (DA), despite the party theoretically having the most seats after the ANC, decided to join the Government of National Unity (GNU). The MK Party is decidedly anti-Israel and has routinely accused Israel of “settler-colonialism”, “apartheid”, and “genocide.”

Al-Jama-ah, a party with few seats in parliament and with strong Islamist leanings – has an outsized influence in foreign policy debates and municipal governance in Johannesburg. The party proudly supports Hamas’s armed resistance against Israel, framing it as a legitimate struggle. The party previously clashed with Jewish and pro-Israel councilors in municipal councils to the extent that Jewish councilors wearing religious symbols were openly mocked.

PRO-PALESTINE ADVOCACY GROUPS:

The pro-Palestine lobby, most notably movements such as Africa4Palestine (BDS South Africa), Gift of the Givers, SAJFP and various groupings, are advocating for boycott, sanctions, and the diplomatic isolation of Israel. These grievances are ubiquitous on South African university campuses. Professor Adam Mendelsohn (Head of the Department of Historical Studies and Director of the Kaplan Center for Jewish Studies at UCT) delivered his inaugural lecture on April 29^th, 2026, to highlight the future of South African Jewry amid the normalization of antisemitism in academic and social circles. Mendelsohn is currently in a legal tug-of-war with UCT over resolutions adopted by its Council in 2024. In June 2024, the UCT Council adopted resolutions, inter alia, that UCT academics may not liaise with or cooperate with groups, research projects, or networks affiliated with the IDF or operating in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories.” The same university also rejected the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Mendelsohn rightfully argued that UCT’s anti-Israel resolutions are a direct assault on objectivity and academic freedom, privilege anti-Israel academics and visiting scholars, and single out Israeli academics compared to other countries involved in human rights abuses. The Western Cape High Court is currently reviewing the administrative rationality of the UCT Council’s resolutions and will determine whether the adoption of such policies complied with standard governance obligations. Paradoxically, on March 30, 2026, UCT awarded an honorary doctorate to Imtiaz Sooliman, head of the Gift of the Givers charity. Sooliman is known for his virulent antisemitic rhetoric. During a public lecture at UCT in October 2025, Sooliman averred that he was “five thousand percent antisemitic…” and continued his diatribe against Israel and South African Jews: “We know antisemitism is used to shut you up. So, if you stand up against Zionists and they say you’re antisemitic, it’s because they want to cover their faults.” It is palpable that UCT, Africa’s most prestigious university and once a beacon and citadel of academic freedom, has now welcomed extremist elements into its fold. This is hypocrisy personified.

Stochastic narratives, as espoused by the South African government’s decision to take Israel to the ICJ on genocide charges, are the epitome of antisemitism and modern blood libel against the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Accusing a country of genocide is a serious allegation that should be supported by hard proof, not anecdotal evidence. The fact that South Africa has requested the ICJ for an extension until 2027 to present evidence means that there is no evidence at all and the court should dismiss it as a frivolous and cheap attempt to traduce the image of the State of Israel, which launched “Operation Swords of Iron” in self-defense against Hamas terrorists. In addition, the IDF took reasonable measures, in line with international law, to minimize civilian casualties.

The stochastic stratagems of the drivers have now shifted from demonstrations and boycotts to Jewish communal spaces. These are manifested in protests over Jewish participation in sports, youth events, and commercial and cultural events. The stochastic impact of this implies that Jewish existence or presence in South Africa is inextricably tied to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which led to localized harassment.

HOW DO SA JEWS COUNTER THE STOCHASTIC THREAT?

