BEYOND THE NARRATIVE – SOUTH AFRICA-ISRAEL RELATIONS

Can the South African experience be a guiding force? It could and should

By Ostern Tefo

Several anti-Israel activists, including BDS (Boycott Divest Sanctions) and others, boldly assert that Israel is an Apartheid state, when such allegations could not be further from the truth. Misguidedly, this has led to a South African foreign policy exclusively geared to favour one side – Palestine. As a result of erroneous perceptions, this has created a complex and divisive viewpoint.

Ruling oppressively in Gaza, Hamas has no interest in achieving peace in the sense of parties arriving at a mutually agreeable consensus. This not in its DNA. As long as this remains the case, the predicament of the Palestinian community must be regarded as the product of both Hamas’ rule over Palestinians in Gaza as well as the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Conflicts can be resolved if both parties are willing to do so. The latter is well illustrated by the success of the South African liberation struggle which resulted in a successfully negotiated settlement that birthed democracy and above all, “peace and reconciliation”.

Raucous Road. A protest against Israel in South Africa in 2021. Are these the voices that shape South Africa’s foreign policy?
(AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

Israel has repeatedly attempted to initiate peace negotiations with the Palestinian leadership, but each time has been violently rebuffed. It would be inaccurate to compare the struggle for democracy in South Africa to the Palestinian struggle for independence. They are not remotely comparable. To say that “Israel is an Apartheid state” solely in an effort to delegitimize Israel, ends up delegitimizing the definition of Apartheid. It is an abuse of the word and hence an abuse of the people who suffered under Apartheid.

It is critical for a number of reasons that South Africa not only maintains but strengthens its diplomatic relations with Israel. South Africa is on its knees with:

– its rolling blackouts

– the world’s highest unemployment rate

– poor access to healthcare

– grey listing

– a murder rate that is higher than the death toll in Ukraine at present.

All this, when my country, South Africa, could greatly benefit from Israel’s rapidly expanding entrepreneurial economy with its emphasis on hi-tech innovation. South Africa could profit from a number of Israeli solutions which is presently being used to solve problems in much of African.

So, why not South Africa?

Take the South African healthcare system for starters, which is in tatters and compare it to Israel’s superlative National Healthcare System. There is no comparison!

Cultivated Hate. The venom by some in the South Africa Muslim community against Israel that influences the ANC today began years ago as seen in this protest against the late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Every resident across Israel, whether in cities or small towns in the countryside is insured for quality healthcare under their National Health Insurance Law. While South African health care accessibility remains poor in rural areas and there are problems retaining physicians in the public system, surely South Africa could learn from the Israeli system.

Then there is Israel’s drip irrigation technology popular in much of Africa. Tailormade for dry terrain or lands plagued by unreliable water resources, the Israeli system allows villages to grow more food with less water, which not only dramatically improves food security but also economic development and financial independence. Israel, a far more desert country than South Africa with much less rainfall, is now water independent. South Africa should welcome the Israelis instead of driving them away!

A Light unto the Nations. Israeli engineering students from Tel Aviv University (TAU) bring solar power to a remote Tanzanian medical clinic, as part of their ongoing work in the village. (Photo via Facebook)

In terms of “loadshedding”, our all-consuming national catastrophe  of widespread national blackouts of electricity supply that began in 2007 and is worse today in 2023, why not speak to the Israelis who have revolutionised solar power and energy?

Instead of the South African parliament dumbly voting this March 2023 to downgrade ties with Israel, it should be doing the opposite. It should be strengthening not destroying ties!

Sad ‘State’ of Affairs. At a time when many African and Muslim countries are strengthening and deepening ties with the State of Israel for the benefit of everyone’s common interests, South Africa does the opposite as exhibited in its House of Parliament in Cape Town when it voted to downgrade its ties with the Jewish state.

Ultimately, we have to come to terms with the fact that Israel  cannot be prejudiced for defending its sovereign policies and the interests of its people, and Palestine must take responsibility for the attacks on Israel carried out by Hamas and other extremists. South Africa’s refusal to maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel motivated solely by the conflict, exposes its bias and prejudice because Palestine also commits a fair share of unprovoked aggressions against Israel.

