Category: Israel-Africa Relations

THE ODYSSEY OF THE OCHBERG ORPHANS

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ISAAC OCHBERG

An upcoming exhibition in South Africa will reveal through personal testimonies, an extraordinary life whose legacy is enshrined for eternity in the young lives he saved in Eastern Europe in 1921.
It’s an example for Jews today everywhere.

In December, 2026, the SA Jewish Museum in Cape Town, South Africa will host an exhibition on one of the finest and heroic chapters of the South African Jewish community  – the life and times of Capetonian, Isaac Ochberg (1879-1938).

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, community leader and Zionist,  Isaac Ochberg in 1921 mobilized communal Jewish support, obtained government permission through his friendship with Prime Minister Jan Smuts and then single-handedly, went into the most dangerous region in the world for Jews beset by war, pogroms, rampant antisemitism and a typhoid epidemic  – to rescue Jewish orphans from certain death.

Even death did not stop Isaac Ochberg saving Jews.

Leaving the largest bequest in History to the JNF-KKL following his death in 1938, the proceeds were used to  support higher education at universities in preparation for the future Jewish state (notably the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Weizmann Institute) and acquire the land that became kibbutz Dalia and kibbutz Galed, that would, following WWII, absorb the survivors of the Shoah. It is no wonder that  there stands today in the Megiddo region, the Isaac Ochberg Park that has a ‘Hill of Names’ enshrining the names of all the orphan children he saved.

Today, thousands of their descendants are today spread around the globe and in preparation for the exhibition, the SA Jewish Museum is seeking to trace as many of them to document the never-ending enriching saga of Isaac Ochberg. For further information see details at the end of the article below on the Ochberg saga by French historian, Michel Levine.

David E. Kaplan
Chairman of the Isaac Ochberg Heritage Committee (Israel)
Editor of Lay of the Land



THE ODYSSEY OF THE OCHBERG ORPHANS

How one South African businessman in 1921 set out by himself, risking life and limb to save Jewish orphans in worn-torn Eastern Europe

By Michel Levine

What drove Isaac Ochberg, a respectable and prosperous South African businessman, in 1920 to undertake an adventurous expedition thousands of kilometers to the north, into a Europe plunged into the bloody turmoil of civil wars?

For him, things were undoubtedly simple: born Jewish in Ukraine, he had been fortunate enough to flee the hell that awaited him to live under different skies. This chance, he wanted to offer in turn to the most vulnerable children: the orphans.

Isaac Ochberg was born in 1878 in Russia, into a Jewish family of German origin with six children, in the small town of Uman (now Ukrainian) located in what was then known as the “Pale of Settlement”. Created by Empress Catherine II in 1791, this was a vast area stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea, including Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Belarus, Crimea, and part of Poland. When Isaac Ochberg was born, the situation of the five million Jews living there was hardly enviable. Excluded from public service and higher education, they had gathered in certain city neighborhoods or in small towns called shtetls. Forbidden to own land, they survived by practicing small trades, commerce, crafts, tavern management, but also pawnbroking, this last activity arousing resentment among the Orthodox common people who had only emerged from serfdom in 1861.

Man with a Mission. Isaac Ochberg (1878-1937) Ukrainian-born South African businessman, Jewish community leader, savior of Jewish orphans in Eastern Europe and passionate supporter of a Jewish State in Palestine.

Young Isaac was three years old when the assassination of Tsar Alexander II triggered a series of pogroms that led to a massive exodus. About two million Jews emigrated between 1881 and 1914, mainly to the United States. But it was to South Africa, this land said to also offer a new El Dorado, that his father Aaron decided to emigrate.

He arrived in 1893 in a peaceful country, although sporadically shaken by wars between the Boers, descendants of Dutch settlers, and the British. South Africa was then open to significant immigration following the discovery of gold and diamonds in the Transvaal and welcoming to Jews, a small community of whom had been settled in Cape Town since 1841, living mainly from commerce and crafts while maintaining their distinctiveness. More interested in studying the Talmud than in financial success, Aaron nevertheless managed, after two years, to gather sufficient funds to bring Isaac, his eldest son aged sixteen, who risked being conscripted into the army at any moment for a duration of six long years during which he would be exposed to the worst harassment as a Jew. Upon his arrival in his new homeland, young Isaac demonstrated his talent. Inventive and resourceful, he soon abandoned the watchmaking apprenticeship his father had intended for him to launch into business – all sorts of businesses according to his capricious inspiration, ranging from scrap metal recovery to ship salvaging, passing through coffee sales, gold prospecting in the Transvaal, or creating Cape Town’s first cinema. During this period, he made a trip to Russia to visit his ailing mother and took the opportunity to be exempted from military service due to defective vision. He also met Pauline, a friend of his sisters, whom he married before returning to Cape Town with the entire family.

At forty, with an established fortune, father of five children, and an honorable British citizen (the country had been a dominion since 1910), Isaac Ochberg led the life of a notable. An executive member of the Council of Jewish Deputies, representing his country at the 16th World Zionist Conference in Zurich, he participated in managing organizations to help children and orphans in particular – in this capacity, he had participated in founding the Cape Jewish orphanage, of which he became President. It was undoubtedly this last function that led him to become acutely aware of the dramatic situation of Jewish orphans living in Eastern Europe.

Key Coordinator. 26-year-old Alexander Bobrow (above) was a key player in assembling the orphans making it easier for Ochberg logistically, accompanied – at the children’s crying insistence – the orphans and Ochberg on the ship to Cape Town planning on returning to Eastern Europe. He never did, and his daughter Liebe would later marry Aaron Klug who would receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1982.

At the end of the First World War, from 1917 onwards, Russia had been the theater of a civil war between the Bolshevik “Red” armies and the Tsarist “Whites,” the latter supported by contingents of French and British soldiers. The situation worsened in 1919 when the Second Polish Republic undertook a war of territorial reconquest against Soviet Russia. At the same time, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus were the scene of independence uprisings. While these ideological and nationalist forces, mixed with bands of looters, fought each other, they attacked a common prey: the zhid (the kike). For the “Reds”, although the new regime had abolished Tsarist antisemitic laws and promoted Yiddish as the Jewish national language (while nevertheless proscribing Hebrew, deemed bourgeois and Zionist), this representative of capitalism, “stateless” and “reactionary”, remained a class enemy. For the Tsarist “Whites”, driven by ancestral hatred, he had become the “Judeo-Bolshevik” embodied in the person of the Jew Trotsky and held responsible for all the misfortunes of Holy Russia. As their supreme weapon, the “Whites” brandished the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, this forgery manufactured by the political police, the Cheka, which they would then spread in Western Europe during their flight. For the bands of starving peasants, encouraged to revolt by Tsarist forces, the greedy Jew was designated as the absolute culprit, the one who had “killed Christ” and engaged in ritual murders of Christian children, as an ancestral rumor maintained. This justified massacring him and his family and seizing his property. Of the five million Jews residing in the Pale of Settlement (officially abolished in 1917 by the Bolshevik government), more than one hundred thousand had perished, two hundred thousand survived wounded or disabled, and there were more than 150,000 orphans. A 1919 report by the great American Jewish charitable organization the Joint (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) testified:

“In Poland, suffering is intense. There are institutions for children deprived of a morsel of bread, hospitals unusable due to lack of doctors, nurses, and medicines, despite an enormous number of diseases. A large percentage of people have been kept alive thanks to soup consisting of water, potatoes, and a little salt.”

Many voices rose up around the world to denounce these crimes. In London and New York, in particular, meetings and demonstrations were organized in which Jewish veterans of the Great War participated prominently. Under pressure from the Committee of Jewish Delegations, the 1919 Paris Peace Conference ordered a vast inquiry whose reports led to launching an “Appeal to Humanity” signed by great names such as Anatole France, Henri Barbusse, Elie Faure, and Albert Thomas.

President Wilson expressed his distress:

“One of the things that troubles peace in the world is the persecution of the Jews.”

He ordered the creation of a commission led by Henry Morgenthau, future minister under President Roosevelt, to investigate the pogroms in Poland (this work could only be carried out in that country, as the new Soviet government had forbidden entry to its territory). This commission traveled through battlefields and mass graves and published upon its return an alarming report on the fate of Jewish minorities. A commission led by Sir Stuart M. Samuel, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, succeeded it, at the initiative of the representative council of Jews in the United Kingdom. This one in turn denounced the scandalous situation. But these accumulating reports were not followed by action because, lacking a state to represent them, Jews were considered a minority among others, deprived as such of any real political power.