The boundary between legitimate criticism of Israel and hostility towards Jewish people by a powerful minority of pro-Palestine institutions and individuals, inspired by a permissive antisemitic ecosystem created by the ANC-led government, is inseparable. While the Cape Branch of the SAJBD has ongoing Equality Court cases against recidivist antisemites such as Nabeweya Lukie, an employee of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa, more needs to be done. If found guilty, these inveterate antisemites are often given a monetary fine (payable to the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Center), a public apology and retraction of antisemitic statements on social media, and a visit to a Holocaust Museum. While it is important to “name and shame” the antisemites, it is merely a defensive mechanism as it does not address the underlying hatred some harbor against Jews. Diaspora Jews, who became October 8^th Jews, woke up to a new reality after October 7^th. While Jews in Israel could rely on the Israeli government, IDF, and intelligence services to protect them, Diaspora Jews were at the receiving end of violent antisemitism as some governments did not do enough to protect Jewish minorities and instead mollycoddled Hamas sympathizers. Zvika Klein, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, pointed out that Jewish communities across the globe have spent billions of dollars on physical security, which is essentially a “defensive architecture.” While the physical protection of synagogues, schools, and community centers is important and the threats existential, it creates a “fortress mentality” that only treats the symptoms of antisemitism and not the root causes. Klein offers some useful advice by enjoining Jewish communities to realign their “defensive posture” to proactiveness. A lot can be achieved through political mobilization, legal advocacy, fostering ties with moderate faith groups, and deepening connections with Israel.

In the South African context:

The SAJBD must employ legal advocacy to criminalize antisemitic rhetoric propagated by PAGAD, individuals, and the pro-Palestine lobby. Hauling antisemites before the Equality Court is not enough, as the court cannot order criminal prosecution. Although freedom of expression is protected under Section 16 (1) of the Constitution, Section 16 (2) excludes “propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence, and advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity, or religion that constitutes incitement to cause harm.” This threshold has been reached many times, most recently by PAGAD’s Haroon Orrie with his toxic incitement against South African Jews.

**Zionists must Hide.** “To every Zionist, to every business that supports Zionism …. you better find yourself a rock to hide under,” vowed Haroon Orrie, the national coordinator of PAGAD to a crowd waving Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad flags on the Sea Point Promenade on Sunday, 2 August, 2026.

As a deterrent, the SAJBD should pursue criminal prosecution under the Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act. The Act establishes hate speech as:

“a specific criminal offense when a person intentionally publishes or communicates content that advocates hatred or incites violence/harm against a protected group…”

Criminal charges can be filed with SAPS. The NPA will be obligated to pursue criminal prosecution, which carries statutory penalties, fines or imprisonment.

To prevent high-profile public individuals from making stochastic statements and hostile rhetoric, the SAJBD should request a High Court injunction to restrain public figures and organizations from perpetuating a pattern of hostile rhetoric that infringes on the constitutional rights to Human Dignity (Section 10) and Freedom and Security of the Person (Section 12). The SAJBD must prove beyond reasonable doubt that rhetoric has crossed from political critique into targeting of specific individuals (Krawitz is a case in point) and Jewish community organizations. While robust, responsible free speech should be encouraged, the SAJBD should urge the South African government to heed several European countries’ decisive actions against pro-Palestine propaganda and slogans. Germany classified the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free…” as a criminalized symbol under Section 86a of the German Criminal Code. The German courts can order immediate criminal prosecution or fines if such slogans are displayed or chanted. In the UK, the authorities have designated Palestine Action under its counter-terrorism laws. Thus, membership of the group or public support thereof constitutes a criminal offense. France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and the US have taken similar action against pro-Palestine groups. The same fate should befall Africa4Palestine, SAJFP, PAGAD, and Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood/Iran-funded institutions in South Africa and the South African Jewish community should reclaim the narrative space by dispelling myths and lies about Israel and the Jewish people. This could be done with other faith groups, especially South Africa’s majority Christian community, which has strong spiritual ties to Israel. Melanie Philips has written an illuminating book, Fighting the Hate: A Handbook for Jews Under Siege (2026), which is a practical guide for Diaspora Jews to future-proof their communities amid increased Jew-hatred. A key takeaway from Philips’ book, relevant to the South African Jewish context, is the need to refute misinformation and disinformation about Israel. Most importantly, South African Jews ought to adopt a resilient, proactive posture built on Jewish identity, self-confidence and love for Israel.

Editor’s Note: Yoram Blumstein is a nom de plume (pen name) used by the author to protect identity due to ongoing security risks and prior threats related to previous reporting.