To preserve the true legacy of the South African experience of reconciliation and share it with others that they too can benefit,  South Africa’s foreign policy should be consistent, and above all, its leaders need to display impartiality and non be biased.

‘Tapping’ into Israeli Ingenuity. Israeli Sivan Yaari of INNOVATION:AFRICA opens taps of clean water for the first time in this remote part of Tanzania. Innovation:Africa has completed over 880 solar and water installations, impacting over 4.2 million people (photo credit: INNOVATION:AFRICA)

Since COVID-19 broke out, the South African economy has continued to contract. In contrast, Israel’s economy is still expanding.

We have much to learn and gain by deepening our relations with Israel. South Africa stands to gain far more from a positive and mutually beneficial relationship with Israel than Israel does and yet, we behave abysmally towards Israel.  All to our detriment and suffering of our people.

Switched On Tanzania. An ‘illuminating’ lesson for South Africa – Nkaiti Medical Center is lit up at night for the very first time thanks to Israeli engineering students. (Photo via Facebook)

In essence, one cannot dismantle the fact that the benefits of the association outweigh the costs. Thus, it would be in the best interest of the South African to restore full relations with Israel and encourage partnerships to the mutual benefit of South African and Israelis.




About the writer:

Ostern Tefo has a BA in Political Studies and International relations and is currently studying for his LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. He serves as a coordinator at ‘Africans for Peace’, a collective of independent students, scholars and activists who bring an African lens to the global debate on peace and stability on the African continent.





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).

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

A reputation of tough and tenacious, SA Rugby loses its spine

By Lennie Lurie

In an unprecedented vote on the 6th November 1962,  uniting nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 1761, condemning South African Apartheid policies and called for the imposition of economic sanctions on South Africa. While nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom were at first reluctant to impose sanctions, by the late 1980s, both countries and 23 other nations had passed laws placing various trade sanctions on South Africa.

An immediate arms embargo was followed by a trade embargo which played havoc with the burgeoning vehicle production factories in the eastern Cape province. Despite the large numbers of black employees who were dismissed as a result of production cut backs, they heartily approved of the economic sanctions even though their income was grievously affected. Anything which would contribute to the removal of the cruel, wicked and  humiliating racial policies of Apartheid was encouraged and the black workers were prepared to bear the load of the economic boycott as it affected them as well.

When it was realised that the SA Government was not bending under the economic boycott, a cultural boycott was imposed on the Republic. No foreign entertainers and singers visited SA and no South Africans performers would be welcome overseas. The iconic and celebrated SA singer of authentic African music, Miriam Makeba, who gained international fame with her popular “click” song, wholly supported the cultural boycott, which made a strong impression on South African artists and entertainers.

Miriam Makeba – Click Song (Qongqothwane) (Live)

Here again, the resolute and determined SA government remained steadfast in the maintenance and implementation of the Apartheid system.

Finally, it was decided to impose a sport boycott on all South African sportsmen and women preventing the proud ‘Springbok’ teams – notably in rugby and cricket – from competing abroad as well as officially banning any overseas countries and foreign sports team from touring South Africa. And this, dear friends, was the final straw which broke the back of the Apartheid system!

Economic sanctions against South Africa placed a significant pressure on the SA government. The cultural boycott made SA unwelcome overseas and isolated the country from foreign entertainers and performers. The real fear that the Springboks would no longer compete against the sports teams of other countries proved to be a hardship (particularly on the rugby field!) that even the most fervent white nationalist could bear.

In 1990, President Frederik Willem (F.W.) de Klerk recognized the economic unsustainability of the burden of international sanctions and felt the isolation of his country in all aspects of culture and sport. Reluctantly but finally and unreservedly, he released the nationalist leader Nelson Mandela and unbanned the African National Congress (ANC) that Mandela led. De Klerk and Mandela together guided the country to democratic elections in 1994, with Mandela as president. When Mandela was asked if the sanctions, especially the sports boycott, helped to bring an end to the apartheid system, Mandela replied “Oh, there is no doubt!”

