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RED ALERT: ANTISEMITIC IMAGE POSTED BY IRANIAN EMBASSY IN SOUTH AFRICA
SA government acts decisively against US and Israeli diplomats – but greenlights despicable Iranian embassy transgressions of SA law
By Lawrence Nowosenetz
Early in April 2026 the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in South Africa posted on its social media platform on X the following:
“The U.S. Regime is implementing the policies of the Zionist regime.”
Accompanying the post is a digitally created image of a rat wearing a kippah or yarmulke (Jewish religious head covering) pointing forward while riding atop a large eagle in flight. The caption to the image bore the text “Who holds the reins?” and the subtitle “The U.S. seeks to implement the policies of Israeli Zionists.” The rat has peyyot (curly sidelocks worn by Hassidic Orthodox Jews) and the kippah has a large Magen David (Star of David)
The symbolism is unmistakable and we have seen it before. The rat wearing a kippah represents Jews and the bald-headed eagle is associated with the USA. The eagle, a traditional symbol of American power, is shown being ridden and directed by the rat. The message is that Jews as a people covertly control and direct American foreign policy. This is a classic antisemitic conspiracy trope with deep roots in Nazi propaganda.
In Nazi Germany, the portrayal of Jews as rats was a central component of dehumanisation propaganda used to justify persecution and genocide. The deliberate choice of a rat wearing identifiably Jewish religious clothing removes any ambiguity about the target of this imagery. It is classic Nazi era propaganda art. There can be no evasion or dishonest obfuscation about the rat referring to Zionists and not Jews. The traditional peyyot or sidelocks of the rat evoke the centuries old European ghetto Jew stereotype, beloved of antisemitic caricatures.
An international working formulation of antisemitism was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (“IHRA”) by 35 member countries in 2016. It has been accepted by numerous governments and institutions such as universities.
The definition includes:
“Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective, such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.”
The depiction in images of Jews as rats is specifically mentioned in the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA definition.
Historically, the Nazi propaganda imagery using rats to symbolise Jewish people is well known as a powerful depiction of antisemitism. A propaganda film in 1940 “Der ewige Jude” (“The Eternal Jew”) a work produced under Joseph Goebbels contained lengthy comparisons of Jewish people with rats, particularly their association with disease, filth, and vermin. This process of dehumanisation was calculated and formed the ideological basis for the Nazi genocide. As early as 1927, prior to the “Final Solution”, the Nazi publication “Der Stürmer”, depicted the fumigation of rats as akin to Jews.
Hate speech is outlawed in South Africa.
Section 16(1) of the Constitution which provides for freedom of expression explicitly excludes:
(a) propaganda for war;
(b) incitement of imminent violence; or
(c) advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.”
Furthermore, the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 prohibits:
The publication or communication of words, or the display of any image or symbol, that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be hurtful, to incite harm, or to promote or propagate hatred on the basis of, inter alia, race, religion, or ethnic or social origin.
DIRCO, the South African foreign office has not been reluctant to sanction foreign diplomats for far less. After US Ambassador, Reuben Earl Brigety in 2013 publicly stated that South Africa was supplying arms to a Russian ship at the Simon’s Town naval base, DIRCO handed him a demarche expressing its utter displeasure. The US Ambassador had to issue an unreserved apology for failing to follow diplomatic channels. In 2026, US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell was issued a demarche by DIRCO for criticising a court ruling declaring the chant “kill the Boer” is not hate speech.
DIRCO declared Israel’s Charge d’Affairs Ariel Seidman persona non grata and gave him 72 hours to leave South Africa. The reasons cited by DIRCO were unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practices by failure to inform DIRCO of visits by Israeli officials and insulting the State President on official Israeli social media platforms, thereby constituting a challenge to South African sovereignty.
None of these actions and statements were incitement, hate speech or religious dehumanisation.
Iran has been weaponising antisemitism as an incitement to terror against Jews worldwide since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power. Over the last 47 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has waged a relentless war against Israel which it calls the “small Satan” and the USA which it calls the “Great Satan”. This war is both physical and political. It has built a network of terror in the Middle East through the Houtis in Yemen, Hamas in the Palestinian areas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, in the Sahel territories of Africa and worldwide. Iran has been implicated in various terrorist attacks internationally, notably the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires killing 85 people and injuring 300 others.
Antisemitism and Nazism are at the core of the Islamist regime of Iran. Three state sponsored Holocaust cartoon contests have been held in Iran:
in 2006, 2016 and 2020.
Featured were Jewish blood libels, conspiracy theories and praise for Hitler. In 2020 an official poster was published calling for the “Final Solution” against Israel.
The Iranian regime seeks to use violence, repression and terror to seize control in the world and impose political Islam. Despite UN Security Council Resolution 1373 aimed at fighting terrorism after 9/11, the response by the world, save for the USA, has been weak. Appeasement by the West has proved ineffective and it will be the next victim if it does not take a strong stand. This begins with condemnation of the images such as this war propaganda post.
The historic targeting of the USA by Iran prior to the current war cannot be overlooked. Iranian militia or groups backed by Iran have killed US soldiers multiple times in the Middle East. These include the 1983 barracks bombing and attacks in Iraq and Syria involving drone strikes. The US attributes decades of terrorism against US civilians to Iran.
In our era of non-racism and human rights, international human rights organisations are duty bound to call out this racist hatred and mobilise public opinion among democratic and freedom respecting nations. This is a red alert to these defenders of humanity to expose this image as inciteful of hatred and to prevent further acts of random violence against Jewish communities, synagogues and organisations worldwide.
About the writer:
Born in Pretoria Lawrence Nowosenetz obtained his BA at University of the Witwatersrand and LLB at the University of South Africa. He has been admitted as an Attorney in South Africa and as an advocate in South Africa. He practiced at the Pretoria and Johannesburg Bar and worked as a human rights and labour lawyer at the Legal Resources Centre a public interest law firm. Lawrence was Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and completed professional internship in the USA. He was a a labour arbitrator and mediator, part time Senior Commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) as well as a panelist at Tokiso Dispute Settlement. He was a member of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and Pretoria Chairman. He has also served as an Acting Judge of the Hight Court, South Africa. He now lives in Tel Aviv.
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).
THE TALMUD OF THE SURVIVORS
“Where was God during the Shoah ?’’ asked soul-searching survivors in DP camps. Three rabbis came together to provide some answers.