*Feature Picture: Hamas-supporting mob on Sea Point beach front, Cape Town, South Africa three years ago, where Jonathan Cohen was attacked – “strangled, kicked, hit, scratched, dragged, maligned, and almost pushed into the ocean” – by violent extremists targeting a prayer gathering for Israel.

THE RAMAPHOSA / PEREZ MEETING – PATHOS OR POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM ?

What truly lies behind the much-publicized meeting between South Africa’s President and the Rabbi parent of a SA-born Israeli soldier killed in the war in Gaza?

By Peter Bailey

The pathos in the unlikely meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Rabbi Doron Perez and his wife Shelley, should be apparent in the personal exchange between them, despite their obvious political differences. The subsequent messaging from South Africa tells a different story.

President Cyril Ramaphosa meets with Rabbi Doron and Shelly Perez, parents of slain son, Daniel, killed in action on the 7 October, 2023.

The meeting on Monday 10 August between World Zionist Organisation (WZO) President Rabbi Doron Perez and his wife Shelley, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, made the headlines in numerous media publications, mostly for the wrong reasons. Perez is also the CEO of World Mizrachi, a global religious Zionist organisation, established as the religious arm of the World Zionist movement. Ramaphosa, on the other hand heads the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s governing party, and staunch supporters of the Palestinian terrorist movements. The differences between the Perez couple and Cyril Ramaphosa could not be starker. Conversely the commonalities between the two could not be greater.

The political opportunism is evident, as the mainstream South African press has lambasted Ramaphosa for compromising on the ANC principles and approach to dealing with matters pertaining to Israel. Most journalists took the view that the South African charges of Genocide against Israel would lose their gravity in the face of the meeting with the Perez couple, particularly in the face of their strong Zionist credentials. The South African Jewish Report, on the other hand, took the pragmatic approach, lauding Ramaphosa and his government for the humanitarian action in intervening in order to assist in bringing closure to the tragedy that befell the Perez family. Newspapers in Israel were generally appreciative of the role played by Ramaphosa, despite the differences between South Africa and Israel.

Rhamposa is the South African leader whose International Relations Minister, Naledi Pandor, congratulated Hamas in a telephone call to the terrorist group leadership in Qatar on 14 October 2023 for, in her words, their fully justifiable invasion of Israel. This was just 10 days after the much-publicised vicious invasion by Hamas terrorists, accompanied by murder, rape, torture and other acts of vicious cruelty that had been recorded on the terrorists’ own body cameras, and later publicised by Hamas. The South African Government then had the audacity to lead the charge against Israel – the victim of the Hamas attack – by laying unfounded complaints of genocide and other human rights violations against the Jewish State at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

**Pandor Pandering to Hamas**. Following SA’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor holding a phone call with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in mid-October 2023, Hamas released a statement asserting that the foreign minister expressed solidarity with their operation, leading to immediate public backlash and political controversy.

The Perez couple, on the other hand, are the parents of the late Captain Daniel Perez, who fell on 7 October 2023, while commanding his tank crew during their heroic defence of the Nahal Oz military base for two hours. This in the face of the vicious attack by overwhelming numbers of Hamas terrorists who had invaded Israel. The family has been through the horrific trauma of initially believing that Daniel had been wounded and kidnapped, enduring 163 days of torment, before all hope was lost after the IDF advised them that there was sufficient evidence to show that Daniel had been killed on 7 October, after which his body had been kidnapped into Gaza, where it was being held.

**Killed in Action**. Born and bred South African, 22-year-old Daniel Perez (z’l) was killed on 7 October 2023 whereafter his body was taken into Gaza.

The obvious similarity between the two, is that both Ramaphosa and Perez are South African-born political leaders. Going a little further, both head political movements, the former being leader of the ANC, while the latter is President of the WZO. Both are fathers, as the headline in the South African Jewish Report made obvious, using the words Father to Father, Ramaphosa helps World Zionist President. There is however a further much larger commonality between Ramaphosa and Perez and what they stand for, that is generally minimised, if considered at all.