Can’t take the Heat. While players from Israeli rugby team ‘Tel Aviv Heat’ are seen here in London celebrating a victory in November 2022, they will not be seen in South Africa this March after their invitation to compete was withdrawn by the SA Rugby Union following pressure from the BDS coalition.

Who can ever forget the emotional scene when Nelson Mandela congratulated the Springbok rugby captain, Francois Pienaar on winning the 1995 World Rugby Cup in Ellis Park. Rugby was as dear to Mandela as any white South African rugger lover – he never forgot the pressure of the international sports boycott on his country and how it contributed in breaking the vile and contemptible Apartheid system.

True Colours. Disinviting Israeli rugby team to participate in South Africa in 2023 is a far cry from the outreach projected by President Nelson Mandela and Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar at the historic 1995 Rugby World Cup.

In light of the above historical review of the sports boycott on South Africa, it is therefore most surprising and deeply disappointing to read that the South African Rugby Union (SARU), had on the 3rd February, 2023, rescinded its invitation, given in August, 2022, to have the Israeli rugby team Tel Aviv Heat compete in the 2023 Mzansi Challenge tournament – also known as the Currie Cup First Division, which is scheduled to start on the 24th March with teams from Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe and six SA provinces.     

The Tel Aviv Heat team includes a number of South Africans and its coach, Kevin Musikanth, was born in South Africa.

Happier Days. Launched as Israel’s first professional rugby team in July 2021, Tel Aviv Heat is seen here celebrating a post-match at Loftus Versfeld at the end of a magical South African Tour hosted by the Blue Bulls in 2022.

The SARU President Mark Alexander stated that it had “listened to the opinions of important stakeholder groups” and took the step “to avoid the likelihood of the competition becoming a source of division.” A more accurate and honest reason being that the SARU bowed under pressure and alleged threats from supporters of the South African BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanction) Coalition.

Shameful Withdrawal. Under pressure, Mark Alexander SA Rugby president rescinds invitation to Israeli team, Tel Aviv Heat.

This cowardly and shameful volte-face decision by the SARU is not only insulting to the Israeli Tel Aviv Heat rugby team but it is a despicable slap-in-the-face to the sporting image of South Africa which knows only too well the historical background of imposing a sports boycott on a fellow sporting nation or team. To comprehend that the all-powerful SARU has cowardly kowtowed to insidious pressures and / or threats of the SA BDS Coalition, an anti-Israeli group of South Africans who are known as talkers, not doers, is all the more pathetic. It is indeed a sad day when South African rugby has lost its independence, objectivity and neutrality in matters relating to sport and becomes a spineless puppet manipulated by an anti-Semitic group, simply pulling on distant strings!

Let SARU bow its head in shame in stooping so low as to callously affront the proud and heroic image of that South African leader, known to all his friends as ‘Madiba’, who had the courage to welcome and support a sport boycott as a means of exerting pressure on a government that oppressed his people under the scourge of Apartheid.

Not long ago, the University of Cape Town, again under pressure from BDS student supporters, decided to impose a boycott on all Israeli universities and colleges. UCT soon realized that it had more to lose than gain by such an ill-advised and self-defeating act and promptly withdrew its boycott threat after it was inundated by letters from former students informing the UCT council that they would discontinue all financial aid should UCT enact the boycott. Frankly, UCT could be in greater need of ground breaking Israeli academic discoveries and inventions than vice versa!

Thumbs Up to Thumbs Down. Israel’s SA-born rugby coach Kevin Musikanth who helped get together Israel and the UAE to play a historic match for the Sons of Abraham trophy got the thumbs down for his Tel Aviv team the ‘Tel Aviv Heat’ to compete in his native South Africa.

Likewise, SARU has already lost face in the eyes of many Israelis and probably Israeli supporters world-wide. Making excuses about “competition becoming a source of division” when it is well-known that the BDS threat was the real reason, places SARU as a pathetic and weak-willed organization, susceptible to the crudest form of verbal pressure.