In South Africa, during an extraordinary meeting of the South African Relief Fund, a Jewish organization to aid war victims, Isaac Ochberg proposed that the Cape Jewish Orphanage he had been directing for several years organize a mission to “rescue” endangered Jewish orphans who would then be brought to the country. Certainly, he was aware that this mission close to his heart could only save a very limited number of children, but these would be lives preserved. “Whoever saves one life saves the world,” Isaac argued, citing the Talmud to support his proposal. His project was accepted – it remained to obtain the endorsement of the authorities. Prime Minister Jan Smuts, his friend, submitted his project to the government. Good news: Although immigration was strictly limited at that time, the response was positive, with some reservations. Entry visas would be issued to the orphans, but according to very precise criteria: there would be no more than two hundred, not exceeding 16 years of age, they must be in good physical and moral health, have lost both parents, and finally brothers and sisters could not be separated to avoid emotional problems. All, finally, must express their will to participate in this journey. Heavy-hearted at the idea that he would have to select among these children and abandon some to their fate, Isaac accepted these conditions – we will see that he would interpret them in his own way… What saddened him most was this cut-off figure of 200. He discussed, negotiated, and obtained that after this trip, if things went well, the State would consider repeating the operation. As for financing, it was decided that the Jewish community would bear half the cost. This was a significant commitment, as it would have to assume the costs of the journey, the maintenance and care of the 200 children, and then, once they arrived in Africa, the costs of their accommodation in orphanages, some until they came of age if they were not fortunate enough to be adopted by families.

Saga of Salvation. South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts (top left) who granted Isaac Ochberg (top right) permission to bring into South Africa 200 rescued Jewish orphans from Eastern Europe. (centre) Isaac Ochberg disembarking with his rescued orphans who throughout their lives would refer to him as “Daddy Ochberg”. (Botton left and right) Passport photos of some of the 187 rescued orphans brought to South Africa.

Assisted by the South African Aid Fund for Jewish War Victims, Isaac then launched a campaign across the country, personally traveling through cities and villages to organize public meetings followed by fundraising collections. During this fundraising, critical voices were heard in the Jewish community:

– Would this expedition, conducted in countries at war, not endanger the children concerned?

– Would their arrival in the country not risk being experienced as a provocation by certain conservative Christian circles, the National Party in particular, when South Africa was experiencing an economic crisis?

Some suggested it would be wiser to send these foreign children to the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine). Isaac remained deaf to what he considered submission to intolerance and continued his project.

Soon good news reached him: the fundraising campaign had raised sums far exceeding the expected figures. Dr. Jochelman, president of the federation of Ukrainian Jews in London, had let it be known that his organization was willing to house the orphans and handle their embarkation for South Africa.

On March 18, 1921, in Cape Town, Isaac Ochberg embraced his family, greeted the children of the orphanage, and amid a large gathering that came to encourage him and wish him a good journey, boarded the steamship that would take him to London.

Expected duration of the expedition: seven months.

TUMULTUOUS TRANSITION

Upon his arrival in the British capital, Isaac learned that the political situation in Eastern Europe had profoundly changed while he was sailing across the ocean. Russia and Poland had just signed a treaty in Riga that granted the latter numerous territories, the Kresy Wschodnie (“Eastern borderlands”) which included parts of Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine. This meant that all the cities constituting the stages of the planned journey were now under Polish administration and that the hard-won Soviet safe-conduct was now worthless.

Fortunately, the great explorer Fridtjof Nansen was passing through London. President of the League of Nations High Commission for Refugees, he had just created the first international identity document, the “Nansen passport”, a document which from 1922 would protect hundreds of thousands of wandering “displaced persons“, driven by conflicts and incessant border redrawings. During his meeting with the great man, Isaac explained his project to him. Nansen was enthusiastic. He managed to obtain from the new masters of Poland, whom he knew were concerned about international recognition, a safe-conduct authorizing Isaac to travel through the country with the benevolent assistance of local authorities. But as for the orphans, now Polish, how to obtain authorization to take them out of the country? Nansen obtained a commitment from Polish authorities that they would issue them special identity papers: “collective Nansen passports”.

On May 18, 1921, Isaac began his journey. Paris first, where Dr. Boris Borgen, head of the Joint, provided him with authorizations for the heads of orphanages under his organization so that they would entrust Isaac with the residents he had chosen. Next stop, Warsaw. In the capital of the Second Polish Republic that the Treaty of Versailles had brought back from its ashes in 1919, Isaac hoped to obtain help and assistance without too much illusion however – after all, he was just a Zhid  (Slavic pejorative term for a Jew) who had appeared from nowhere…

In Warsaw, the ‘Jewish metropolis’ (Di Yidishe metropolye), the Joint officials, who managed most of the country’s orphanages, described to him the difficult relations they maintained with victorious Poland. Certainly, its government had ratified in 1920 the treaty annexed to that of Versailles concerning minorities, but nationalist parties accused Jews of having sided with the Bolsheviks during hostilities while the Catholic hierarchy continued to pursue them with its ancestral hatred. This hostility manifested itself through restrictions on credits to orphanages and rationing of their medical protection. Many of these establishments survived only thanks to the help of the Joint or local charitable organizations like Tzedakah Gedolah – which led some non-Jewish orphans to say:

“Those bastard zhids, they’re lucky to have other zhids to come to their aid.”

Isaac organized his journey. The large and small cities he would have to visit drew a vast triangle with 400-kilometer sides. First in the north, Brest-Litovsk, then Pinsk, then descent towards Sarny, Kowel, and Rovno to Lvov, finally return to Warsaw where all the chosen children would be gathered, whose state of health would have allowed them to contemplate the journey. Hence the necessity of adding a certain number of round trips to the route. Given the poor state of communications due to the war, he had planned to use trains that were still running, otherwise buses or trucks. He did not yet know that he would also have to use horse-drawn carts.

Flourishing Future. The last surviving Ochberg orphan Cissy Harris, who died at the age of 102 in Modi’in, Israel, is seen here planting a tree at the opening of the Isaac Ocberg Park in 2011 marking the 90 anniversary of the heroic rescue. She is supported by Maish Isaacson (left), chairman of Telfed and Bennie Penzik, whose both parents were orphans rescued by Ochberg.

CHILDREN OF MISFORTUNE

On August 24, the orphans had barely settled into the premises of the Shelter for Jewish Poor located in the East End when representatives of the British and international press appeared. Extracting children from a turbulent and dangerous Europe, often saving their lives, was a bold move that surprised them and that they were very eager to make known. Gathered in a room, the orphans were presented to journalists. They stood properly, under the flashes. Isaac, surrounded by officials, answered questions. He made it a duty to insist on the role played by charitable organizations and the support of the South African government. He also pleaded for other countries to take over and welcome other children.

Preparation for the journey to Cape Town was organized. It was a long trip and the children had to be in good physical shape and not be carriers of diseases that might contaminate other passengers. Medical examinations followed one another. Numerous cases of anemia were detected, which would not prevent embarkation, but also more serious conditions, which required hospitalizing some children. The latter would remain in London, which was a great heartbreak for them, but they could keep hope that soon a new voyage to Cape Town would come get them, or that other countries would decide to welcome them. Doctors and nurses were hired for the journey.

On September 2, children and companions took the train to Southampton where the steamship Edinburgh Castle awaited them.

Destination – Cape Town. 

Past Preserved. Erin Kumin from Ra’anana, Israel, points to the plaque of her great-grandmother, Janie Odes, one of the orphans saved by Isaac Ochberg in 1921 at centenary event at the Ochberg Park on the 12 March 2021. (Photo D.E. Kaplan)

THE CROSSING

The children were at first afraid of this dark and vibrating mass, then got used to it. The large steamship offered them an enclosed space, a playground, where they loved to run, but under supervision, because their vitality led them to often bump into chimneys, ropes, and in narrow passages. At night, they laughed and cried too, fought with pillows. The sailors, of various nationalities, were very friendly – some told them stories about their country, incredible stories. As for the cooks, they were reluctant to prepare this complicated kosher food but complied with the instructions.

Nurses and doctors had their work cut out for them monitoring big and small ailments and seasickness. They drew their medicines from a large carefully arranged pharmacy. One of the children had mumps, which required special care during a stopover.

The companions organized games. On deck, the wind rushed into their clothes and made the little caps they had been given at departure fly, some flew away and came to float on the waves. The passengers, sometimes jostled, were mostly touched and moved by the story the children had lived through, and they applauded the ‘God Save the King’ that they sometimes sang, with a very particular accent.

Field of Dreams. Ochberg dreamt of a green fertile Israel such as this field with youngsters cycling at the Ochberg Park, Megiddo.(Courtesy Megiddo Regional Council)

THE PROMISED LAND

After a 17- day crossing, early in the morning, the children grouped on deck saw lights blinking on the horizon on a gray land planted with misty and dark mountains. The sailors pointed out the curiously flat summit, called Table Mountain. The boat approached and soon the children distinguished more precisely people who had come to welcome them carrying flowers and brandishing welcome banners in Yiddish. These people had white skin, others black, it really was Africa…

As the ship docked, the children broke into a song than was joined by people on the quay. Everyone knew the words, so moving in these circumstances:

“Hinei ma tov u’ma nayim Shevet achim gam Yachad” (“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity! “). Greeted by the cheers of a crowd in tears, the children disembarked. “Until my last day,” Fanny Frier would write, a little girl who would later become president of the Cape orphanage, “I will never forget the first time we saw the lights of Cape Town, then the wonderful welcome we received when we disembarked, when half the city apparently awaited us on the quay.”

‘Hill of Names’. Visitors to the Isaac Ochberg Park in Megiddo, Israel look closely at the plaques of all the known names of the orphans Isaac Ochberg rescued and brought safely to South Africa.