By Michel Levine
At the end of the Second World War, the defeat of Nazism was celebrated worldwide with outpourings of joy. At the same time, thousands of Jewish survivors of the Nazi camps were being gathered in Germany, Austria, and Italy in temporary structures known as “Displaced Persons” camps (DP camps). Their material situation there was deeply precarious, as evidenced by the letter that American President Harry Truman sent to General Dwight Eisenhower on August 31, 1945, addressing more specifically the DP camps located in the American occupation zone in Germany. The President expressed outrage at the deplorable living conditions of the Jewish residents — some of whom were even housed in the very places where they had suffered persecution, such as Bergen-Belsen.
While their material situation in these camps gradually improved, many suffered from isolation, a lack of any vision for their future, and ignorance of the fate of their loved ones. They were also burdened by the feeling that their own survival constituted an injustice toward the companions who had died at their side. The belief that God had abandoned them — which had tormented them during their detention — remained powerful. Some asked themselves:
What had God done throughout all these trials? Why had He remained so silent, so distant? And, more desperately: how could one still believe in His existence?
Confronted with this distress, three rabbis began to consider how they might help these troubled souls. Who were these three men of faith? Two were Lithuanian: the first, Samuel Abba Snieg, Chief Rabbi of the American occupation zone, had served as a chaplain during the war. His wife had died at Dachau, where he himself had also been deported.
The second, Samuel Jakob Rose, likewise a survivor of Dachau, held the delicate position of mediator between the Jewish populations of the DP camps and the American administrative authorities. Both men had persuaded a third, an American — Philip Sidney Bernstein — to join their project. This Reform rabbi of the American zone served as adviser to the Military Governor (Militar Gouverneur). During the war, he had overseen the activities of some 300 of his colleagues embedded within the armed forces. The guiding idea behind the three rabbis’ initiative was to invoke emunah — a Hebrew term expressing deep and living trust in God. It is less an abstract or dogmatic assertion than an inner conviction that guides the actions of daily life. And the best means of strengthening Jewish consciences was to reinforce their faith by offering them the reading of holy books (seforim).
But where were such books to be found?
Hundreds of thousands had been dispersed, destroyed, or burned. Contact was made with two organizations active in the camps: the JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), which, in addition to organizing the distribution of food and medicine, was contributing to the creation of Jewish schools; and the Vaad Hatzalah, an Orthodox organization founded in 1939 to assist rabbis and yeshiva students from Poland and Lithuania. One of its innovations had been the creation of “traveling synagogues” circulating through the displaced persons camps. Both organizations were already printing a modest number of prayer books, and their experience would prove valuable. During their meetings, the question arose:
Which work should be printed?
The answer came to them almost immediately: the Talmud.
Much as the Shoah represented a catastrophe of historic proportions, the Talmud — literally “study” or “learning” in Hebrew — was itself born of a catastrophe: the destruction by the Romans of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, marking the beginning of nineteen centuries of diaspora. The rabbinic authorities of the time decided, in the interest of the survival of their faith, to commit to writing the various laws and precepts that governed it, which had until then been transmitted orally. Thus, was constituted a “portable temple” in the form of a book, enabling the Jewish people — despite their dispersion and wherever they might find themselves — to continue living according to their religion.
The first complete edition of the Talmud was produced in Venice between 1519 and 1523 by the Antwerp printer Daniel Bomberg. It comprised 63 tractates across 2,711 double-sided folios, and was subsequently enriched by the Vilna edition (1880–1886), which established a universal standard.
Under Nazi rule, possession of such books was forbidden in Germany and in the occupied countries. They fed the bonfires, alongside the works of great thinkers deemed contrary to the dominant ideology — whether or not their authors were Jewish.
But where was a copy of the Vilna edition to be found that could serve as a model? After considerable searching, word came of two volumes printed in that city in the nineteenth century, said to have been hidden in 1945 in the Benedictine monastery of Sankt Ottilien, southwest of Munich. Upon investigation, it emerged that these two copies were now… in New York. Not without difficulty, they were eventually brought back to Germany. The work could now begin.
Paper had first to be found — vast quantities of paper — at a time when this commodity was rationed across Europe and in extremely high demand, particularly by governments seeking to resume the production of schoolbooks to replace those the Nazis had imposed. Special attention had to be paid to the quality of the paper that could be obtained, in order to ensure the quality of the printing. There was also a shortage of the materials required for printing — inks, and especially collodion. The latter was indispensable for the transfer of images onto zinc photographic plates, of which 1,800 were needed for each complete volume. Banned during the war, collodion was available only in the city of Zwickau, in the Soviet occupation zone. Since the Cold War had already begun, Zwickau refused all assistance, and the precious substance ultimately had to be ordered from the United States. At the same time, finding a printing house in Germany proved arduous. Those that had survived the bombing raids were few, closely monitored, and already prioritized — they too — for administrative and educational needs. Eventually, the American military authorities authorized access to a printing establishment — one of the rare facilities, complicating matters further, capable of producing large-format works. There was a certain irony in the outcome: this firm was located in Heidelberg, cradle of German culture but also a cultural stronghold of Nazism. As for the printing itself, it proved far from straightforward. Nearly one million Hebrew characters were required, obliging the typesetters — some of whom had worked on the production of antisemitic books — to undertake extensive searches for surviving old matrices, and in some cases to fabricate new ones. They also had to respect the distinctive layout of the Talmud — a central text surrounded by commentaries. Pagination, justification, spacing, and notes each presented their own set of problems.
The work was carried out under the watchful eye of a rabbinical committee. During the proofreading of the galley proofs, numerous errors were corrected; those that remained would be eliminated in subsequent editions. As for the photogravure reproduction, it too proceeded with difficulty, not least on account of the incessant power cuts. Approximately 500 complete folio sets, each comprising 19 volumes, eventually came off the presses.
This Talmud would henceforth bear the Hebrew name Talmud She’erit ha-Pletah, which might be translated as the “Talmud of the Survivors.” The cover page of each volume depicts a Nazi labor camp surrounded by barbed wire alongside an idyllic Mediterranean landscape evoking the Land of Israel. A few words in Hebrew give meaning to these images: “From slavery to freedom, from darkness to a great light.” The Joint Distribution Committee, bringing together the various organizations that had participated in the endeavor, decided — with the agreement of the German government — to allocate 40 copies to German Jewish libraries and institutions, and to send the remainder to those throughout the world, including in Mandatory Palestine. Paradoxically, those for whom it had originally been intended numbered no more than 10,000 to 15,000 by 1950, as the displaced persons camps had gradually emptied.