While the ANC and the WZO can almost be described as sworn enemies, closer analysis reveals that the raison de etre of the two movements is almost identical. The African National Congress was founded as the South African Native National Congress in 1912, with the objective of uniting Black South Africans in the fight against British colonialism to reclaim South Africa for ts indigenous people. The World Zionist Organisation was founded in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the Zionist Organisation, with the objective of uniting the Jewish Diaspora to fight for the return of the Jewish People to their ancestral homeland for 3,000 years, then under Imperial Ottoman Turkish rule.

The background is that the European Jewish Diaspora was largely the result of the Roman capture of Jerusalem, followed by the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE. This in turn was followed by the carrying off into Roman slavery of around 300,000 Israeli souls from Judea, as recorded by the Roman senator and historian, Cassius Dio. By 1900 the European Jewish Diaspora numbered some 9 million people, the vast majority of them restricted to a life of penury within the Pale of Settlement, demarcated for Jews by the Russian Empire. United States Jewry in 1900 numbered some 1.5 million, while Jews living in the Arab lands totalled between 5 and 600 thousand.

The irony and additional similarity between the ANC and the WZO is that following the Allied victory over Ottoman Turkey in 1918, Britain became the effective ruler of the former Ottoman Palestine. This was in terms of the League of Nations Mandate over Palestine granted to Britain, while South Africa had the status of a White self-governed British Dominion. Eastern Palestine soon became Transjordan, later the Kingdom of Jordan, while Western Palestine was slated to become the Jewish Homeland, an obligation which the British Government did not honour.

Britain egregiously reneged on the promise of the Balfour Declaration for the establishment of a Jewish Homeland, which was embodied in the Mandate, instead limiting Jewish immigration, while encouraging the growth of the Arab community. Just as the ANC felt forced to eventually begin an armed struggle against the White South African government in December 1961, so too the Jewish resistance movements were forced to start an armed struggle targeting the British military in 1937. The British failure to carry out its responsibilities under its Mandate over Palestine, is the direct cause of the conflict between Israel and the Arab community, who have chosen to refer to themselves as Palestinians, in an attempt to create a fictitious historical connection to Israel, as a counter to the well documented and established Jewish history in the region.

Arab aspirations since the early 1900s have resulted in continuous acts of terrorism against the Jewish residents of Palestine, a situation which has continued unabated and to ever increasing degrees ever since. These endeavours have morphed into the numerous Palestinian organisations waging an unremitted terror war against Israel in particular, and global Jewry in general. These are the same terror movements with whom the ANC controlled South Africa has found common cause, culminating in the Hamas invasion of 7 October 2023.

With that background, let us return to Cyril Ramaphosa and the Perez couple. Nobody can fault Rabbi Doron Perez and his wife for leaving no stone unturned in the quest for the return of their son Daniel’s body for a proper Jewish burial and a degree of closure following the terrorist inspired tragedy that befell their family. Ramaphosa must be lauded for his actions to achieve the release of Daniel’s body from its Hamas kidnappers, however, whether his actions were truly altruistic or not, leave more questions than answers. Careful reading of the press release by Ramaphosa leaves no doubt that he has every intention of making political capital out of his intervention on behalf of the Perez couple, without in any way blaming Hamas for the tragedy

SA GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE

President Ramaphosa meets Daniel Perez family following government intervention

Monday, 10 August 2026

President Cyril Ramaphosa has met with the family of the late Captain Daniel Perez following the intervention of the South African government in facilitating the release of his remains by Hamas. Perez, born and raised in South Africa, was taken hostage and killed on 7 October 2023. President Ramaphosa expresses his condolences to the Perez family and affirms South Africa’s support for an all inclusive peace process that will deliver a lasting peace for the people of Israel and Palestine.
The South African government remains engaged in assisting all South Africans, irrespective of race or religion, that are ensnared in conflict zones as well as assisting other foreign nationals where such support is requested.
This includes facilitating the release of South Africans trapped in a war in Syria, citizens that were sold to Russian mercenaries and the safe return of Ukrainian children.
Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President – media@presidency.gov.za
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Noteworthy about this press release is that there is no mention of Hamas having been responsible for the kidnapping and killing of hostages during the terrorist invasion of Israel. Instead, they are lumped together with “all South Africans, irrespective of race or religion, that are ensnared in conflict zones as well as assisting other foreign nationals where such support is requested.” How much better would it be to offer support and assistance spontaneously, even when it isn’t requested, particularly in the case of South African citizens.