NEW LAND, NEW LIFE

What would become of these little beings thus projected into this new world? Taken in and raised in the two orphanages Oranjia in Cape Town and Arcadia in Johannesburg and some, not many, would be adopted by families where they would live their childhood surrounded by attention and love. Then they would set out to conquer the vast world to experience the most diverse destinies. Almost all would have children, often numerous.

Alive Because of One Man. Descendants of Ochberg orphans from all over the world attend the inauguration of the Ochberg Park, Megiddo in 2011 are seen here at nearby Kibbutz Gal’ed, founded in 1945 by members of Habonim from Germany. The kibbutz was built on land purchased by the JNF-KKL from the Isaac Ochberg bequest.  (Photo: D.E. Kaplan)

For years, their descendants, who now number several thousand, have ritually gathered to celebrate with emotion the anniversary of their arrival and the memory of Daddy Ochberg, the “man from Africa” who came to get them before the Shoah exterminated most of the other Jewish children who remained in Europe.



 



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.)






*Feature Picture: Savior of Children. Isaac Ochberg (centre) with Jewish children at an orphanage in Eastern Europe.

















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).

A FAILURE OF FOCUS

The ‘Palestine-Israel question’ has overshadowed the atrocities taking place across Africa.

By Kenneth Kgwadi

Most African countries reclaimed their political independence in the late 1950s, with Ghana becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to attain independence, paving the way for several others to follow suit. This ushered in not only joy and euphoria, but also the hope that black self-rule would prioritise the interests of their respective countries, their people, and the broader African continent. However, too many countries have fallen short of this aspiration.

It still does not make sense that the profound and visible atrocities taking place across Africa do not receive the same level of global attention afforded to the Palestinian cause. The suffering on the continent stretches back centuries, from the era of slavery to the present day. Many African countries continue to endure repression at the hands of those who were once regarded as liberators during the struggle for independence.

Pan-African Optimism. Ghana’s independence in 1957 proved a pivotal event signaling the shift away from colonialism on the African continent. Two years after Nkrumah  in 1964 pushed a constitutional amendment that makinge Ghana a one-party state and himself the life president, he was overthrown in a military coup.

Thousands of Africans continue to lose their lives to radical Islamist extremism, poverty, crime, poorly managed health outbreaks, civil wars, and state persecution. Yet, despite the scale and persistence of these challenges, such injustices often fail to attract adequate international attention and sustained global concern.

A silent war is taking place on our doorstep in the province of Cabo Delgado, where people from all 17 districts have been displaced out of fear for their lives following the brutal killings perpetrated by Islamic State Mozambique. The group has been terrorising the country since 2017, leaving thousands dead and many more displaced.

Horrendous Hypocrisy. While South Africa feigns concern for the Palestinians in Gaza, it ignores virtually on its doorstep where Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) is responsible for a significant portion of the over 6,500 total fatalities recorded since the Cabo Delgado insurgency began in 2017. Monitoring groups estimate that the group has killed thousands — including at least 2,800 civilians — while displacing over 400,000 people across the region.

Yet the South African public remains largely detached from what is unfolding in Mozambique. At the same time, many complain about the growing influx of Mozambicans into South Africa, despite the fact that many of these migrants are fleeing violence and insecurity while seeking safety and economic opportunities to sustain themselves and their families. The humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado serves as a reminder that migration is often a consequence of conflict, instability, and the failure to address the root causes of human suffering in the region.

There is a compelling need to invest in political, strategic, and military interventions to address the crisis in Mozambique, as it directly affects South Africa in several ways. Mozambique is one of Africa’s countries with significant economic potential, yet it remains unable to fully realise that potential because of the ongoing conflict. With its relatively advanced defense capabilities and larger economy, South Africa is well positioned to play a meaningful role in helping to resolve the current tragedy in Mozambique. Such efforts would contribute to creating a more stable and conducive environment for economic development, which could in turn reduce migration pressures between the two countries. A prosperous Mozambique would also become a stronger economic partner, helping to stimulate regional growth and create much-needed employment opportunities.

Playing Politics. Mounting pressures and tensions closer to home, South Africa’s ANC leadership prefers to focus on falsely accusing Israel at international courts.

It remains concerning that South Africa often expends substantial political capital on issues and conflicts taking place thousands of kilometres away, while opportunities exist to use that same influence to improve the socio-political and security conditions of people on the African continent. Greater investment should be directed towards helping to rebuild, industrialise, and develop African countries in order to create a more prosperous and stable continent. Such an approach would contribute more directly to the advancement of African societies than engaging in avoidable diplomatic confrontations with Western nations, which offer limited tangible benefits to the socio-economic development of the continent.



About the writer:

Kenneth Kgwadi is a political scientist, columnist and research fellow at the Middle East Africa Research Institute (MEARI).








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).

MISUSE TO MALIGN – AID AGENCIES EXPOSED

When humanitarian agencies misuse the word “genocide” to malign Israel, they erode its meaning, cheapen the suffering of genuine victims and erode trust.

By Marika Sboros

Who would ever have imagined the forked tongues with which some of the most recognisable names in global humanitarianism speak about genocide?

There was a time when the word, genocide, travelled slowly across the globe carrying weight and gravitas. It moved truthfully with the solemn pace of courts, bewigged judges, historians and survivors of genuine genocide.

Genocide is weighted with meaning from the ashes of the crematoria of the Holocaust by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was meant to be a rare word, precise in depicting the “Crime of Crimes” that forced its invention in the first place.

Genuine Genocide. There is a clear distinction between genocide and war and when aid agencies deliberately blur that distinction, it is not only a misuse but an abuse of the word “genocide” that is “weighted with meaning from the ashes of the crematoria of the Holocaust.”  

Today, the word shoots across continents like falling stars on steroids. Its casual misuse by groups carrying the halo of humanitarian speaks volumes about the moral moment of our time.

Leading this linguistic debasement are Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) that started in France, Oxfam GB in the UK and South Africa’s home-grown Gift of the Givers.

All do vital, often heroic work to deliver food, medicine, shelter and logistics where governments fail and disasters fall. All share aggressive political advocacy and gratuitous use of the word, genocide, against Israel and Jews who support it.

In Gaza, these groups have made genocide a linguistic weapon in Israel’s war against Hamas since the terror group’s horrific attack against civilians in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

They do so in a wider, global struggle over law, language and the moral credibility of the global humanitarian mission since that day.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MFS)

MSF’s fall from the grace of medical neutrality has been particularly precipitous.

The group’s humble origins began in 1971 with just 13 idealistic physicians and journalists from the medical journal, Tonus. All declared commitment to témoignage, the French word for “bearing witness” to human rights abuses and atrocities.

Their guide for their early, self-funded interventions was a revolutionary manifesto prioritising victim care over national sovereignty.

From this scrappy foundation evolved the giant global network that MSF is today, and that won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for its famed impartiality in conflict zones.

Shield of Shame. Morally shielded by its Nobel-winning brand, Doctors without Borders is exposed for shielding terrorists whose intent is to annihilate Israel and all Jews who inhabit it.

MSF claims still to “bear witness”. Critics see significant, potentially terminal degradation in its communications that prioritise highly charged legal and political accusations over objective, humanitarian reporting.

NGO Monitor has come out with a blistering, comprehensive report that charts MSF’s transformation, post October 7, into a global source of disinformation and demonisation targeting Israel. It reveals how the charity joined other influential NGOs in an intensive advocacy campaign framing the Israeli response as “genocide” based on “manipulated and distorted evidence to support a predetermined conclusion”.
It shows how MSF effectively erased Hamas’s “weaponisation” of hospitals and clinics and the
“exploitation of schools, mosques and other civilian facilities for terror”.

MSF’s refusal in January to comply with Israel’s request to provide staff lists for vetting speaks volumes. The request is not unusual in active conflict zones. By refusing it and shielding potential terrorists from scrutiny, MSF is prioritising the security of compromised members over the universal laws of war and civilians.

It has effectively created convenient vacuums for terrorists involved in rocket production, sniper activity and more to hide behind a medical badge.

In February, MSF suspended all non-critical operations at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the largest in the region, after admitting to a total breakdown of medical neutrality. Its internal reports confirmed a pattern of “unacceptable acts,” including masked and armed gunmen roaming hospital corridors and intimidating and arbitrarily arresting patients.

Crucially, MSF acknowledged “suspicion of movement of weapons” within the facility. Hamas predictably claimed that the masked gunmen were civilian police.

Machiavellian Medicine. Apart from the weapons discovered by the IDF at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City (above), documents found revealed how Hamas regulated international NGOs, including MédecinsSans Frontières (MSF)  with each being assigned a Hamas-approved “guarantor”. MSF’s guarantor was the deputy head of its Gaza leadership. (Photo: IDF)

However, the admission substantiated long-standing intelligence that Hamas was exploiting the hospital as a military headquarter, thereby stripping the medical site of protected status under international law.

A recent article by two medical doctors in the Times of Israel is even more damning. The authors, one a formerMSF Secretary General, give alarming examples of terrorist infiltration within MSF’s Gaza staff and operations.

They highlight instances of multiple MSF-affiliated healthcare workers who were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Evidence includes MSF staff photographed in Hamas uniforms alongside senior terrorist commanders.