Today, the standard reference Talmud (nussach, or authoritative text) remains the Vilna edition of the nineteenth century. It is readily accessible to all, benefiting from the contributions of scholarly research and the most modern techniques, including digital technology. The “Talmud of the Survivors,” by contrast, is now found only in a handful of museums and private collections. And yet the memory of the work accomplished remains vivid. This transmission of knowledge embodies the resilience of the “People of the Book” in the face of the Shoah, and stands as a testament to its rebirth from the very ruins of its suffering.
About the writer:
Michel Levine is a historian of Human Rights and the author of a work dedicated to the major cases of the League of Human Rights (Unclassified Cases. Unpublished Archives of the League of Human Rights, Paris, Fayard, 1973).
Further publications include a historical investigation on the repression of Algerian demonstrations in Paris in October 1961 (The October Ratonnades. A Collective Murder in Paris in 1961, Paris, Ramsay, 1985; reissue Jean- Claude Gawsewitch Publisher, 2001.)
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).
Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 05 April 2026
Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.
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THE ISRAEL BRIEF –30 March – 01 April 2026
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Lay of the Land’s Photo Pick of the Week
FATHER AND SON
At the side of a road during a siren warning of an income missile, an Israeli father is captured on camera shielding his baby son with his own body.
a siren, Israelis lie on the ground to protect themselves and their loved ones.
ARTICLES
Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.
(1)
PERCEPTION AND REALITY – WHAT COMES TO MIND IN AUSTRALIA WHEN WE HEAR: “THE MIDDLE EAST”
Reflections and ruminations based on a small survey I conducted last week in Sydney’s CBD.
By Michael Fish
we are repeatedly shown?” This is the question that fascinated the writer as he set about asking working folk in
downtown Sydney: “What is the first word that comes to mind when you hear ‘the Middle East’?”
PERCEPTION AND REALITY – WHAT COMES TO MIND IN AUSTRALIA WHEN WE HEAR: “THE MIDDLE EAST”
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(2)
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN’S ULTIMATE DEGRADATION – HONOURING DR SOOLIMAN
Does South Africa’s premier university share today the same values as a supporter of terrorism against Jews?
By Lawrence Nowosenetz
world’s oldest hatred. Is it any wonder Jews are weary. UCT’s latest move to confer an honorary doctorate on Dr. Sooliman
who says “I’m 5000% antisemitic,” affirms the writer’s lament of “ultimate degradation.”
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN’S ULTIMATE DEGRADATION – HONOURING DR SOOLIMAN
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(3)
THE HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH TOLL OF ANTISEMETISM
How Antisemitism Impacts Mental Health Around the World.
By Bev Moss-Reilly
“…are carrying a level of fear that is hard to describe to those who have never had their identity turned into a target.”
The impact of antisemitism on mental health can be profound.
THE HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH TOLL OF ANTISEMETISM
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(4)
THE CONTEXT BEHIND THE CARDINAL DENIED ENTRY TO JERUSALEM’S HOLY SEPULCHRE
Sometimes missile attacks from Iran can not only shatter buildings and lives, but even a status quo.
By Jonathan Feldstein
the doorstep on the Holy Sepulcher, cardinal Pizzaballa’s publicized response to restricted access as
“unreasonable” was less about praying to God and more about playing to the media.
THE CONTEXT BEHIND THE CARDINAL DENIED ENTRY TO JERUSALEM’S HOLY SEPULCHRE
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LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche
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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).
THE CONTEXT BEHIND THE CARDINAL DENIED ENTRY TO JERUSALEM’S HOLY SEPULCHRE
Sometimes missile attacks from Iran can not only shatter buildings and lives, but even a status quo.
By Jonathan Feldstein
As soon as I read reports of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa being prevented from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre my heart sank.
My immediate reaction was affirming something I have long believed and articulated frequently: that the State of Israel has a unique responsibility and obligation to protect Christian holy sites and ensure freedom of worship for Christians throughout Israel.
My second reaction was dismay in knowing that whatever transpired and why, Israeli officials probably could and should have done better. Both because we have that obligation, but also because it could have prevented the inevitable bad PR. Yes, we’re at war and things slip through the cracks, but still.
Third was seeing the reflexive negative and even antisemitic reactions from across the world, some that added fuel to the fire of repeated (and false) accusations that Israel discriminates against Christians, and some that were simply another excuse to find fault with the current government and Prime Minister.
Make no mistake, Israel can and should have done better. But through this mistake, lessons have been learned and will hopefully prevent future such mistakes. As of writing this, an agreement for which has been reached between the parties.
As I am writing on the anniversary of the murder of the Christian Israeli Arab policeman Amir Khoury who is still celebrated as an Israeli hero, I know that while a small minority, Christians in Israel are not only not discriminated against but are the only community of Christians in the Middle East whose population is growing steadily, and can worship and live freely without fear of persecution.
In case you didn’t hear, on Palm Sunday, March 29, Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass. The negative international response was immediate and widespread. Church authorities described it as the first such denial of the senior Catholic leader in Jerusalem from entering the site on the day commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
Initial reports were only of his refused entry, without any context. But context matters, and subsequent reports shed light on this. The incident occurred amid heightened security restrictions related to Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, and subsequent Iranian missile attacks across Israel and on Jerusalem specifically. These measures include strict limits on public gatherings across the Old City, affecting Christian Holy Week observances, as well as Jewish Passover and Islamic Ramadan celebrations.
Israel’s Home Front Command imposed sweeping rules: gatherings limited to 50 people in locations with adequate bomb shelter access. Jerusalem’s Old City’s narrow streets further complicate emergency vehicle access in the event of a mass-casualty event. It’s important to note that since the 1990s, when bomb shelters became mandatory in new construction, the Christian denominations that control the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and cannot agree who has the authority to move a ladder in a window for centuries, could not come together to create a safe room in the holy site to protect against modern threats. A bomb shelter could have precluded this conflict.
Security precautions limit the number of people who can assemble for public gatherings including Passover prayers. Israeli Jews are being told to limit the number of guests at their Passover Seders to safely correspond with enough places in their bomb shelters. The traditional Festival “Birkat Kohanim”, (Priestly Blessing) has also been restricted from what can draw thousands.
The context is even broader. Since February 28, Israeli authorities closed major holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City — including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound — for security reasons. Iranian missiles had targeted the area, with shrapnel striking near the Holy Sepulchre in one incident, and near the Al Aksa Mosque in another.