Even the image of the proud Springbok emblem has been irrevocably tarnished and sullied by the cowardly collapse of SARU.

One can only exclaim: How the mighty have fallen!




About the writer:

A B.Sc. graduate in Economics and Geology from the University of Cape Town (UCT), Lennie may be the only volunteer from abroad who was granted permission to leave his group on kibbutz during the 1967 Six Day War to rejoin his paratroop brigade that he had served with years before following his matriculation in Cape Town. In Israel, Lennie has worked as an Export Manager for some of the country’s major food manufacturers and chemical companies as well as an independent consultant in Export Marketing guiding many small Israeli businesses to sell their products and services in the world-wide market. As a result of a work accident in 1995, Lennie made a career change and became an independent English teacher working mainly with hi-tech companies and associated with universities and colleges in the north 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).

SOUTH AFRICA’S PATH TO NOWHERE

ANC government repeatedly alienates partners for development in South Africa

By Pamela Ngubane

In a heart-warming series of events, Israel has repeatedly displayed its commitment to continue growing its ties in Africa. This follows the announcement by Chadian President, Mahamat Deby, that his country would open an embassy in Israel.

The Chadian leader travelled to Israel to officiate the inauguration of the embassy in Ramat Gan in early February. Deby cited that Chad and Israel were at a decisive turning point in their relationship, during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem that week. This followed waves of peace talks in the Middle East and Northern Africa, which have resulted in a remarkable increase in economic cooperation between Israel and other states.

Back to Africa. “We believe that our co-operation can help not only advance our relations and our co-operation, but it is also part of Israel’s coming back to Africa and Africa coming back to Israel,” said Chadian President Mahamat Idriss who is seen here meeting with Israel’s State President, Isaac Herzog following the opening of the Chadian Embassy in Ramat Gan, outside Tel Aviv.

Deby was welcomed in Israel with great diplomatic fanfare by President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen for the opening of the Chadian embassy. At the time, Prime Minister Netanyahu reported that this would form part of a tremendously important relationship with a major country in the heart of Africa.

The news of Chad formalising its diplomatic ties to Israel were followed closely by reports that Israel and Sudan would sign a “historic peace agreement” in Washington in a few months’ time, indicating an irrefutable move to promote peace, dialogue and increase economic cooperation between Africa and Israel in 2023.

The Sudanese agreement is particularly noteworthy because it overturns the Khartoum Resolution of 1967, which was issued at the conclusion of the 1967 Arab League summit, convened in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in the wake of the Six-Day War. The resolution is infamous for containing what became known as the “Three Nos”:

“no peace with Israel”

“no recognition of Israel”

“no negotiations with it”

This has been comprehensively shattered this year and replaced with three Yes’s for peace.

‘Power’ to the People. Children in Iringa, Uganda, where the Israeli nonprofit organization, Innovation Africa connected a clinic to electricity via solar power, December 21, 2019. (Sue Surke/Times of Israel)
 

Countries in Africa and the Middle East continue to welcome Israeli technology and innovation through these historical peace agreements and talks. This is an unsurprising fact, given that Israeli solar technology now provides a stable water supply to over 3.5 million people in Africa, and to over half a million people in South Africa as well.

One would be forgiven for imagining that these developments would encourage South Africa’s national government to adopt foreign policies which would aim to promote Israel in our country as a partner for our continued development and basic service infrastructure. And yet, here we are, completely disengaged from reality. Our Minister of International Relations, Naledi Pandor, won’t pick sides when it comes to Russia and the war it has waged on innocent civilians in Ukraine! However, when it comes to Israel, it’s always been a hard no. Why? Because Israel offers the ANC government (currently polling below 50%) with the only straw of relevance they have left to the South African electorate. And even then, it is entirely misguided and based on a narrative that has never served Palestinians or Israelis at all.

Impacting Millions. Since its inception in 2008, Israeli company ‘Innovation Africa’ with its solar and water installations, impacts millions across 10 African countries Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, South Africa, eSwatini, Ethiopia and Senegal.