The authors refer to the case of Fadi Al-Wadiya, an MSF staffer who was a PIJ rocket manufacturing expert for over 15 years. Al-Wadiya was no exception.

They describe a chilling, “centralised regime” in Gaza in which Hamas regulates NGOs (non-governmental organisations), such as MSF, through designated “guarantors”. These are senior officials who liaise with the terror group’s security services to influence operational decisions.

The authors, say that MSF’s deputy head of Gaza leadership served as a Hamas-approved “guarantor”.

Such advocacy boosts critics who say that MSF has become a partisan actor using its Nobel-winning brand to shield extremist elements in Gaza intent on annihilating Israel and all Jews who inhabit it.

Oxfam GB

In the UK, Oxfam GB provides a different, no less revealing case study as the most “storied institution”.

Founded in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (hence the acronym), its mission was to persuade the British government to allow food relief to starving Greek villagers under Nazi occupation.

More than 80 years later, Oxfam is a global confederation of 21 affiliates, led by Oxfam GB. Just as MSF has done, Oxfam GB has drifted into slightly different humanitarian work after October 7: combustible political activism against Israel.

Then came Dr Halima Begum, British-Bangladeshi academic, development expert and Oxfam GB’s first woman-of-colour CEO in December 2024.

Oxfam’s Obsession. Sacked as Oxfam GB’s CEO, Halima Begum accused the global charity of antisemitism that rushed to accuse Israel of genocide without the support of “evidence and good legal advice.” (Photo: video clip)

Begum’s academic pedigree is impeccable. She has a BSc in Government and History and an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics. Her PhD from Queen Mary University of London is in Political and Human Geography. In 2024, she received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the university.

She was reportedly brought in to “decolonise” Oxfam GB. Her tenure ended abruptly in late 2025 after a leadership review, which she has called an orchestrated “witch-hunt”.

Begum did not go quietly. She set off a whistleblowing flare on her way out. The fallout sent shockwaves through Oxfam’s global confederation and the NGO world. 

She quickly launched a legal offensive against her former employer. In her Employment Tribunal filing and high-profile Channel 4 interview in February 2026, Begum claims an incriminating “institutional whiteness” and “toxic antisemitic culture” infecting Oxfam GB’s heart.

Her core allegation is the “Gaza exception”. She says that Oxfam GB prematurely and ideologically began promoting the “genocide” slur against Israel in Gaza to appease its activist wing.

She ascribes this to “toxic” internal pressure specifically targeting Israel while ignoring other areas, among them El-Fasher in Sudan. That’s despite UN investigators finding clear “hallmarks of genocide” in the Sudanese sand.

Begum also claims that the environment that Oxfam GB created for Jewish staff was hostile and left them feeling “unsafe”.

Oxfam rejects all Begum’s allegations and says its use of the term, genocide, followed formal, legal “review”.

The dispute set off an inquiry by the UK Charity Commission that is examining whether Oxfam GB’s advocacy crossed the legal boundary separating charitable work from political campaigning.

Under British law, charities’ activities are required to align with stated humanitarian purposes, not partisan or ideological agendas. Whether Oxfam GB crossed that line is for regulators to determine.

The controversy raises broader questions about the humanitarian sector’s relationship with political advocacy and truth-telling.

Gift of the Givers

South Africa’s Gift of the Givers presents a different but no less compelling case.

Founded in 1992 by medical doctor Imtiaz Sooliman, the charity has an impressive reputation as the African continent’s most effective disaster-relief organisation.

Gift of the Givers is acknowledged globally for rapid deployment, low administrative overheads and ability to operate in difficult conflict zones. It has delivered billions of South African Rands in aid in more than 47 countries, including Bosnia, Somalia, Syria, Haiti and Yemen.

Its longstanding presence in Gaza since 2009 has drawn claims (routinely and hotly denied by Sooliman) that its donations meant for humanitarian aid sometimes found their way into Hamas’s coffers by default or design.

Critics argue that Sooliman’s public statements often blur lines between humanitarianism and political advocacy. They cite his public rhetoric at anti-Israel rallies, including antisemitic tropes of “Zionists” (the anti-Israel lobby’s code word for Jews) who “rule the world with money and fear,” and regular genocide references.

What ‘Gives’? Belying his humanitarian image, ‘Gift of the Givers’ founder and chair Imtiaz Sooliman when addressing a rally in Cape Town on 5 October 2024 sounded more jihadi than humanitarian by indulging in antisemitic tropes about Israel and “Zionists” who “run the world with fear … and control the world with money”.

To casual readers, Sooliman’s implication is unmistakable: Israel is committing the “Crime of Crimes” in Gaza.

He may feel emboldened under cover of his contacts at the highest levels of South Africa’s ruling ANC (African National Congress) government, particularly in DIRCO (Department of International Relations and Cooperation).

Sooliman appears oblivious to the heaviest of ironies in DIRCO leading the country’s lawsuit it launched at the International Criminal Court (ICJ) against Israel on a genocide charge just weeks after the horror of Hamas’s genuinely genocidal attack on October 7.

Gift of the Givers has thrown its weight behind the lawsuit.

Dr Ivor Chipkin has exposed the political and moral hypocrisy behind the lawsuit in a prescient article in the South African Journal of International Affairs in November 2025.

Chipkin is an academic political scientist specialising in public administration, public policy and governance in post-apartheid South Africa. He lectures in public policy at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science and is co-founder and director of the New South Institute, a Johannesburg-based think tank focused on government and public-sector reform.

His focus in the article is the “peculiarity” of South Africa’s decision to charge Israel with the “Crime of Crimes” at the ICJ “while treating Hamas (at least in front of the ICJ) as largely blameless.”

Chipkin ascribes this double standard to an “organic crisis” facing the ANC, related to the ANC’s fading “revolutionary” character and the lawsuit’s likely effects on South Africa’s foreign policy. None of it bodes well for the country or the ruling party. 

By Chipkin’s reckoning, the crisis lies in South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s inability to give “revolutionary meaning to ANC politics domestically.” Instead, Chipkin says that Ramaphosa has vainly attempted to “build its revolutionary credentials on the international stage as a vanguard of anti-imperialism and the struggle against colonialism.”

The ICJ lawsuit and Ramaphosa’s appointment of Naledi Pandor, a Muslim convert with extremist views, as foreign minister, “signal” that strategy, Chipkin writes.

He examines in graphic detail the legal basis for the lawsuit’s genocide claim. He finds it wanting on so many levels that “not only must the observer ask why South Africa did not seek any court order against Hamas, but why it did not even try.”

Sooliman should not be surprised that critics see similar gaps in his genocide claims against Israel.

Along with MSF and Oxfam GB, Sooliman uses the genocide accusation as advocacy to mobilise outrage, donations and political pressure.

Yet the genocide claim is a highest-order legal accusation which none of these organisations has the legal, moral authority to make. Doing so before an unequivocal legal ruling (expected in 2027) is not rhetorical flourish.

It is moral inversion and historical revision.

Genocide is not a slogan and the legal threshold for a finding is deliberately high.

Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, it requires proof of specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Determining such intent is not the purview of activists, charities or social-media campaigns. It belongs to the ICJ and the International Criminal Court (ICC) that were created to examine evidence, test witnesses and weigh competing legal arguments.

They are not meant to operate on rhetoric, miasma and press releases. And despite the best efforts of the anti-Israel lobby, the scaffolding against genocide claims aimed at Israel remains strong and intact:

Jews were the primary victims of the crime that inspired the word, genocide; the Nazis murdered six million Jews in the Holocaust; the modern State of Israel emerged partly from world recognition that Jews needed a place where such annihilation could never happen again; the October 7 attack by Hamas had all the hallmarks of true genocidal intent; Hamas, PIJ and other terror groups have “the same genocidal message in the DNA of their charters – the extermination of the Jews.”

All that history should impose a degree of humility on those accusing Israel of genocide while ignoring Hamas’s blatant genocidal intent on October 7, and its public promises to repeat it “over and over until Israel is annihilated.”

That humility is absent, most likely because of the existential burden Jews face as targets of the “world’s oldest hatred” (Jew hatred).

British author, humourist and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson identified it 12 years ago when he asked rhetorically:

“When will Jews ever be forgiven for The Holocaust?”

His answer: “Never.”

In a flurry of columns for The Observer in the UK after October 7, Jacobson vents his fury at “progressives” who downplayed the barbaric mass murder and rape Hamas perpetrated on the day and exaggerated Israel’s response.

He points out that “genocides don’t leaflet the populations they want to destroy with warnings to stay out of harm’s way.”

That leaves Israel looking very good at war and very bad at genocide.

Jacobson’s latest book, Howl (Jonathan Cape, 2026) is a novel based on October 7, with a delicate balance of humour and horror that only he could get just right. It allows readers who would weep even more, the respite of occasionally being able to laugh after October 7. 

Humanitarian organisations present themselves as guardians of moral clarity and defenders of international law. But law and morality depend primarily on truth and truth telling requires restraint.

When humanitarians use forked tongues to stretch the truth about genocide, they erode its meaning, cheapen the suffering of genuine victims and erode trust.