Just as many Jewish events have been canceled, the traditional public Palm Sunday procession was canceled. Other events have been shifted to private or virtual formats for Easter. Despite reported prior coordination, police reconsidered and halted the Cardinal’s group en route under the prevailing security guidelines. The Patriarchate issued a statement describing this as “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate.” Cardinal Pizzaballa later led an alternative prayer service at the Church of Gethsemane, outside the Old City.
Israeli authorities defended the decision on safety grounds. Police cited the Old City’s vulnerability to mass-casualty incidents. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office stated there was “no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety and that of his party.” It acknowledged the symbolic importance of Holy Week and announced that security agencies were developing a plan to be announced imminently to allow church leaders limited worship access.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog not only commented publicly but called the Cardinal privately. “The incident stemmed from security concerns due to the continuous threat of missile attacks from the Iranian terror regime against the civilian population in Israel, following previous incidents in which Iranian missiles fell in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem in recent days.” He called Pizzaballa to “express my great sorrow over this unfortunate incident in the Old City of Jerusalem,” and “reaffirmed the State of Israel’s unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.”
Later Cardinal Pizzaballa sounded a conciliatory tone, noting:
“There were no clashes, everything was done in a very polite manner… we want to use this situation to clarify better in the coming days what to do in respect for everyone’s safety but also in respect for the right to prayer.”
Before any context and clarifications, the damage was done. Swift international condemnation followed. The Vatican, Catholic leaders worldwide, and European governments voiced concern, even condemnation. Arab officials predictably decried it as further encroachment on “Christian rights in occupied East Jerusalem.” Critics argued that while security is paramount, the blanket application of rules to a handful of senior clergy undermine the delicate status quo governing Jerusalem’s holy sites, shared among Christian denominations and long protected under international norms.
This incident was placed under the microscope of those who claim that Christians and Christian rights are under attack, but without the broader context and reality of the war and necessary security precautions. The Palm Sunday incident highlighted how even minimal, pre-approved religious observance can clash with emergency protocols amid active missile threats from Iran. Unfortunately, sometimes missile attacks from Iran can not only shatter buildings and lives, but even a status quo.
An agreement for the remainder of Holy Week, learning from this incident and potentially easing access for clergy while maintaining crowd limits is imminent. The problem, as this incident showed, is that if God forbid there were to be a security incident and mass casualty event at one of the Christian sites, Israel would be blamed by the same people who are now criticizing it for maintaining these security precautions to begin with.
That’s just some of the context with Passover and Easter around the corner. Hopefully when the war is behind us and things get “normal” again, protocol can be developed to prevent any similar future conflicts.
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.
*Donations to provide bomb shelters in Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter and other sites can be made here.
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).
THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 30 March – 01 April 2026
30 March 2026 – Is the Iranian ambassador refusing to leave Lebanon, did the Houthis enter the chat and your Operations Lion’s Roar and Epic Fury updates on The Israel Brief.
31 March 2026 – Carry on till Iran is defeated says Gulf Countries and all your Operations Lion’s Roar and Epic Fury updates on The Israel Brief.
01 April 2026 –Why do countries interfere in Israel’s domestic issues, is the US about to leave NATO and your Operations Lion’s Roar and Epic Fury updates on The Israel Brief.
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).
THE HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH TOLL OF ANTISEMETISM
How antisemitism Impacts Mental Health Around the World.
By Bev Moss-Reilly
A compassionate, human look at how antisemitism affects mental health worldwide, from fear and grief to trauma, silence, and the struggle to feel safe.
Antisemitism is often discussed in terms of politics, history, religion, conflict, and security. All of those matter. But there is another side to it that is far more personal and often far less visible. It is what antisemitism does to the mind, the body, the nervous system, and the heart.
For many Jewish people around the world, antisemitism is not only about shocking headlines or dramatic public incidents. It is also about what happens in quieter moments. It is the hesitation before walking into a public space wearing something that identifies you as Jewish. It is the quick glance over the shoulder after a hostile comment. It is the sinking feeling when social media fills with rage and blame and you know some of it is aimed not at a government or a policy, but at people like you. It is the exhaustion of having to explain, defend, justify, or prove your humanity repeatedly.
At a time when anti-Jewish incidents continue to be recorded across countries and continents, many Jewish families are carrying a level of fear that is hard to describe to those who have never had their identity turned into a target. The impact on mental health can be profound.
WHEN HATRED ENTERS DAILY LIFE
Mental health is deeply connected to one essential feeling: safety. When a person feels reasonably safe, they can think clearly, rest properly, trust others, and move through life with some degree of ease. When that safety is repeatedly disrupted, something shifts.
Antisemitism chips away at that foundation. It can show up in overt violence, threats, vandalism, harassment, conspiracy theories, exclusion, workplace hostility, school bullying, online abuse, and subtle social rejection. Sometimes it is loud and unmistakable. Sometimes it is disguised as a joke, a stereotype, or a passing remark that leaves a sting long after the words are spoken.
Even when a person is not physically harmed, the emotional toll can be significant. The body does not always wait for direct violence before it reacts. Anticipation alone can be enough. The nervous system begins to scan for danger. Sleep becomes lighter. Concentration is harder. Everyday tasks feel heavier. Trust narrows. Joy is interrupted.
This is one of the cruellest things about prejudice. It does not only wound in the moment. It can change the way someone moves through the world long afterwards.
THE QUIET WEIGHT OF HYERVIGILANCE
Many people who live with persistent prejudice develop a kind of emotional alertness that becomes second nature. They may think carefully about where they go, what they say, how openly they identify, which spaces feel safe, and who can be trusted. They may avoid conflict, avoid visibility, or avoid speaking altogether. To outsiders, this may look like caution or withdrawal. Inside, it often feels like fatigue.
Hypervigilance is exhausting. It asks the mind to stay partly on guard even during ordinary moments. A family dinner, a child’s school event, a university lecture, a synagogue service, a conversation at work, or even scrolling on a phone can become emotionally loaded. Instead of relaxing into life, the person is managing risk.
That ongoing tension can increase anxiety and emotional distress. It can also affect relationships. Loved ones may become more protective, more fearful, or more strained. Parents may worry about what their children are hearing at school. Young adults may struggle with whether to hide or reveal their Jewish identity. Grandparents may feel old historical wounds being reopened by present events.
Mental health is not only shaped by what happens directly to us. It is shaped by what we fear could happen, by what has happened before, and by what we see happening to people like us.