South Africans have been called to categorically reject the appropriation of the suffering of black people under colonisation; and Apartheid by the enemies of Israel as a tool to de-legitimise the Jewish state. This has been communicated on a number of occasions by several stakeholders, including the South African Zionist Federation and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, as well as Stand With Us.

The Holy Land of Israel remains the ancestral and indigenous homeland of the Jewish people. The return en masse of Jews throughout the world to re-establish their state two thousand years of exile and statelessness, is the legitimate and legal expression of the Jewish people’s struggle for national self-determination.

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and is home to a multicultural society where the rights of all religions, minorities, ethnicities and beliefs are protected and promoted. It is the only country in the Middle East where the population of Christians is growing and has a number of holy sites which are critically relevant to Christians and their faith.

Skewed Foreign Policy. While quick to condemn Israel at every opportunity, Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that is claiming thousands of innocent lives. Reinforcing the two country’s friendship, Pandor is seen here welcoming her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for talks in Pretoria. This February 2023, joint “war games” military exercises with Russia and China were held in South Africa.

And yet – the ANC continues to feel threatened by Israel’s growing ties in Africa. So much so, that our national government shamelessly allows the narrative of an “Apartheid state” to consume all conversations about Israel in our country.

South Africa’s foreign policy between Israel and the Palestinians should take a de-hyphenated approach if we are to contribute meaningfully to securing peace for the people living in both territories during our lifetime. This will ensure that South Africans continue to access the best that Israel has to offer, while creating a safe space for the difficult conversations that need to take place to address the senseless violence and suffering that has destroyed families across both borders to date.

At this rate, we need to start asking ourselves, as South Africans, some hard questions. Has the ANC government been captured by the BDS movement? And is BDS dictating our foreign policy to our public representatives?



About the writer:

A Social Science Honours graduate, Pamela Ngubane is a history teacher who was appointed as the Spokesperson 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).

SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY CAN’T TAKE THE ‘HEAT’

SA Rugby Board withdraws invitation to Israeli team – the Tel Aviv Heat

By Pamela Ngubane

For those who know little about the game of rugby, what’s ‘in play’ here, is less about the sport and more about the principle! The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has withdrawn an invitation to an Israeli rugby team – Tel Aviv Heat – to play in the 2023 Mzansi Challenge tournament in South Africa due to the objections of several “stakeholders”.

Refusing to play Ball. An invitation for Tel Aviv Heat – the Israel-based Super Rugby Cup franchise –  to participate in a provincial tournament in South Africa has been withdrawn by SA Rugby. (Photo by Levan Verdzeuli/Getty Images)

Who are these “stakeholders” and what is their agenda?

While the SARU tried to explain that they had “listened to the opinions of important stakeholder groups”, it failed to consult with either the Tel Aviv Heat or the Israel Rugby Union, or even the Israeli Embassy in South Africa prior to their mean-spirited decision.

It simply failed. It failed both procedurally and morally.

Scheduled to play in the tournament with four other international teams and six teams from South African provinces, Tel Aviv  Heat was informed that the invitation had been withdrawn!

Let me make it clear that despite the publicity surrounding this development, the SARU decision disinviting Tel Aviv Heat from the upcoming Mzansi Challenge, does NOT represent the South Africa people. What it does represent is the shameless bullying of the Jew-hating Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) movement resorting to, when they fail to convince anyone of the lie that Israel is a state perpetrating Apartheid.

‘Bokke’ on the Run. Tarnishing the Springbok image, SA Rugby announced that it had withdrawn an invitation to the Tel Aviv Heat to play in the Mzansi Challenge. Photo: SA Rugby website

South Africans across the board are increasingly experiencing the Jewish state as a partner for development and progress, as it consistently shows in its conduct when relating to other nations and peoples.

Just this week, South Africans, along with the rest of the world, have witnessed the work of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), medics from Israel’s world-renowned Sheba Medical Centre, and countless Jewish and Israeli volunteers, in Turkey and Syria, where thousands need aid in the aftermath of the recent devastating earthquakes. And this is despite that Turkey has had a rocky relationship with Israeli in recent years and that Syria remains technically at war with Israel. That is the nature of Israel – it responds to people in need.