If everything is genocide, then nothing is genocide.

Truth-telling is not a pastime. It is the foundation of humanitarianism. Without it, even the most well-intentioned humanitarian charity turns into a storyteller – and not always a truthful one.



About the writer:

Marika Sboros is a South African freelance investigative journalist with decades of experience writing fulltime for the country’s top media titles on a wide range of topics. She started her career as a hard-news reporter in the newsroom of the now defunct Rand Daily Mail, a campaigning anti-government newspaper during the worst excesses of the apartheid era. She commutes between South Africa and the UK.






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).

DEAD BUT ALIVE IN THE MINDS OF MANY  –  ACROSS ISRAEL AND TANZANIA

After two years of captivity in Gaza, the remains of agricultural student Joshua Loitu Mollel returned to Israel.

By Jonathan Feldstein

In the early morning of October 7, 2023, as rockets streaked across the sky and gunfire shattered the quiet of southern Israel, a young man from Tanzania pedaled his bicycle along a dusty road near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Joshua Loitu Mollel, 21, had arrived in Israel only 19 days earlier, pursuing a personal dream and to be part of the Biblical prophecy of Ezekiel 36:8 witnessing and learning from the tremendous agricultural innovation that has made Israel such a beacon of agricultural prowess to developing nations of the world, miraculously making the desert bloom. “And you, the mountains of Israel, will produce your branches, and you will bear your fruit for My people Israel because they are about to come.”

From Student to Hostage.  Poster of Joshua Loitu Mollel who was only 21 when he arrived in Israel as an agricultural student from Tanzania to join a training program run by Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Two weeks later He was murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7 and his body held in captivity until this week.  

Joshua was a devout Christian, embodying the quiet resilience of his faith – humble, hardworking, and hopeful. He saw the opportunities in Israel as an answer to personal prayer and a light unto the nations, planning to glean experience to bring back to and enrich his impoverished village. But that morning, Hamas terrorists stormed Israel’s border, and Joshua’s life was cut short in a frenzy of inhuman atrocities. Joshua was confirmed killed, his body dragged into Gaza and held captive ever since.

Earlier this month, the remains of four other hostages who were killed on October 7 or murdered in captivity were returned to Israel.  But Joshua’s remains, and that of six other hostages, were still being held by Hamas terrorists, a bargaining chip in Hamas’s cruel calculus, a poignant reminder of how far their extremist Islamic hatred extends and impacts Jews and Christians together, worldwide. Joshua’s remains were finally returned to Israel during the evening of November 5, 2025.

Returning Home. Before returning to Africa,  IDF troops salute over the casket containing the body of Tanzanian hostage Joshua Mollel after it was returned by Hamas, during a short ceremony in the Gaza Strip, in November 5, 2025.  (Photo: IDF)

It was meant to be so different.

Arriving in Israel full of hope, leaving behind his parents and siblings, Joshua promised to return with skills to combat drought and poverty and make agriculture in Tanzania blossom. Joshua’s faith sustained him; he attended church, prayed, and wrote home about the “miracle” of irrigation systems that turned desert into bounty. Yet, on that fateful day, his innocence made him a target. Albeit not to be confused as an Israeli Jew who Hamas vows to annihilate, eyewitness accounts describe him begging for mercy in broken English as terrorists beat him, his cries drowned out by the chaos. To Hamas, he was a non-Muslim intruder, an infidel. Love and mercy are not in their vocabulary.

Final Flight. Never to return home alive, an inspired and motivated, Joshua Mollel landed in Israel three weeks before the deadly attack on October 7, 2023.

Joshua Mollel is not the only African or Tanzanian to have been murdered amid the Hamas slaughter that day and taken into captivity.  In November 2023, the body of Clemence Felix Mtenga was found by Israeli soldiers, brought to Israel with all the love and respect afforded to all hostages who have been recovered, and repatriated to Tanzania for burial. The Genesis 123 Foundation spearheaded an effort to pay last respects all the way to the Kilimanjaro region in which Mtenga was buried, and to comfort his family among the mourners of Zion and Israel.  (Follow the video testimony of that powerful project HERE.)

Underscoring the common bond and that the victims of Islamic terror know no borders, President Isaac Herzog told a delegation of African Christian leaders in October 2025, “Hamas’s refusal to return Joshua’s body is a desecration, a continuation of the barbarism that has haunted my people for generations.” 

Joshua’s murder reveals a broader, unifying threat and urgent call for solidarity: the scourge of Islamic terrorism that preys on Christians with equal ferocity. In sub-Saharan Africa, where Joshua’s story resonates deeply, radical Islamist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria have razed Christian villages, slaughtering tens of thousands, sacrifices to their Islamic caliphate. In Cameroon, Fulani militants affiliated with ISIS target Christian farmers, forcing conversions or death. These atrocities, spotlighted recently by U.S. political figures decrying “Islamic terrorists committing horrible atrocities,” parallel the October 7 massacre, where Hamas invoked jihad to justify beheading babies and abducting grandmothers.

The common thread is ideological: a radical interpretation of Islam that views Jews as eternal enemies and Christians as apostates, unworthy of the protection afforded “People of the Book.” From the 1929 Hebron massacre, where Arab rioters killed 67 Jews chanting “Slaughter the Jews,” to ISIS’s 2014 genocide of Iraqi Christians and Yazidis, the playbook remains unchanged – intimidation, expulsion, extermination. Until this week, somewhere in a Gazan tunnel or sandy pit, Joshua’s body had lain alongside Israeli Jews and even a former Thai worker, a stark symbol of this convergence. As part of God’s covenantal promise which is so intricately linked to the Land and people of Israel, as one of the remaining eight hostages in Gaza, the simple truth is that Jews and Christians face a common enemy and threat under Sharia’s heel.

In an interview following the kidnapping, Joshua’s father, Loitu Mollel had said “The last time I spoke to Joshua was Thursday 5 October. “I said, ‘Be on your best behaviour because you’re somewhere new, and make the most of the internship you’re there to do.”” Two days later Joshua Mollel’s new home – Kibbutz Nahal Oz – was attacked by Hamas.

This shared peril forges an imperative for solidarity. Visiting Israel and the land from which his son’s lifeless body was taken hostages, Joshua’s father, Loitu, didn’t seek vengeance; he sought justice, and a proper burial under Tanzanian skies. His plea transcends borders:

“return the body, honor the dead, dismantle the networks of hate”

This plea of a father has been partly met with the body of his son Joshua being thankfully returned and honoured both in Israel and soon in Africa.

There still remains that part of the plea to “dismantle the networks of hate.”


Together in Grief.  Flags of Israel and Tanzania are held aloft at the funeral procession in Tanzania of Clemence Mtenga, a 22-year-old Tanzanian agricultural student, murdered by terrorists at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, just weeks after arriving in Israel on a government training program.




*Feature picture: Taken hostage on October 7, 2023, Joshua Loitu Mollel murdered by Hamas and his body returned to Israel on  the 5 November, 2025.



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 Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.





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).

FOREIGN POLICY FOR HIRE

South Africa’s geopolitical influence should not be rented to the highest bidders

By Kenneth Mokgatlhe

The recent decision to drag Israel into the United Nations’s International Court of Justice (or World Court as it is known by many South Africans) has honestly divided the country; some praise their government while others are dissatisfied with the move. There is no doubt that there will be a price to pay for our actions in the international arena and sadly, the poor will pay that price.

While politicians will use human rights, justice, or equality as drivers of their country’s foreign policy direction, we know that the primary driver of such an important policy is often always self-interest of those in power. In the case of South Africa, it is the African National Conference (ANC), the governing party, which is using political means to satisfy itself and its historic allies. The nature of South Africa’s case at the World Court is not about South Africans; the government’s involvement will not have any direct or indirect material benefit to the poor South Africans.

Charge of the Light’weight Brigade. Enjoying the limelight at The Hague, who really was behind South Africa falsely accusing Israel of genocide?


South Africa’s decision to drag Israel into the World Court seems to come from a well-meaning place; a strategic political move that will remind local voters about the party’s reputation as a defender of human rights. They may be criticised for bad governance but they will always be known for their role as the defenders of the vulnerable during South Africa’s struggle for freedom from the oppression of apartheid. It is known that people are not happy with the ANC’s performance in government and this case will have a fundamental impact in the coming elections.


It also appears that the ANC-led government is subjecting itself to being used as a lackey by both Iran and Russia. Is the decision to approach the World Court solely coming from Pretoria? There are several indicators that make it difficult to say “yes”. The ANC has become cozy with the Iranian government and Hamas, a terror group supported by Iran, both of whom advocate for the elimination of the State of Israel and killing of Jews.

Wrong Side of History. Disagreeing with their government’s support of Russia in its unprovoked war on Ukraine, protestors hold placards outside the Russian Consulate in Cape Town, Feb. 25, 2022.

The ANC hosted Hamas which killed more than 1300 innocent Israelis on 7 October 2023, including a few Africans who were there for study purposes. Hamas also abducted more than 240 women, children and the elderly, and raped, tortured, burned, and maimed their victims. They were hosted and welcomed into the ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House. In just a few days after the 7 October massacre, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, also called Hamas’ leader to show and commit unwavering support to a bloody terror group. A summary of this call was flagrantly published by Iran on the official website of its foreign ministry.