HISTORY NEVER SITS FAR AWAY
Antisemitism carries an unusually heavy historical burden. It is not a new hatred. It is ancient, recurring, and deeply woven into the memory of Jewish communities. That history matters because current hostility is rarely experienced in isolation. It often arrives carrying echoes of older trauma.
For many Jewish people, modern incidents can stir not only present fear but inherited grief. Family stories of expulsion, violence, displacement, persecution, or the Holocaust may sit quietly in the background for years, only to feel suddenly near again when public hatred rises. A slogan, a threat, a desecrated synagogue, or a wave of online abuse can activate something much deeper than a single event.
This is where the mental health impact becomes especially layered. The person is not only reacting to what is happening now. They may also be reacting to what history has taught their family and community to fear. That can intensify feelings of dread, sadness, anger, helplessness, and moral injury.
People sometimes underestimate the emotional force of communal memory. But trauma is not always neatly contained in the past. When prejudice returns in recognisable forms, the past can feel painfully present.
CHILDREN, STUDENTS AND THE LOSS OF INNOCENCE
There is something particularly heartbreaking about antisemitism affecting children and young people. Childhood and youth are meant to be times of formation, curiosity, belonging, and growth. When a Jewish child is teased, stereotyped, excluded, or blamed for world events they do not control, something deeply unfair happens. Their sense of safety is interrupted at an age when it is still being built.
Some children respond by becoming quiet. Others become anxious, angry, clingy, or withdrawn. Some begin complaining of headaches or stomach pain. Some dread school. Some ask their parents difficult questions far earlier than they should have to. Others decide it is easier not to mention being Jewish at all.
University students often face a different but equally painful challenge. They are old enough to understand the hostility around them, but still young enough to be deeply affected by rejection and exclusion. If a campus becomes a place where Jewish students feel judged, isolated, or unsafe, the impact can linger long after graduation. Education cannot flourish where fear is taking up too much space.
WHEN THE ONLINE WORLD NEVER LETS YOU BREATHE
One of the most damaging realities of modern antisemitism is that it no longer stays in one place. It follows people home. It arrives through phones, comment sections, private messages, videos, memes, and posts shared at speed and without reflection. Hatred that once might have been local can now become constant.
This matters for mental health because the mind needs places of refuge. It needs pauses. It needs quiet. But online hostility erodes those natural boundaries. A person can wake up, open their phone, and encounter dehumanising language before the day has even begun. They can see falsehoods repeated so often that they start to feel inescapable. They can watch strangers debate whether Jewish fear is legitimate, whether Jewish grief counts, or whether Jewish people somehow deserve what is happening to them.
That kind of environment creates emotional wear and tear. It can produce fear, rage, numbness, despair, and loneliness all at once. It can also leave people feeling trapped between wanting to stay informed and needing to protect their mental wellbeing.
WHY DOES ANTISEMITISM KEEP RETURNING?
This is one of the most painful questions of all. Why does antisemitism continue, even after everything history has shown us?
There is no single answer, but there are some recurring patterns. Antisemitism often thrives when people are frightened, polarised, or looking for someone to blame. It feeds on scapegoating. It turns complexity into accusation. It offers simple answers for complicated problems. In times of social strain, war, political upheaval, or economic anxiety, some people reach for narratives that tell them their suffering has a neat human target. Jews have been used in that way for centuries.
Antisemitism also survives through ignorance and conspiracy thinking. It grows where people know very little about Jewish life, Jewish diversity, or Jewish history, but feel confident repeating myths and stereotypes anyway. It spreads when anger is allowed to become collective blame. It deepens when public figures, institutions, or communities fail to challenge it clearly. We ask ourselves which “isms” are not based on ignorance.
And sometimes, if we are honest, it returns because human beings can be disturbingly willing to dehumanise others when it suits their politics, identity, or emotional needs.
None of this makes antisemitism logical. Hatred is not logical. But understanding some of its patterns helps explain why it keeps resurfacing in different forms, places, and languages.
EMOTIONAL COST OF BEING BLAMED FOR EVERYTHING
One of the most psychologically damaging aspects of antisemitism is collective blame. Jewish people around the world are often treated as though they are interchangeable, as though they all think the same, represent the same politics, and should answer for events far beyond their control. That is not criticism. That is prejudice.
To be blamed simply for being who you are is a deeply destabilising experience. It tells a person that their individuality does not matter. It strips away complexity and replaces it with suspicion. Over time, that can affect self-esteem, belonging, and emotional resilience. It can create the painful feeling that you are seen not as a person but as a symbol onto which others can project anger.
This can be particularly distressing when the people doing the blaming imagine themselves to be moral. There is a special kind of wound that comes from being dehumanised by those who believe they are standing for justice.
Learned behaviour, indoctrination, and brainwashing often begin quietly in the home, where children absorb what they hear, see, and experience from the adults around them. They may repeat profanities, prejudice, aggression, or harmful beliefs without fully understanding the meaning or impact, simply because these attitudes and behaviours have been normalised for them and never questioned. While this does not excuse the behaviour or make it acceptable, it does highlight the urgent need for ongoing education, emotional guidance, and mental health awareness to help break destructive cycles and teach children to think critically, act compassionately, and choose better.
SILENCE HURTS TOO
Not all mental health damage comes from direct hostility. Some of it comes from silence.
When antisemitic incidents occur and friends say nothing, colleagues say nothing, leaders hesitate, or institutions respond in vague and selective ways, the message received can be devastating. It can feel like Jewish pain is negotiable. It can feel like empathy has conditions. It can feel like some people are protected by moral concern while others are expected to absorb hatred quietly.
That silence can deepen loneliness and grief. It can also make people question their place in communities they once trusted. Being unseen is painful. Being unseen while in pain is worse.
WHAT HELPS?
There is no neat answer to the emotional burden of antisemitism, but some forms of support matter deeply.
Being believed matters. Having fear acknowledged matters. Community matters. Family matters. Faith, culture, friendship, therapy, trauma informed care, and safe spaces all matter. So does the simple human relief of not having to explain why something hurt.
Children need adults who listen. Students need institutions that protect them. Employees need workplaces that do not tolerate hostility disguised as opinion. Communities need leaders who can recognise antisemitism clearly, not only when it is politically convenient.
Compassion is not a luxury here. It is part of the repair.
