While a group of over 600 South African Jews sign an Israel-critical petition that begins with the wording “We are a diverse group of South African Jews who are dismayed…” (see below) the writer responds with her dismay at Jewish betrayal.

By Lesley Sacks

I am almost speechless. I am furious, even a bit bewildered. Probably more than anything else though, I am completely heartbroken.
Today I read a list of “Jews” who have signed a petition for a ceasefire in Gaza. In effect, signed a petition AGAINST Israel and FOR terror. And yes, it actually is as simple as that.
The opening line of the petition reads:
“We are a diverse group of South African Jews who are dismayed by the situation that is unfolding in Israel and Palestine.”
In calling for a ceasefire they write:
“We insist, however, that one heinous crime does not justify another. The experience of persecution and genocide is woven into our collective memory. We are therefore called upon to prevent it from happening again, anywhere, to anyone. Moreover, we have a particular obligation to oppose such atrocities when perpetrated in our name.”
These concerned “in our name” Jews describe  Israel’s legitimate defense of its people, of trying to retrieve some 240 hostages that include children and babies and to prevent a repeat of the heinous 7 October massacre as a “heinous crime”, as “persecution” and a “genocide”.

What Jews are these?

One would assume that this list would be made up of a bunch of uneducated, social misfits but unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth.
This list includes people I have considered friends. My siblings’ friends. A former Herzlian head boy. My cousin’s wife. People I have watched grow up. People who have converted out of Judaism yet still say “I am Jewish” on this list as it somehow gives it more credibility. Gay men and women and a transgender teen who, in the Gaza they believe they are protecting, would simply be beheaded for their sexuality. An ex-boyfriend. Doctors, accountants, psychologists, entrepreneurs and other professionals. People I was at school with. A former mayor’s children. People I have taught. People who may be Jewish in name only but who would still be murdered with the same zeal by those who would not care of their political affiliation. Someone called Imran and another called Tariq.
This list makes me, literally, sick to my stomach.
I also have a list. My list includes a little boy who has not yet celebrated his first birthday. Many, way too many, beautiful, innocent, little Jewish kids. Mothers. Fathers. Grandparents. Workers from Thailand and Nepal who came to this country in order to support their families. A baby born in captivity. Women and girls who have been raped and abused. Children who have watched in horror as their parents were SLAUGHTERED. Children who watched their sisters being raped and their mothers being mutilated. People who saw their elderly parents being shot. People who watched in horror as their homes and neighbourhoods went up in flames. Old ladies who were shot in their beds. Toddlers who were brutally murdered in their cots. Teenage girls who were raped in their own bedrooms before being shot in the head. People who saw their beloved dogs being shot. Beheaded babies and children. People who lay under corpses for hours pretending to be dead just so that they could live. Children who were bound together in groups of 10 and burnt alive. A baby who was cooked alive in an oven. A baby who was cut out of his mother and beheaded while still attached to her. Holocaust survivors who had already lived through the worst of humanity only to find that they are now amongst a group who are even worse than those Nazis. People who were so mutilated and burned that even now, 42 days later, have still not been identified. Jews. Druze. Foreign workers and even Arabs. It is a very gruesome list indeed.

If it’s lists you like I have two more.

This list has, some might say “only” 63 names on it. This list is made up of mostly young adults in the prime of their lives. Young people who have sacrificed their young lives in order that all the rest of us might live freely as Jews. In Israel as well as the rest of the world. Young people who did not choose to be “shahid” like others do but stepped up to DEFEND all of us. Young mothers and fathers. Sons and daughters. Grandsons and granddaughters. Brothers. Sisters. Our own family. Family who will never be coming back home again.

The next list is made up of terrible grief and anguish. Parents who have buried their children. Small children who have buried their parents. People who have buried their entire families. Their ENTIRE families. A woman I grew up with who has no clue where her son might be. Parents who don’t know if their children are dead or alive. Parents who wish they knew that their children were dead as the thought of the excruciating suffering they must be experiencing is far too much to bear. An entire nation with potential PTSD. An entire nation who will never forget the fear, the terror, the terrible images, the pain, the worry, the mourning. ZAKA (Israel’s leading non-governmental rescue and recovery organization) workers who have experienced mental breakdowns. ZAKA workers who can never rid themselves of the terrible smells of burnt flesh and horrific images that still haunt their dreams. Children and adults who huddle in corners of bomb shelters crying and shaking as they relive the trauma each time they hear a siren. (This I witnessed first-hand this evening in a shopping centre in Tel Aviv)

And you? How dare you sit in your comfortable homes in South Africa and London and who knows where else and demand a ceasefire. How dare you have the audacity to expect us to sit on our hands while the murderers are still rampant and STILL FIRING AT US DAILY. While stabbings and murderous, terrorist pogroms are still being perpetuated within Israel itself. How dare you use the overworked phrase of “proportionality” and “fundamental asymmetry” when you know full well that the IDF has no intentions of rape, mutilation and general wholesale murder. How dare you when you have no idea of what it is like in Israel right now, and when your voices were quiet while massive human suffering was inflicted on people in Ukraine, Sudan and other African cities.

Yes, people have died. Those same people that have been offered a two-state solution no less than five times and have refused to even make a counter offer. People have died, yes, even though every effort has been taken to warn civilians, by means of flyers, WhatsApps, phone calls and even “knocks on the roof” – the practice of dropping non-explosive or low-yield devices on the roofs of targeted terrorist civilian homes as a prior warning of imminent bombing attacks to give innocent inhabitants time to leave. Yes, people have died; even innocent people, though not nearly as many as the producers of Pallywood would have you believe. But to call it “genocide” is utterly preposterous and an insult to those who have actually experienced genocide. Even more preposterous because of how the population has increased exponentially since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

There is so much I am feeling right now. Incredible pride at being a Jew and an Israeli citizen. Joy and pride when I watch Israeli soldiers going about their day. Joy and heartbreak at seeing children of all ages embrace their parents who have returned from miluim (reserve duty). Pride and happiness at seeing every building lit up in blue and white. Flags flying from every balcony. Yellow ribbons tied to trees and cars and lampposts. Honour at being a part of something so much greater than myself. And along with all of this, an overwhelming feeling of being ashamed of all of you.

*List of signatories to the open letter (as of 4pm SAST on 15 November 2023, regularly updated online):
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-15-william-kentridge-among-hundreds-of-concerned-south-african-jews-calling-for-ceasefire-in-gaza/

About the writer:

Lesley Sacks is a South African, living in Johannesburg but is a “proud holder of an Israeli passport.” Working with children of different ages for over 30 years, she is currently a teacher at  at a local Jewish school. 

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).