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).
Thank you Lesley for writing an honest item. Gaza is ethnic cleansed of Jews. All Jews including their graves were removed in 2005. In reply Hamas sent thousands of rockets into Israeli civilian areas. Gone are the days when Jews will accept this. We are strong and will reply and stand up ‘to our rights to live’. Those Jews in SA have the anti-Semitic ANC and EFF. We in Israel have electricity 24/7/356.
I live in South Africa and am ashamed of the Government. I am Jewish and my home will always be Israel. I side with all of Israel. I look up to the IDF and although I live far away I will always be behind them. We will always be alone, but I suggest that all Jewish people should pull together as one.
I have no respect for the Jewish people from South Africa who have asked for a Ceasefire. They are far too immersed with themselves.
I have little to say other than supporting Lesley’s letter and argument. To the petitioners I quote from the Hadith book 54:105 and Book 41 Hadith 6985 the UCS-MSA web reference: Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.
The obliteration of the Jews (genocide) is in the DNA of Islam. The Qu’ran is replete with antisemitic statements and calls for the elimination of Jews primarily and Christians. We are noted in the religious writings as the “descendants of apes and pigs” et al.
So proud of you Lesley for calling these people out! They are a disgrace and betrayal to their heritage ! I do hope this lettter gets circulated to some of them at least ! Every SA Jew who loves Israel; needs to know their names and call them out !
Well written and expressed. If anything we should stand united representing each other and standing up as proud Jews . We are let down by these people who sign lists to stand on a moral high ground that does not exist . We are am israel chai , we are about each other as a unified front of zero tolerance for those that want to destroy us . The people that signed are self serving egotistical idiots standing up for what ? Standing against what ? They must go live in their airy fairy islands of love and peace and acceptance and pretend that they can make the world a better place .
I only hope that these former “ chèvre” of mine find a special place in heaven. They are naive, at best and self righteous at worse.
Lesley. This is excellently expressed and brilliantly written. You represent my views and those of so many others in what you have written. Calling out the tired and ill fitting cliches is important. They are simply untrue. Bravo.
Thanks so much Lesley for your strong words and emotions, the outpouring of your grief at the horrific and barbaric acts of Hamas violence, and the shock at the ‘Jews’ who support this .. May they be named and shamed.. I’m sure most Jews feel the same way that you do.. my family, since 7 October, have been grieving every day, understanding and feeling the pain that Israelis have to go through.
Praying for peace in our beloved Israel 🙏
I agree wholeheartedly with Yvette!!!! A wonderful letter from Lesley expressing my views entirely.How shameful that our own people can be so disloyal They don’t have the same understanding and love that we have for Israel !!Extreme disloyalty and ignorance on their part indeed
Of course I emphasise entirely with Lesley as would most decent people I hope, and would add that the timing of the “dismayed Jews” simply beggars belief. They use the occasion of the horror, agony and profound grief of Israel and most Jewish people worldwide, to deliver a moral lecture to the victim and the most moral nation on this earth. The effectively identify with Israel’s existential enemies and their anti-semitic and leftist cheerleaders. ‘Tone deaf’ takes on a whole new meaning.
Thank you Lesley for saying exactly what I felt when I read that sickening list of South African names many of who I too know personally and will never look at again in the same way
Well said and well written Lesley.
The list was a shock.
Evil is found everywhere: even amongst the good. S.E.
I applaud Lesley for her courageous, searingly truthful letter. How DARE that crowd purport to speak on behalf of the Jewish Community. Shame on them! They have besmirched themselves and have revealed cynicism and fathomless stupidity.
Fiona Capstick
Bet David
Sandton
Wow I didn’t even think about getting feedback here. I’m still stuck in Facebook only mode. Thanks everyone. It really means a lot.
I was sickened by this list of people who signed this letter against Israel and what they wrote in letters against Israel.
Here we are in Israel going through one of the worst time in our history and these Jewish South Africans are trying to curry favour with Cyril Ramaphosa.