The abductees whose bodies were recovered from Khan Yunis, from top right clockwise: Alex Danzig, Nadav Poppelwell, Yagev Buchstab, Yoram Metzger, Haim Perry and Avraham Munder (Photos: Abductees and Missing Persons Headquarters)

Despite the claims to the contrary in the press release, neither Ramaphosa personally, nor the South African Government collectively, are on record as having done anything to facilitate the release of the other South African citizens who were kidnapped into Hamas captivity on 7 October 2023 and then held in Gaza as hostages. I refer here in particular to 62-year-old Aviva Siegel (kidnapped together with her husband Keith, an American citizen), and 79-year-old Channah Peri, whose eldest son Roey was murdered during the horrendously cruel terror attack by Hamas. Both elderly ladies were released from captivity on 23 November 2023, while South Africa was industriously busy preparing the documents for the malicious unfounded libellous charges laid against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Fully three months after the Hamas invasion of Israel, the South African government eventually delivered a diplomatic note to Israel on 21 December 2023, in which it condemned the 7 October attack targeting civilians, and the subsequent hostage taking. This was cynically done as it prepared the moral ground for laying the unfounded charges of Genocide against Israel a week later, on 29 December 2023.

Other than a few mealy-mouthed statements calling for the release of the hostages, neither the South African Government nor its President appear to have done or said anything to facilitate the release of any hostages or criticise Hamas and its terrorist partners. Hamas terrorists proudly recorded their numerous acts of violence and killing, followed by the mutilation and rape of their victims, many of whom were youngsters innocently attending a music festival. Ramaphosa and his government have much to answer for, and little to be proud of, despite the self congratulatory press release.

About the writer:

Peter Bailey made Aliyah from South Africa with his wife Jeanne in 2013 in order to join their three sons and families who were already in Israel. He spent 35 years in the glass industry in South Africa while also being active in military veterans affairs, being National Chairman of The South African Jewish Ex Service League prior to making Aliyah. He completed his compulsory military training in South Africa in 1964 and was commissioned as an officer in 1965, retiring with the rank of major, after 19 years service in the SADF Citizen Force. While on active service on the Namibian Angolan border in 1976 he commanded 101 Task Force’s Counter Insurgency Operations Training Centre. He has enjoyed a lifelong interest in military history and has conducted intensive research into the Jewish contribution to South Africa’s military history, writing many papers on the subject and giving relevant lectures across South Africa. He is the author of two published books, Street Names in Israel and Men of Valor, Israel’s Latter Day Heroes.

THE GHOULS FEEDING ON HIND RAJAB’S DEATH

An IDF investigation has produced no verdict and no new evidence of guilt. The online mob is exploiting the tragedy for clicks anyway.

By Andrew Fox

The IDF has opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of Hind Rajab and eight others. That is the entire development. No verdict is implied. The announcement identifies no suspect, nor does it specify an offence. Online carrion crows have turned Hind’s death into clickbait by stripping the news of its qualifications and selling an investigation as a verdict.

describes the alleged shelling of that ambulance and records that the girls and two paramedics were later found dead. It does not establish what happened during the intervening hours.

Mark Zlochin’s close reading exposes the misrepresentation. The formal finding concerns the initial fire at the car. The later events remain reports and allegations. His earlier analysis raised unresolved questions about the route and timeline and tested whether the telephone material and available lines of sight supported The IDF examination states that troops fired at the approaching family car on 29 January 2024. Five passengers were killed; Hind and her cousin Layan survived the encounter. Hours later, a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, whose movement had been coordinated, went to recover them. The announcement more than one source of fire. Those questions do not resolve the deaths, and today’s announcement provides no new evidence of criminal guilt.