A HUMAN PROBLEM, NOT A JEWSH PROBLEM ALONE
Antisemitism harms Jewish people directly, but it also tells us something broader about the health of a society. When any group is repeatedly scapegoated, threatened, stereotyped, or stripped of complexity, everyone should be concerned. It means fear is being normalised. It means empathy is becoming selective. It means human dignity is being made conditional.
The mental health impact of antisemitism deserves far more attention than it receives. Every slur, threat, smear, exclusion, attack, or silence lands somewhere real. It lands in a body. In a family. In a memory. In a child’s developing sense of safety. In a student’s confidence. In a parent’s fear. In a grandparent’s history. In the private space where someone is trying, with all their might, to keep going.
Antisemitism is never just an argument. It is never just noise. It is never just politics. It is a human wound. And until we speak about it with honesty, courage, and compassion, that wound will keep deepening in lives that are already carrying far too much.
About the writer:
Bev Moss-Reilly is a Jewish freelance content writer living in South Africa with a deep and heartfelt focus on mental health, emotional wellbeing, trauma, grief, and the unseen struggles people carry every day. Through her writing and her Mental Health Packs, she aims to bring comfort, awareness, compassion, and practical support to individuals, families, workplaces, and communities. Her work is rooted in empathy, dignity, and the belief that nobody should feel alone in their pain, especially in times of crisis.
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).
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN’S ULTIMATE DEGRADATION – HONOURING DR SOOLIMAN
Does South Africa’s premier university share today the same values as a supporter of terrorism against Jews?
By Lawrence Nowosenetz
The University of Cape Town (UCT) a formerly venerable university in South Africa, respected worldwide, has announced that it will be awarding an honorary doctorate to Dr Imtiaz Sooliman at its graduation ceremonies in March/April 2026.
The Doctor of Philosophy (honoris causa) is being bestowed on Dr Sooliman in recognition of his humanitarian work through his organization Gift of the Givers. In a statement by the Vice Chancellor of UCT, Professor Moses Moshabela, he described Dr Sooliman together with another doctoral recipient as a distinguished South African and “advanced values that lie at the heart of our institution.” He further lauded Dr Sooliman for “humanitarian leadership” and having served society with integrity. Qualities which he expounded are central to building a just, creative and humane society.
“For more than three decades, he has dedicated his life to humanitarian service without discrimination,” the Vice Chancellor continued. It is indeed so that Gift of the Givers, the organization which Dr Sooliman founded and still heads, has provided health care and supported communities and affected by natural disasters in South Africa, earthquakes in Haiti and Turkey, famine in Somalia and the conflicts in Gaza and Syria. However, the Vice Chancellor went further: “Sooliman’s work gives practical expression to the constitutional values of dignity, equality and freedom.”
The reality points otherwise. Dr Sooliman is an avowed Islamist and disciple of the Muslim Brotherhood. He supports Hamas and is a truculent and vocal inciter of anti-Zionist and Israel hatred. His record is abundantly clear and is well documented in his public utterances. In 2011, he received an award from the US designated terror organization Union of Good which (like Hamas) is a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate.
His thinly veiled antisemitic bigotry and hatred of Zionists leave nothing to the imagination. He publicly stated on 27 October 2025 and significantly at UCT:
“…we had to break the fear we have to break the money, and we had to break the thing antisemitism, and we know antisemitism is used to shut you up. So if we stand up against Zionists and they say you’re antisemitic because they want to cover their faults, then I’m 5000% antisemitic to speak the truth.”
A vicious tirade of inflammatory hate speech, conspiracy theories and demonization which would have made Dr Goebbels proud. It is hard to reconcile this rhetoric with the constitutional values of dignity and equality. In short, the cherished liberal democracy that UCT purports to uphold.
The very notion of constitutional values and rule of law have been rejected by Dr Sooliman who said he follows Koranic law, not man-made laws. In an interview on 7 October 2024, Dr Sooliman said:
“I don’t follow international law or human law. I follow Koranic law. I am a Muslim. I don’t need any permission from anybody in the world to tell me what to do. I break the laws all the time. Breaking the law is laws of the West and people and governments. It’s not Islamic law. I follow Islamic law, and Islamic law overrides any other law. … I don’t have to follow any law. My law is very clear to me. Allah himself has instructed me. I don’t need men to tell me what to do. I don’t follow them.”
This is subversive of the very values UCT should be safeguarding. South Africa prides itself rightly on its long and hard-fought constitutional democracy, the protection of fundamental freedoms, the separation of powers and secularism. The antithesis of Dr Sooliman’s benighted worldview. To honor a person who undermines so completely the raison d’etre of the Republic of South Africa is a travesty and betrayal of the most profundity and severity. An academic institution which is prepared to overlook this inescapable contradiction commits a gross lack of judgment and makes a mockery of not only itself but all South Africans who respect and show fealty to the Constitution. All the NGO’s and human rights lawyers who respect universal human rights should not abide this injustice. Hatred, racism and bigotry have emerged under the guise of the humanitarianism of Dr Sooliman.
The Koran is no repository of human rights and freedom. Among many other major shortfalls, women are suppressed, non-Muslims are not accorded equal citizenship under Islamic law. Christians and Jews historically were regarded as dhimmi or second-class citizens under Islamic rule. The separation of church and state as well as religious freedom are totally contradictory to the theocratic ideology of political Islam. Liberties such as freedom of thought, opinion and expression are suppressed. Nowhere is this more glaringly evident that in the Islamic Republic of Iran which has brutally suppressed dissent and murdered at least thirty thousand of its citizens, now in the throes of a war with Israel and the USA
Another egregious falsehood is crediting Dr Sooliman with providing humanitarian services without discrimination. During October and November 2024, Gift of the Givers posted at least 40 anti-Israel posts on its Facebook page. These posts did not call for peace, never condemned violence by Hamas and never mentioned Israeli victims or suffering. Certainly, no calls for the release of the hostages.
The humanitarian services of Gift of the Givers are partisan and far from neutral. While Gift of the Givers was active in Gaza providing aid to the local population, Dr Sooliman made no effort at all to assist the Israeli hostages held by Hamas over two years under appalling conditions. Such an egregious omission speaks to the lack of universality and integrity of Gift of the Givers as a humanitarian organization. This can be contrasted with the initiative of Gift of the Givers in negotiating successfully to secure the release of Pierre Korkie, the South African hostage held by terrorists in Yemen. He was however tragically killed by Al Qaeda shortly before his release.