This selflessness brings to mind the words of a young Jewish woman conscript in the IDF (Israel Defence Force)  I interviewed. When I asked her what Israel meant to her, she replied that no matter how people behave towards Israel and the Jews, “my country” will always lend a helping hand anywhere it is needed. She said this altruistic attitude was a part of her Jewish identity and that no amount of the world’s cruelty would change this about her people. This tenacious spirit has won the admiration of the friends and enemies of the Jews over the years.

Heat Wave in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv Heat (in blue) has been a success, both on and off the pitch, as it helps reignite the spirit of rugby throughout Israel.(photo credit: TSAHI REIZEL/COURTESY)

As the world seriously begins to seek to overcome the challenges that divide humanity and hamper our progress, Israel and the Jewish people are being recognised as “a light to the nations”. This is not just for their brilliant technological and scientific innovations and breakthroughs, but most importantly because they are willing to share this knowledge with all who are eager to listen and learn.

Africa in particular is embracing Israel as a partner for development who will not only advise but teach us how to recalibrate our thinking so we can ‘tackle’ – using rugby parlance – our problems with the aim to solving them permanently.

Israel’s willingness to get ‘into the ruck’ – again borrowing another rugby stratagem – with us in the fields of agriculture, water management, ICT, medicine, and entrepreneurship is why 44 out of 55 members of the African Union (AU) maintain increasingly strong diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Therefore, while the cynical BDS celebrates Tel Aviv Heat’s exclusion from the 2023 Mzansi Challenge, they will not be able to keep South Africans and Africans from seeing the truth about Israel in the long run. While BDS insist on fighting against the moves by African states to normalise relations with the Jewish state, their efforts will grow increasingly futile as Israel’s humanitarian achievements surpass these bigoted efforts to undermine Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state.

Joel Joins In. South African rugby legend, Joel Stransky joins in the fray in criticizing the SA Rugby Board decision.
 

As I continue to work in the field of Israel advocacy, I daily draw inspiration from the incredible contribution the nation of Israel has made to humanity since its founding over 3500 years ago.

While the history of this tiny nation is replete with dire experiences of national persecution and despair, there have always been outsiders who have watched in awe as the Jewish people emerged stronger after every trial.

It is my hope that Israel and the Jewish people will see these admiring friends shining brighter and cheering louder than the hateful bigots that try to tear them down.

So while the South African Rugby Union seemed to indicate that its intention behind its decision to withdraw the invitation to Tel Aviv Heat was “to avoid the likelihood of the competition becoming a source of division”, it will only, in the words of the statement from Tel Aviv Heat, “sow further division in South Africa and beyond by bolstering voices dedicated to vilify, demonize, and censor those who do not share their views.”

Let me conclude that when Israel’s friends become more fearless and vocal in her defence, we will see that far more people stand with Israel than against her and the Jewish people across the world.


The Plane Truth. Contrary to the lies South African BDS spreads about the Jewish state, here is the real Israel as it sends search and rescue equipment to Turkey in the wake of the devastating earthquake. What contribution has South Africa made to either Turkey or Syria besides ‘sending’ condolences?








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).

SOUTH AFRICA DARING TO DISCRIMINATE

As president of the BRICs bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in 2023, should the ANC government  not exercise moral responsibility and apply foreign policy consistently?

By Rowan Polovin National Chairman, South African Zionist Federation 

(First published in Business Day)


Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, is fundamentally concerned with one international issue over all others, what she calls “the ongoing flagrant abuse of the human rights of Palestinians” which, in her view places “a moral responsibility on South Africa to act.”

It is remarkable that Pandor is able to command such exclusive action from the ANC government over a territory smaller than our beloved Kruger National Park, whilst remaining deafeningly silent to the cries of Ukrainians last year and numerous other serious human rights issues in Africa and around the world. Moreover, she blames Israel for the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, and absolves all responsibility and agency from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. 