There is one awkward point for Israel’s defenders. The IDF’s first account said no troops were in the area. Its subsequent examination now acknowledges that troops fired at the car. That correction cannot be wished away, and anyone who repeated the first version should amend their view. The acknowledgement revises the official account of the initial encounter. Hind and Layan, it now says, survived the initial fire, while the ambulance strike and their later deaths remain under investigation. Criminal responsibility remains unresolved.

The carrion feeders have ignored that distinction. They demanded an investigation. The moment one was announced, they called it an admission. Their trick relies on readers confusing suspicion with conviction. They use a dead child for emotional force and borrow legal vocabulary to manufacture authority. Nobody has been charged. No court has tested individual liability in the Hind case or in the separate Tel al-Sultan referral. There is no legal conclusion in either case. For these people, the case is not about truth or justice for Hind Rajab: it is about validating their preconceptions about Israel no matter what.

**Jaundiced** **Justice**. For anti-Israel advocates, the tragic death of Hind Rajab (above) and family members is less about truth or justice but rather about validating their negative preconceptions about Israel. (Family handout via AFP)

The IDF’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism compiles operational material for the Military Advocate General. Reasonable suspicion triggers a military police investigation; prosecutors then assess whether the evidence offers a reasonable prospect of conviction. A referral records suspicion but supplies no answer. The suspected offence may involve negligence in following procedure. The announcement does not say.

I have always maintained that where credible evidence supports a war crime charge, it should be prosecuted. That remains my position. The World Central Kitchen case illustrates the distinction. Australia’s review by Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin found that the strike was not knowingly or deliberately directed against the charity. It recorded mistaken identification and failures to follow procedures. Binskin made no criminal finding. A catastrophic outcome can warrant criminal scrutiny without establishing deliberate murder.

I know of a British soldier in Afghanistan who shot dead a farmer carrying a broom. Having known the soldier well and having previously expressed doubts about his suitability for deployment, I am fairly certain that a murder was committed. His defence was that he genuinely believed the broom was a weapon and that his life was threatened. No charges followed. The incident is relevant here only as an example of how difficult it is to reconstruct a shooter’s state of mind after the event.

War crime allegations in Gaza, and more generally, are difficult to investigate because evidence is disturbed and witnesses can be inaccessible. There are no sterile crime scenes, few witness statements, and evidential chains of custody are extremely hard to maintain or prove. The criminal standard of proof does not bend to outrage.

The delay remains a fair ground for criticism. Peter Lerner accurately describes the timing problem:

Israel’s legal machinery moves at an investigative pace, while the information war moves in minutes or seconds. His call for earlier acknowledgement and carefully bounded updates might have reduced speculation. Seth Frantzman’s demand for accountability is fair, too. However, a bleaker counterpoint remains as an answer to both: Israel will be hammered whatever it does. The same people who treated silence as concealment now present the inquiry as a confession.

Researchers should update their positions and opinions when new facts emerge. That applies to Israel’s initial claim that no troops were present. The acknowledgement of IDF fire at the car must be noted. It provides no new evidence about who killed Hind or what happened around the ambulance, or what Hamas was doing at the time. This was a war zone, remember. The public record still contains no evidence establishing a provable crime.

Nine dead human beings have become raw material for clicks and political self-gratification. They have taken an investigation that establishes no guilt and sold it as a confession, using Hind Rajab’s death as a weapon before investigators have established how she died and at whose hand. Decent analysts change their position when the facts change. The ghouls simply distort the facts until they fit the verdict they wanted from the start. If credible evidence of a crime emerges, I will follow it and demand that it be prosecuted. Until then, the spectacle of people parading a dead child through the information war deserves nothing but utter contempt.

About the writer:

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter – 23 August 2026

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ADOLESCENCE ALTERED

October 7 shaped their adolescence. Now they will be voting for the first time come 27 October, 2023 Over 640,000 first-time voters – shaped by pandemic, war, and social media – are poised to play a decisive role.

How will Israel’s young impact this October 27, three years after October 7, 2023?
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ARTICLES

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MAKING PEACE TO MAKE WAR

Israelis love to fantasize about eating humus in Damascus. However, fantasies turn into fiascoes when they collide with fiendish reality.
By Jonathan Feldstein