Shared Values! Three days after the massacre in Israel by extermination squads from Gaza, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (l) meets his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, in Pretoria on August 10, 2023 where they expressed that they share “common views” concerning the Middle East. (Photo by Press TV)

On its own, Hamas couldn’t have the military resources to carry out their October 7 vicious attacks. The fact that they are still able to fire rockets at Israel shows that they have military backing from Iran. We know from Palestinians and Hamas leaders that Iran provides military training, logistical support and financial assistance to Hamas.


Is it a wise move for South Africa to associate with Hamas and Iran? I think not, so, why is our country not instead associating with Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or Jordan in a quest to look for a more permanent solution? None of these pro-Palestinian governments have taken Israel to the World Court.


If South Africa genuinely wants to arrest the Israel-Palestine impasse, why is it difficult to use bilateral relations to condemn what they believe goes against their moral values directly with Israel? When you get angry and disengage how is it going to positively impact the outcome? South Africa chooses to go out and make noise while Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan are looking for a solution by engaging both parties directly, not through the media or on the international stage as South Africa has chosen to do.

There are political and security concerns between Israel and Palestine that have persisted for years which means that there should be a more sustainable, permanent, and political solution. An order from the World Court is a temporary means which does not sustainably or permanently solve the problem. Many people are hypocritical because they choose to blame Israel when it is defending itself by taking the fight to Hamas, but they keep quiet when Hamas is provoking and killing the Israelis. Every country has a moral duty to go all out and protect its people against any threat, big or small.


It is hypocritical of our government that took Israel to The Hague but showed a middle finger to the International Criminal Court when it issued a warrant of arrest against Al Bashir for crimes against humanity by refusing to arrest him while in South Africa. Subsequently, South Africa ignores the acts of crimes against humanity in Ukraine by a thuggish Russia. The ANC government has never issued a statement or acted against what Vladimir Putin is doing to Ukraine. They are so fixated on Israel and would do anything to demonise it.

Bosom Buddies. Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speak during a Russia-Africa Summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Oct. 23, 2019.

South Africa is a country that borders Zimbabwe whose people have been subjected to acts of violations and terror by ZANU-PF in the full view of the ANC, and they are keeping quiet about it just as they have done for years. There are no bilateral efforts to try and fix the appalling situation in Zimbabwe or other parts of Africa. I think that South Africa’s geopolitical influence in the region and continent should not be rented to the highest bidders. Instead, we should be using our influence to address our national, regional, and continental problems. What are we saying about the political and security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo?



About the writer:

Kenneth Mokgatlhe is a political writer and columnist studying Master’s at Ben Gurion University in Israel.





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).

YES, RACE MATTERS

Why when African blacks are gunned down by Hamas operatives from Gaza, Africa ignores?

By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe

 I was shocked by the silence that greeted the callous executions of two young Tanzanians by Hamas.  Both were kidnapped by Hamas when they started a war on 7th of October 2023 by attacking innocent and unarmed civilians in Israel.

These two young Tanzanians, Joshua Mollel and Clemence Felix Mtenga, were in Israel as part of an agricultural project to equip themselves with knowledge lacking in their communities that would allow them to contribute to the economy of their country.  Death was the last thing on their mind but they were cruelly murdered by Hamas.

From Dreams to Death. Murdered by Hamas, Joshua Mollel was among 260 Tanzanians involved in an agricultural internship program sponsored by the Israeli government. (Photo: Steven Mollel/Steven Mollel, via Associated Press)

While I am cognisant of South Africa’s explanation why it supports a terrorist organisation like Hamas, whose fundamental aim is to erase the State of Israel, I find it difficult to understand that there was no condemnation or messages of support by the South African government and political parties on the brutal deaths of two Africans at the hands of Hamas.  I also found it morally repugnant. Why was it so difficult to send a message of condolences to Tanzania or directly to the families of the two young bright leaders who died in a foreign country?

Why?

Some naysayers are convincing themselves that the two young men should not have been in Israel in the first place.  This is both a ridiculous and selfish view.  People go to different countries to pursue their dreams, goals, and ambitions. The two men were not in Israel for a holiday.  They were there to educate themselves in the field of agriculture so that they could return and serve their country’s development agenda. They were in their own way soldiers too fighting for development and innovation but who tragically fell at the cruel hands of those whose aim is never to build and develop but to kill and destroy.

The international laws of war are clear: Civilians should be protected by all warring parties. It is important to remember that Mollel and Mtenga were Tanzanian students studying in Israel, not Israeli citizens. Mollel was sprayed with bullets from Hamas’ machine guns at a very close range.  This was after he appealed to them not to take his life.  Hamas was merciless and did what they always do – KILL.

Gunned down by Gazan. 22-year-old agricultural intern from Tanzania Clemence Mtenga was missing for six weeks and thought to be a hostage in Gaza until on November 18, his body was identified and he was declared dead, murdered by Hamas. His sister Alphoncena Mtenga told the AP that “He wanted to start his own agri-business.”

For decades, Africans have pursued studies in foreign countries, including those very countries which as colonial powers during the ‘Scramble for Africa’ ruthlessly exploited the African continent and contributed to its underdevelopment. So why then criticise Israel, a country that only offers to help find and provide technological and innovative solutions for Africa’s multifarious challenges? It is simply hypocritical.

It is puzzling and sad that the African Union (AU) should chose to remain reticent when Africans become casualties.  The AU should speak with a strong and clear voice and reprimand those who still believe that African lives are cheap. The AU should be the last line of defence for all of us in Africa.  So, why are they quiet when Africans are slaughtered in Gaza?

 By contrast, the efforts of the Tanzanian and Israeli governments should be applauded.  They have stood with the bereaved families during these trying times. Burying a child is painful and it lives with the parent forever.

I, like many other young people from across Africa, am currently in Israel to pursue studies so that I can contribute to my own country, South Africa, when I return.  Whatever skills and expertise we acquire in Israel, we will take back to improve our society and our communities in Africa.  We share common goals to alleviate poverty, improve water management, reduce crime, fight diseases, and tackle underdevelopment.

As we continue to witness African countries’ challenges to create jobs and business opportunities, the agricultural sector in Israel will continue to attract foreign workers from Kenya and Malawi. Growing economies in the world like Nigeria understand and acknowledge the importance of remittances as the greatest source of foreign exchange. This will be a big boost to the Kenyan and Malawian economies.

Should we prohibit Africans from working in Israel? The answer is a big NO.  Much of Africa’s local economies are unable to provide employment opportunities needed for its people to look after their families and boost their economies.  Rather than try and prevent movement, we should be encouraging young people to visit foreign countries and expand their knowledge to develop our own country’s economies.  

Siding with the Killers. Ten days after the massacre that killed more Jews in one day since the Holocaust, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor held a telephonic conversation with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to “discuss getting humanitarian aid into Palestine.”

For those who compare the struggles of the African continent with that of Hamas are totally misdirected – both factually and morally. Why would South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, support organisations that do not hesitate to kill another black person, and for no reason? For me, race matters. I cannot support anyone who wishes or sees nothing wrong with brutally killing any African, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The world fails to see Africa in its radar.  It is time, we reclaim our power by restoring our lost dignity and integrity. We should condemn and call out anyone who seeks to undermine black lives. Wherever we are in the world, we should always remember how the world has not been fair and try to influence the world’s treatment of black people.  #BlackLivesMatter.

Even in Gaza.


Helping Israel. Several African countries are sending farm workers to help out in Israel after the Hamas claimed the lives of staff and forced many others to flee. Seen here are some of the thousands of African farm workers who have travelled to Israel to ease the labour shortage there. (Photo: Chris McCullough)



About the writer:

Mokgatlhe is a columnist and political writer based at Ben Gurion University where he is doing his Master of Arts in African Studies.







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).

SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADERSHIP – FROM BRAVADO TO BOTCHED

Blundering at home, ANC government blunders abroad as it flounders into Gaza conflict

By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe

The African National Congress (ANC) has been able to secure a victory in every national election the country has had since 1994 due to its reputation for having fought against minority rule, and apartheid regime. There is no doubt that South Africans have been mandating the ANC to govern based on its struggle credentials rather than its ability to deliver on its promise to bring about a “better life”. 

However, the ANC has failed dismally to remodel itself from being a broader liberation movement to being a modern political formation.  The party is living in the past.  They seemingly are still hoping to restore and keep their historical cold-war era ties with their “like-minded” organisations or countries. We are seeing their cozying up to both Russia and Hamas. 

Floundering in Foreign Affairs. Seen here is Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov meeting with his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor in Pretoria in January 2023. South Africa unleashed a storm of criticism in 2022 in response to its draft UN General Assembly resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, which failed to mention Russia’s responsibility for the crisis. It displays even worse confusion in its support for Hamas following the terrorist groups’ massacre of Jews on October 7 in southern Israel.(Photo PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

The ANC is a resistance movement that is still trapped and stuck in the past and wants to destroy those who don’t agree with them.  They believe that their revolutionary antics and empty political rhetoric will help them secure more votes by continuing to attack the State of Israel. It is a diversion tactic that is easier than doing what they have failed to do, that is to focus on more than 18.2 million people who are living under horrible circumstances without food to eat.