The support of the South African ANC led government for Hamas and its backer Iran, indicates the state of capture by radical Islam. DIRCO, (South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation) and its foreign policy leans towards the global South, which includes undemocratic and unconstitutional countries which are not aligned with Western values. It is tragic to see UCT abandon these values and fall prey to the Islamist state capture of foreign policy.
Worth noting are the financial ties between at least two UCT Council members and Dr Sooliman/ Gift of the Givers. Dianna Yach, chair: HR committee donated R1 million to them in September 2025 through the Mauerberger Foundation Fund. Reeza Isaacs chair: Finance Committee and a senior Spar manager, appeared in a photograph on a Gift of the Givers Facebook page in February 2026, building Spar Group corporate partnership ties. These same persons sat on the UCT Council which approved bestowal of the honor. A more blatant conflict of interest and bias would be hard to find.
When a respected academic institution is prepared to bend its values and honor a person who is morally tainted and an outspoken adversary of traditional Western liberal values, there are no longer any standards left for UCT to support or teach. It becomes a broken institution.
*Feature picture: University of Cape Town
About the writer:
Born in Pretoria Lawrence Nowosenetz obtained his BA at University of the Witwatersrand and LLB at the University of South Africa. He has been admitted as an Attorney in South Africa and as an advocate in South Africa. He practiced at the Pretoria and Johannesburg Bar and worked as a human rights and labour lawyer at the Legal Resources Centre a public interest law firm. Lawrence was Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and completed professional internship in the USA. He was a a labour arbitrator and mediator, part time Senior Commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) as well as a panelist at Tokiso Dispute Settlement. He was a member of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and Pretoria Chairman. He has also served as an Acting Judge of the Hight Court, South Africa. He now lives in Tel Aviv.
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).
PERCEPTION AND REALITY – WHAT COMES TO MIND IN AUSTRALIA WHEN WE HEAR: “THE MIDDLE EAST”
Reflections and ruminations based on a small survey I conducted last week in Sydney’s CBD.
By Michael Fish
The nature of my work lends to me being exposed to multiple businesses and engaging with people. I wanted to capitalize on this to explore some nagging questions and concerns I had as a Jew in a country that over a short period has transformed from being so easy-going and accepting of others to becoming so frighteningly and publicly intolerant of Jews and their beliefs. How has the media impacted on people’s understandings and mindsets? This question fascinated me.
So, last Thursday, during a regular workday, I conducted a simple but revealing survey. I approached people from different walks of life — varying in age, background, profession and perspective — and asked them one question:
“What is the first word that comes to mind when you hear ‘the Middle East’?”
The responses came quickly and without hesitation.
– Hate
– Death
– Destruction
– Sadness
These were the most common answers. In fact, the very last person I asked, the answer was “sadness” and this in itself I found sad… and revealing. Afterall, had the respondents to my question been better informed of the region, they would have been surprised to learn that despite perennial wars and defying the odds and threats on multiple fronts, Israel is ranked as the 8th happiest country in the world. How would they know this – it’s not in their media – for mostly war and destruction catches each day their ears and their eyes.
If on the other hand they had read on the 19 March, 2026 The Times of Israel, they would have read:
“Despite another year of war on several fronts, prolonged uncertainty and national trauma, Israel once again ranked eighth in the World Happiness Report published on Thursday, for the second year in a row.”
On reflection, the results of my survey were not surprising. For decades, global media coverage of the Middle East has been dominated by images of conflict, war, and political instability. News headlines often focus on violence, crises, and humanitarian disasters. Over time, this consistent framing shapes public perception, creating a narrow and often negative association with an entire region.
However, what makes these responses worth reflecting on is not just their negativity — but their uniformity.
The Middle East is not a single story. It is a vast and diverse region made up of numerous countries, cultures, languages, and histories. It is home to ancient civilizations, rich traditions, vibrant cities, and millions of ordinary people living everyday lives — working, studying, creating, celebrating, and hoping for the future.
Yet, in the minds of many abroad, as in Sydney, Australia, these everyday realities and characteristics are overshadowed.
This raises an important question:
How much of what we believe about a place is shaped by factual knowledge, and how much is shaped by what we are repeatedly shown?
Perception is powerful. When a region becomes synonymous with negativity, it not only influences how outsiders view it, but can also affect global relationships, policies, and even the dignity of the people who come from there.
This small survey, though informal, highlights a broader issue of the gap between perception and reality.
It invites us to pause and reconsider.
To question the narratives that we absorb.
To seek out fuller, more balanced perspectives.
And most importantly, to remember that no place — and no group of people — can be defined by a single set of words.
Perhaps the next time we hear “the Middle East,” we might think beyond the headlines.
Beyond the conflict.
Beyond the stereotypes.
Because every region has more than one story — and every story deserves to be seen and understood in its entirety.
About the writer:
Michael Fish who grew up in Mafeking, a country town in South Africa’s North West province, attended King David School, Linksfield in Johannesburg, and been living in Sydney, Australia for the past 40 years.
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).
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S LEGACY
How Obama misread the aims of Iran
By Neville Berman
In January 2009, the Democratic Party nominee, Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. It was a watershed moment in American history. America finally had a black President that seemed to fulfill the dreams of the Democratic Party and liberals. The Norwegian Nobel Committee immediately bestowed on him the Nobel Peace Prize.
For his first foreign policy statement, Obama chose to speak at a university in Cairo. The choice of venue was a message in itself. Obama was greeted by rapturous applause by an overflowing audience of students. His speech revealed his positive view of Islam.
He started off by saying that he had come to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, and that they share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. He blamed the attacks of 9/11 on violent extremists who represented a small but potent minority of Muslims. He stated that “his father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims, but that he was a Christian, who as a boy had spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of Islam at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk.”
Below are some additional quotes from his speech that clearly demonstrated his thinking towards Islam:
- “Civilization’s debt to Islam that paved the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment.”
- “Since America’s founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States.”
- “Let there be no doubt Islam is a part of America.”
- “America is not and never will be at war with Islam.”
- “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”
- “I will fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
- “Throughout history Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”
- “America and Iran must work together in mutual respect.”
- “I will seek a world in which no nation has nuclear weapons.”
- “America would support human rights everywhere.”
- “Islam is a nation of tolerance.”
- “There is one rule that is common to all religions and that is we do unto others what we want to do to ourselves.” “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
- “The Holy Koran tells us to be conscious of God and speak always the truth.”