If you care so much come and see what has happened to Israel
Come and see the trauma
Come and see the heart break
Come and see the hundred and thousands of refugees
The standstill of agriculture and businesses
The deep emotional sadness and trauma
The dead and wounded
The wounded in soul
Many of your cheers have children in the army and grandchildren in Gaza
Come and help us recover
We the country that lets you walk as proud Jews throughout the world after the holocaust
I could not believe what I read including people who said we are lying about the atrocities committed by Hamas and are still being committed at this time to our men women and children in captivity in Gaza .
Hi Leslie
You are a true soldier for Israel and I applaud your amazing efforts!
These pathetic people on the List of Shame should be denied entry into Israel as they are no less enemies than those who seek our demise!
They also have the gall to sit in SA and claim the right to determine the future of our Israel! Fortunately these fraudulent, self proclaimed representatives of the SA Jewish community make up an insignificant +-1.2% of the total numbers.
Keep up your great work!
AM YISRAEL CHAI!!
Lesley, you have expressed so eloquently what is true and fact I am disgusted and outraged! Shame on you you privileged bunch of vermin.
Is there a visible list? I want to have the pleasure of shaming and naming. Am Yisrael Chai
What a pity these 600 misinformed Sa Jews ( so called) could not have been on the kibbutzim on 7th Oct. would they if alive still sign such a petition?
Dear Lesley,
As an American with friends and family in Israel, I identify100% with what you wrote. The horror is too great to describe, and for people to call for a cease fire now is to simply invite another round in a few years. I do not know any South Africans, so going through your list is meaningless to me, but I will be passing your article around in Chicago to anybody in my world who thinks that a cease fire should happen. It is time to stop making excuses for the Palestinians, and to take care of our own.
Yours,
Sheryl Dworkin
Chicago
An excellent letter, superbly written. Fully agree
How shameful these people are Lesley. Their names should be widely circulated so that they would be widely shamed. And hopefully their names would also make their way to the appropriate security border officials in Israel, so that future entry to Israel could be barred to them
Dear Lesley
Thank you for your letter and for highlighting the atrocities and shameful propaganda against the Jews these past weeks. Unfortunately in a bad twist of co-incidence, both my husband and son’s name appear on this hateful list. We are receiving concerned calls from family and friends who know our unwavering allegiance as Jews and to Israel. We can only attribute this terrible inaccuracy to people that share the same first and surname or a fabricated list for effect.
Please consider removing the list of names to avoid confusion and tarring our names with this despicable brush. We are after all one family, and many of share our names and faith together.
Hi Karen
That is absolutely shocking and I’m so sorry you are experiencing this. The list has nothing to do with me and I have not published it at all. You need to take it up with The Daily Mavrick, that is where the shameful list is published.
I found the text of the letter from the diverse group of South African jews to be carefully measured and considered, and with a deep acknowledgement and understanding of the trauma that has been collectively experienced.
I hear and understand the authors trauma from the 7th of October. I feel it deeply and agonisingly as well. By acknowledging the trauma of the experience of the Palestinians, it does not diminish the trauma of the Israelis and Jewish people.
I believe wholeheartedly that the voice of peace is an essential one. One which requires all voices to be heard and respected and debated .
A voice that does not benefit from gaslighting or shaming. The hundreds of signatories with legitimate voices for ceasefire and alternative possibilities, including the end to occupation, should be heard and not silenced or shamed in South Africa, Israel, or anywhere in the diaspora in order for a meaningful resolution going forward.
I must respectfully disagree with you in the strongest terms. Israel has tried and tried and tired and tried again over and over again to make peace, to offer a two state solution, to send aid, to issue work permits to drag Jews from their homes and livelihoods all for the smallest chance of peace. In return we have had rockets, incendiary balloons, stabbings, shootings, rammings, more rockets, more pogroms. Enough! Only a fool continues to do the same thing while expecting a different outcome. Israel has been forced, unwillingly into the war but now that we are here, we will get the job done. G-d bless the IDF. #AmYisraelChai
I am not sure I understand what you disagree with? Do you disagree with the salient point of my response to your post entitled “list of shame’, which is that all voices and opinions , including the voices of the hundreds of signatories, should be heard and not silenced or shamed? Is it not one of the basic tenets of a democracy to have people hold a different opinion or perspective?
So proud of you Leslie Sacks