 Criticising Israel is proving easier than dealing with the stark reality that our country faces.  We have one of the highest murders in the world, with more than 1,786 people killed daily.  We have more than 7.9 million young people who are actively looking for jobs without success. We have a situation wherein literally half of the population depends on state-sponsored social grants. This is a horrible situation to be in. 

The economy is at its knees due to corruption in the public service and the government’s public institutions, such as the health and education system, transport and infrastructure have collapsed.  There is a power crisis and many people are unable to access drinking water.  Unsurprisingly, we are seeing many investors leaving or threatening to leave our country to invest in other destinations. Yet. we are so preoccupied with issues that are not going to change our economic fate or fortunes.  The ANC-led government’s castigation of Israel is not going to solve our country’s problems.  Nor, by welcoming Hamas into our country, will they solve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. 

Bias instead of Balance. Adorning a Palestinian keffiyeh, it is no surprise the South African president, Cyril Ramaposa has thrown away any chance of South Africa playing a mediating role in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

If South Africa wanted to create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue between warring parties and be at the table like Qatar, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, they should have tried to resolve this political hot-potato, by bringing the warring parties to the negotiation table. 

But it doesn’t.  It would rather pay lip service to being an upholder of human rights.  But even by its low standards, it falls short on this, too.  They have let Zimbabwe down by supporting the authoritarian ZANU-PF, allowing human rights abuse in that country.  It is no wonder that we continue to see increased levels of emmigration from South Africa.

To show the ANC’s hypocrisy further, there is an unprecedented catastrophe that the ANC and other main political actors in Africa have been ignoring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which is far worse than what we are seeing between Hamas and Israel conflict. It is difficult to determine the reasons for the ANC’s lack of interest in the DRC matter which has existed for decades.  The suspicion I have is that the DRC conflict doesn’t attract the kind of media that you see for the Israel-Gaza or Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Cozying up to Killers. South Africa has no qualms about openly welcoming and supporting vicious terrorism groups as seen here in 2015 when a Hamas delegation led by Khaled Mashaal (seen here addressing a meeting in South Africa) which also included Mashaal’s deputy Moussa Abu Marzouk, was welcomed at the airport by the ANC’s deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte.

Logically, we should be helping realise Africa’s dream of silencing the gun and working towards peace on the continent.  The political and military crisis in many African states directly affects South Africa and its people.  We have Congolese refugees who have been in South Africa for many decades.  Yet, the ANC, which claims to fight for human rights for the vulnerable, has neglected Congolese refugees who have not been adopted as citizens of this country despite the ever-worsening war situation in the DRC. These Congolese who have come to be part of the country’s diverse community are struggling to make ends meet because many of them do not have proper documents to help allow them to work or contribute towards the economy. Instead, we see them being killed or injured during the regular waves of xenophobic attacks that have been occurring since 2018. 

South African ANC government fails to deal with Xenophobic Violence Against Non-Nationals

If the government had to prioritise a conflict, the one in the DRC should be it.  However, the government doesn’t seem bothered by the plight of Congolese in this country.  Nor do they seem interested in playing a role to help ensure stability in the DRC.

It is therefore absurd for the ANC to take a side in the Middle East war, which has historical, political, and religious complexities that they do not even understand when they are unable to help fellow Africans.

Mandela would be Appalled. Having time to advise other countries abroad, South Africa fails abysmally at home. A local teacher from a nursery school in Johannesburg got her class of kids to paint signs calling for the unification and end to xenophobic violence. [Photo. Ihsaan Haffejee/Al Jazeera]

The most our government can hope to achieve in foreign conflicts is to encourage both sides to peacefully address their differences and put pressure on both sides. Our non-aligned policy is selectively applied. It doesn’t seem to apply in the Israel-Gaza and Ukraine-Russia conflicts.

Yet, for all its grandstanding on these two conflicts and for all the deflection they hope to achieve, and the media they court, none of it will help save the dire situation that Ordinary South Africans see through it.



About the writer:

Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a columnist and political writer based at Ben Gurion University where he is doing his Master of Arts in African Studies..









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).

IT’S A LONG AND WINDING ROAD

The bumpy path of building relations between Africa and Israel

By Jonathan Feldstein

I just returned home to Israel after an extraordinary 10-day trip in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, a massive country in central Africa. I had always wanted to visit Africa but until several months ago, Congo was not on my top ten list, or even on my radar at all.  To give you an idea of its size, it covers a land area larger than Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Norway combined.

I visited in the context of my work as President of the Genesis 123 Foundation which builds bridges between Jews and Christians and Christians with Israel in ways that are new, unique, and meaningful. Most Israeli Jews like me who engage in building bridges between Jews and Christians do so in North America, mostly due to the commonality of language and Judeo-Christian culture.

Meeting the Media. The writer speaking at a press conference following a meeting with Modeste Bahati Lukwebo, the President of the Congolese Senate.

Part of our outreach is however directed south. Through managing an incredible WhatsApp group of Christians throughout Africa, ‘Africa Praying for Israel’, I have built strong relationships and deep friendships. I have experienced genuine love and support for Israel and the Jewish people, often from people for whom I am the first Jew they have ever met, albeit in most cases virtually.

Congo is unique.  It’s the second largest country in  Africa in size, the fourth largest in terms of population, and it’s 90% Christian.  As a Christian nation whose president, Félix Tshisekedi, is both a devout Christian and ardent Zionist, support and love for Israel is palpable from the top down. It is why I visited when I did.  President Tshisekedi served as head of the African Union where he advocated for Israel to return to the AU as an observer, meeting fierce resistance from Islamic and antisemitic countries.

My visit took place a week before the AU vote on Israel’s status, hosted by Congo Bless Israel.  We were received by the Senate President, and dozens of governmental, ministerial, religious, and business leaders. Throughout the trip, everywhere I went, I experienced overwhelming love and support for Israel and the Jewish people. 

Our purpose was to widen and deepen relationships, support President Tshisekedi and the other Congolese and African leaders supporting Israel, and pray and advocate for Israel in the AU, raising Congo as an example not just for Africa but the world.

Hands-on Diplomacy. The writer being introduced to Modeste Bahati Lukwebo, the President of the Congolese Senate.

It is not to be taken for granted that throughout my visit, I walked openly as an Orthodox Jew everywhere. It is common when traveling in (many) parts of the world where Jews are not as welcome, or where it is outright dangerous, for Jewish men to hide their identity by covering up their kippah (Jewish skullcap) with a baseball hat, and removing or hiding other religious symbols. That’s hard for non-Jews who love Israel to understand. Throughout Kinshasa, complete strangers came up to me multiple times, greeting me with “Shalom,” telling me how they love Israel and asking to take a selfie. Amazingly, people sell Israeli flags on the street alongside the Congolese flag. It is something I had never previously experienced and it wouldn’t be happening if the love wasn’t sincere and that it was not good for  business. Afterall, people would not pay money for a flag unless there was some love for that country.

Israel and the Jewish people have a long history in Africa from Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, and Solomon, to more recent expressions of support for meaningful relations from Theodor Herzl, Golda Meir, and massive amounts of Israeli support for many of the newly independent nations in Africa, emerging from colonialism within years of Israel’s declaring independence.

Africa for Israel. Prayer for Israel at a mega church in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It was this passage of Theodore Herzl, the father of political Zionism, that so later inspired Golda Meir to emerged as the builder of bridges between Africa and Israel:

“There is still one other question arising out of the disaster of nations which remains unsolved to this day, and whose profound tragedy, only a Jew can comprehend. This is the African question. Just call to mind all those terrible episodes of the slave trade, of human beings who, merely because they were black, were stolen like cattle, taken prisoner, captured and sold. Their children grew up in strange lands, the objects of contempt and hostility because their complexions were different. I am not ashamed to say, that once I have witnessed the redemption of the Jews, my people, I wish also to assist in the redemption of the Africans.”

Foundations were long ago established, and despite rocky interludes, the recent establishment of diplomatic relationships with Morocco, Chad, and Sudan are welcome developments.

Many Congolese believe not only that Israel has an important role to play in Congo and that Congo needs and wants to have an expansive relationship with Israel, but also that part of the reason Congo is “cursed” as a poor and largely undeveloped nation, rests on Congo breaking relations with Israel following Arab League pressure in the 1970s. 

On one hand, Congo is so big and abundant with resources, yet these are largely undeveloped, the lack of basic infrastructure is jarring, and there are provinces with millions having virtually no fresh water or electricity. Poverty is widespread. People refer to “Rich Congo, Poor Congolese.” Nevertheless, Congo is a beautiful, colorful, and lively nation. There’s a great sense of national pride evident by flags being sold on street corners (not just around Independence Day), to singing joyful songs about their country as part of church worship services.

From Jerusalem to Kinshasa. The writer outreaching in Africa attending a press conference.

Congo is an important leader in Africa, and ally of Israel.  There’s a sense that the time is ripe for relations to blossom. People confided in me that the heavy presence of Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, and Lebanese in their country were more there to reap from Congo’s mineral wealth than to invest.  Israel on the other hand, brings resources that will build Congo, not rape it. Israel would be well served to reopen its embassy in Kinshasa, where one in five Congolese live.