Obama’s views of Islam as a tolerant and peaceful religion must have come as news to hundreds of millions of Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Hindus around the world. The claim made by Obama that Islam is a peaceful religion is contradicted by centuries of Islamic subjugation and oppression. Obama was obsessed with promoting peace and refused to see the reality of the fact that millions of Muslims around the world cheered on September 11, 2001 when 2,977 people were killed by al-Qaeda on American soil. The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, makes a total mockery of
“Do unto others what we want to do to ourselves.”
The truth is that subjugation and domination are part of the pillars of Islam. Obama never mentioned the Islamist division of the world into Dar al-Islam and Dar al-harb. The former is the land where Muslims have sovereignty and where Shariah law is the law of the land. The latter refers to land that still needs to be conquered and subjugated to Shariah law. He also never mentioned the Islamic religious call for jihad against infidels.
Let us now turn our attention to Iran. Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Any attempt to enrich uranium to weapons grade levels is a violation of this treaty. By 2013, the UN Security Council had passed 6 resolutions that imposed various levels of sanctions against Iran for refusing to comply with demands to end its nuclear enrichment program. The resolutions included the freezing of Iranian exports of oil and gas. This drastically reduced Iran’s foreign income. Iran was also banned from using the Swift system that dominates international banking and money transfers. Billions of dollars of Iranian money were frozen in Western banks. The sanctions were crippling Iran’s economy. By 2013, the value of the Iranian Rial was in freefall and the Iranian people were out in the streets demanding changes. Despite all the calls of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, Obama decided that it was time to negotiate a deal with Iran.
In October 2013, representatives of the P5+1 (USA, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China) held talks with Iran in Geneva. The main aim of the American negotiating team was to ensure that Iran would never be able to acquire nuclear weapons, and in return, sanctions on Iran would then be lifted. To lead the American team of negotiators, Obama appointed Under Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, who had previously negotiated the deal with North Korea that was supposed to end its nuclear program.
It was a total failure.
An interim agreement with Iran was reached in November 2013. It partially removed some of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations and encouraged Iran to continue with the negotiations. Negotiations continued for twenty months. In 2015, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, took the lead in the negotiations. For 18 days in Vienna, he worked with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javid Zarif, to finalize the deal. The final deal between Iran and the P5+1 delegates, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was officially reached on July 14, 2015. It was subsequently adopted on October 18, 2015.
The JCPOA deal achieved the exact opposite of what was originally intended. The sunset clause in the deal simply kicked the can down the road for when Iran could legally acquire nuclear weapons once the deal ends in October 2030. No restrictions or inspections were placed on Iran’s missile program. Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% without any limit as to the amount it could produce at this level. It was also agreed that if Iran enriched uranium above the agreed level, it needed to either destroy the uranium enriched beyond 3.67% level, or send it to another country for safekeeping. In effect the deal allows Iran to acquire the knowledge of how to enrich uranium to weapons grade level, and to then send it to another country for safekeeping. Russia would be the most likely country to receive the enriched uranium. The absurdity of Russia protecting the West by safekeeping weapons grade uranium produced by Iran was what was effectively agreed to. In addition, the deal allows Iran to produce unlimited intercontinental missiles that could threaten the world. After October 2030, these missiles could be legally armed with nuclear warheads.
Iran agreed that inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could take place at certain sites. Surprise inspections required 48 hours’ notice. The agreement included a clause that if Iran did not abide by the agreement, Iran could be referred back to the Security Council to reimpose sanctions on Iran. This so-called “snapback sanctions” clause could be exercised at any time during the first 10 years of the agreement. China and Russia would not be permitted to vote if Iran was referred back to the Security Council to reimpose sanctions for non-compliance.
Under the deal, sanctions on Iran were immediately lifted. Iran was given permission to export oil and gas and companies were given permission to invest in the Iranian oil and gas industry. Iran was allowed to rejoin the Swift Banking system. If this was not catastrophic enough, the deal immediately released frozen Iranian money plus interest on the money. Reports vary as to the actual amount released, but all agree that the sum was in the tens of billions of dollars. One report estimated that the final amount released was approximately $100 billion. Obama ordered part of the money to be transferred in cash. The obvious intention of providing cash was to prevent American banking oversight of what the money would be used for. Iran immediately received all the benefits, while America received commitments by Iran to comply with the agreement in the future. It turned out that Iran had no intention to keep to its commitments.
In plain language, Iran lied.
Obama realized that the deal would never be approved by the Senate if it was presented as a treaty. What actually happened was that the negotiators signed the cover page of the agreement in Vienna, and then the parties to the deal, announced that they had agreed to it. There was no ceremony where the deal was signed. Obama was determined to bypass all the rules of approval needed in a treaty. What this meant was that any future American President could withdraw from the agreement. The Iranians were laughing all the way to the bank.
With the windfall of money that Iran received, it immediately increased funding to its proxy terrorist organizations around the world, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis in Yemen. Iran continued to claim that its nuclear program was only for peaceful purposes. This was clearly a blatant lie. There is no peaceful use for uranium that is enriched to weapons grade levels. Its only use is to manufacture nuclear weapons. Iran also denied access to certain sites by the IAEA inspectors. Questions raised by the inspectors were either ignored or non-plausible answers were provided. The inspections would eventually become an absolute farce. In the final analysis, Obama did nothing to rid the world of nuclear weapons. What he did was to sanctify that the world’s leading terrorist state would legally be allowed to have a nuclear arsenal of unlimited magnitude once the sunset date was reached.
On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from the JCPOA agreement. He called the agreement “a horrible one -sided deal that should have never, ever been made. ” He added that the deal would never bring peace.
The present war in Iran can be traced back to President’s Obama’s naïve assumption that once Iran was treated with respect, it would become part of liberal based international order, and would live in peace with the world. Without any doubt, the JCPOA deal helped Iran out of a crisis, and empowered the Shiite mullahs of Iran to spread terrorism around the world. The deal provided Iran with frozen money as well as billions of dollars of future profits derived from the sale of Iranian oil on the world market. The money made it possible for Iran to finance its missile program, its nuclear program and to greatly increase funding to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The money transformed Iran into a threat to world peace.
Obama either misunderstood the Islamic goal of subjugating the world, or he had some ulterior motive to conclude a deal with Iran. Whatever the case, Obama set in motion the events that led to the present war with Iran. Obama undoubtedly made the world into a much more dangerous place. The long arm of President Obama’s legacy is the present war with Iran.
About the writer:
Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award. In 1978 he immigrated to the USA to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel. He is married with two children and one granddaughter.
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).