During my visit, as part of our wider “Africa Praying for Israel” initiative, I hosted a virtual Africa-wide prayer event, regarding Israel’s status as an AU observer member. Dozens participated from nations throughout Africa, offering fervent prayers each from their local perspective and in several languages reflecting their former western colonizers.

Much of the prayers focused on blessing Israel and being blessed.  Relating to the diplomatic vote at the AU, one pastor noted that  “Blessings come from blessing Israel” and referred to Genesis 12:3 as “God’s foreign policy statement.” 

Body & Soul. A woman showing devine support for Israel with her body, mind and spirit.

Participants from South Africa and Nigeria expressed sadness and repented from their nations’ taking the lead in opposing Israel. They prayed for God to forgive their leaders, for not understanding the truth, for wisdom for African leadership and governments, and to remove the stain of those that label Israel an Apartheid state.

Since the leadership of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Israel’s status in the AU has been a battle. It is a battle that persists. At the upcoming AU conference in February, they are set to vote on a wide agenda of items including Israel’s status. Prayers are encouraged and can be sent to Gen123Fdn@gmail.com to be brought to the Western Wall as well.

EPILOGUE FROM THE EDITOR

David E. Kaplan writes:

It was not to be. This article was written only days before the AU conference opened on the 18 February in Addis Abiba. Regrettably, even with all the prayers for good, evil prevailed when due to the grotesque opposition of South Africa and Algeria to Israel’s presence, the  Jewish state’s delegation of observers were physically expelled from the opening ceremony.

Jews again are being thrown out! We have seen this before; now in Africa! Shame!

A video shows the Israeli delegation, led by the Deputy Director General for Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Sharon Bar-Li, unhappily leaving the conference hall after several minutes of agitated discussion. Responding to the incident, Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat said:

 “Israel takes seriously the incident in which the Congresswoman for Africa, Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, was removed from the African Union hall despite her access badge accredited observer status. It is sad to see the African Union being taken hostage by a small number of extremist countries such as Algeria and South Africa, driven by hatred and controlled by Iran.”

The ambassador added:

“We ask African countries to oppose these actions that damage the organization of the African Union itself and the entire continent.”

When Israel was granted observer status in 2021, it was said at the time that the new status could enable Israel and the AU to forge stronger cooperation on various aspects, including the fight against the coronavirus and the prevention “of the spread of extremist terrorism” on the African continent. What happened may not be good for Israel, but for sure, it is far less good for Africa. There is so much that Israel can contribute to Africa. In the spirit of Herzl and Golda, Israeli is ready and willing as it showed being one of the first delegations to assist in the devastating earthquake in Turkey, a country too that has had a rocky relationship with Israel in recent years.

What shabbily occurred now  at the AU conference in Ethiopia is a harsh reminder why Israel has rescued most of the Jewish community there and brought them safely “home” – to Israel.

When it comes to building bridges between Africa and Israel, it appears a lot more needs to be done – including, in the words of Jonathan Feldstein – a lot more praying!


Israeli diplomat booted out from African Union summit in Ethiopia




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 Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.





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).

TIME TO DO RIGHT, SOUTH-AFRICA

Pandor’s call for Israel to be called an ‘apartheid’ state laughable

By Pamela Ngubane

(Originally published in The Citizen)

At a Palestinian Heads of Missions (HOM) in Africa conference, on 26 July 2022, held in Pretoria, South Africa, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Dr Naledi Pandor, told the international community that they ought to consider labelling the only democracy in the Middle East as an apartheid state. What is laughable, is that she expects these nations, which largely value and uphold democracy as the world’s most progressive political system, to take her seriously.

Pandor’s Pulpit. Draped with a Palestinian headscarf, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor calls for Israel to be declared an ‘apartheid state’ at a conference held in Pretoria on 26 July 2022 of the Palestinian Heads of Mission in Africa.

As usual, nothing was said about the lack of democracy and transparency in the way the Palestinian Authority (PA) governs the West Bank. In the last few days, Palestinian lawyers staged a protest against the authoritarian Palestinian government that Pandor supports. The parliament is defunct and the only “rule of law” are the diktats which emanate from the pronouncements made by Mahmoud Abbas, who has become the de facto Palestinian president-for-life. Yet, according to Minister Pandor, the most unprogressive person on the African continent is the African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat because he granted observer status in the continental body to the State of Israel.

Israel in Africa. In July 2021, under the chairmanship Moussa Faki Mahamat, the African Union granted Israel observer status, a decision that does not sit well with South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

While Minister Pandor embarked on this political grandstanding, employees of the African National Congress (ANC) picketed outside the ANC’s pre-policy conference gala dinner, demanding they be paid their outstanding salaries. Medical personnel at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital are struggling to provide care to patients, using infrastructure built in the previous century. Sixty to seventy per cent of students who leave high school will be unemployed.

When it comes to the ANC, logic is not necessarily the lens through which issues are analysed. A logic-based examination of the situation between Israel and the Palestinians will show that the hallmarks of apartheid are not present in how Israel conducts itself.

Writing on the Wall. While pointing false fingers at Israel, South Africa’s inept and morally bankrupt ANC government is dragging South Africa down as reminded by these very own angry ANC staff picketing outside the party’s national policy conference in Johannesburg over unpaid salaries for June and July 2022. (Picture: Twitter/ @_cosatu)

Israel has shown through the adoption of systematic legislation that it upholds the rights of the Arab citizens of Israel. Not only do they have full voting rights, but the city of Jerusalem has also instituted a programme to provide higher education and employment opportunities in East Jerusalem with the establishment of a “Silicon Valley” in the area. Arab entrepreneurs in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector are receiving mentorship from prestigious Israeli tech organisations.

Work permits are provided daily for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza whose only chance at earning a living is to be found in Israel. The incompetence of Palestinian governments in Gaza and the West Bank has created this economic crisis. And it uses the financial donations it receives, due to the goodwill of the international community, to line its pockets and pay terrorists to attack and kill Jews.

While Minister Pandor continues to cherish delusions of the Jewish state being made a pariah, most African states support AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat’s decision regarding Israel. African states continue to establish institutional mechanisms to fight the ills that have hindered the continent’s progress since the end of colonial rule. Moreover, they see in Israel a shared story of victory over oppression and marginalisation at the hands of the world’s great powers.

Out of thin Air. While South Africa’s ANC government has its head in the clouds, much of Africa is availing itself of Israeli technology such as this revolutionary device by an Israeli company WATERGEN that produces water out of air. (photo credit: Courtesy)

As Israel grows its partnerships with its neighbours through the Abraham Accords, it becomes clear to enlightened African leaders that Israel is a desirable partner to help Africa achieve its Agenda 2063 developmental goals. These include:

– the creation of an integrated and productive continental economy

– maintaining peace and security on the continent unlocking

– the potential of Africa’s people, through better food security, education provision and medical interventions.

A country’s foreign policy must reflect the aspirations of its citizens. It’s time South Africa reoriented its foreign policy in favour of nurturing productive relations with other states, by being an advocate for global peace, a facilitator of regional and international dialogue and doing what is right by its people.



About the Writer:

A Social Science Honours graduate, Pamela Ngubane is a history teacher who was recently appointed as the General Manager of SAFI (South African Friends of Israel)







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).

“A Fiery Debate”

From Rockets to Rolene, the war continues in the media as Israel remains under attack

Rolene Marks vs Naeem Jeenah – The showdown on Islam TV.

Lay of the Land co-founder, Rolene Marks was invited on the 27th May 2021 to debate Afro-Middle East Centre head, Naeem Jeenah in a panel discussion ‘AQSA is Calling’ on South Africa’s Islam TV (ITV), a programme featured in South Africa. The decades old adversaries engaged in a discussion that is certain to raise one’s blood pressure.

Following her friendly introduction from Modiin in Israel, where she resides, she was immediately jumped upon by her adversary, Naeem Jeenah, Executive Director Afro-Middle East Centre who said that where Rolene lives is “in violation of international law” and that she: “is talking rubbish”.

That set the tone but what followed soon revealed who really was “talking rubbish”.

Dismissing the over 4000 rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel’s civilian populations – a war crime in International Law – Jeenah opened up with the usual lies making the rounds of anti-Semites the world over of falsely and maliciously accusing Jews of behaving like the Nazis, thus suggesting that Jews are perpetrating a “Holocaust” on the Palestinians:

“What Israel is doing in Gaza is what they are doing in Jerusalem – ethic cleansing of the Palestinian people. They want to make it so uncomfortable so they will leave so they can take over entire Palestine. So please don’t come with this nonsense how great humanitarians Israelis are wanting to see development in Gaza. If that was the case, stop  bombing and killing the children of Gaza.” He then went on to promote the only “way forward” was for a binational state – meaning the dismantling of the State of Israel.

With a world gung-ho for 2000 years of exterminating Jews and now set on exterminating its hard-fought for national homeland, Rolene would have none of this.

Watch Rolene Marks vs Naeem Jeenah –The showdown on Islam TV:






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)