Dressed to Discriminate. While consistently failing to condemn Russia’s barbaric war of aggression against the Ukrainian people costing the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor – feeling most at home in a Palestinian headscarf – will always rush to virulently denounce the Jewish state following any clashes between Israel and Palestinians.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), and the South African public, should hold Minister Pandor accountable for her statement. Indeed our government certainly does have a moral responsibility to act decisively to assist global communities when it comes to the protection of human rights. Especially when they are being abused at a rate that only South Africans could begin to comprehend. 

The United Nations has confirmed that 170 deaths were recorded as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2022. While the loss of innocent lives on any side of a conflict is tragic, the vast majority of those casualties were Palestinian militants. By contrast, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, over 6 900 people were killed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is estimated that 408 of these fatalities were children.

 
This is utterly devastating, and we are no strangers to this level of violence in South Africa, where over 7000 citizens were murdered in just the second quarter of the 2022/23 financial year. Tragically, over 550 of those deaths were children, according to the national crime statistics report as released by Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, last year.  

But, of course, it is easier for the government to deflect attention someplace else. 

Rampant Crime, Misguided Ministers. Nonthando Booi holds a picture of her murdered niece, Siphokazi Booi. While more than 7,000 people were murdered over three months (July-September) in 2022 in South Africa, the government prefers to deflect public attention elsewhere, like on the Middle East.  (Photo Kaylynn Palm / Action Society)

South Africa’s foreign policy appears to be singularly limited to Israel-bashing. This position prevents our country from playing any meaningful role in finding a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  The ANC government’s obsession with Israel also precludes us from benefiting from the changing landscape of the Middle East and Africa. The Abraham Accords, where peace and normalisation has been achieved between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as Morocco and Sudan here in Africa, has effectively ended the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

More countries in the Middle East and Africa could follow suit in 2023. The Negev Forum working group recently concluded groundbreaking meetings between these countries, focusing on food security, water technology, clean energy, tourism, health care, education, coexistence and regional security. Does South Africa want to be left out in the cold, and lose out on the advantages of these strategic partnerships?

The Outsider. While initiatives like the Negev Forum Working Groups hosted by the UAE on January 9-10, 2023 in Abu Dhabi with senior officials from the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, the UAE, and the US discussed opportunities to advance initiatives that “encourage regional integration, cooperation, and development, for the benefit of their populations and the wider region that include initiatives to strengthen the Palestinian economy and improve the quality of life of the Palestinian people,” South Africa opts to be left out in the cold and lose out on the advantages of strategic partnerships.

Back home, our foreign policy decisions are irrational. Last week, ANC International Relations Committee Chair, Lindiwe Zulu, confirmed that the ANC had resolved to simply not take sides in the Russia-Ukraine war. She added that it would also be supporting China in its dispute with Taiwan. But the ANC went further. Its January 8th anniversary statement of this year calls on Western governments to end sanctions on global human rights abusers such as Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe and Venezuela. The ANC has a remarkable willingness to be on the wrong side of history just so long as it retains its Cold War friends.

The ANC could be positioned to act as mediators between warring factions, people and states, given its own experience of great pain and suffering at the hands of a political authority that abused South African human rights in ways we are only beginning to come to terms with today. The collective trauma suffered by millions of South Africans should have left us at war with one another for decades – and yet, under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela, the ANC was able to do something fundamentally extraordinary. It shifted people’s perceptions of one another, in a way that enabled us to see beyond any illusion, that we are all South Africans and that this territory is home to everyone residing within its borders. Different religions, traditions and languages were not barriers to our social cohesion – but rather a celebration of our diverse, yet collectively shared humanity.  

South Africa’s political leadership changed the trajectory of the conflict present in our country. And as such, our country is in a strong position to assist other states with doing the same. But when Minister Pandor turns a blind eye to almost all international human rights violations to discriminate over Israel, one cannot help but wonder what has happened to the ANC and its international credibility. 

If the abuse of human rights is the starting point for Pretoria’s commitment to assist foreign states with local causes, where is the South African initiative on Ukraine or many other conflicts closer to home? Will we stand by idly while Russia continues to put hundreds of Ukrainian children in early graves? Why have we not seized the opportunity to become world leaders in changing perceptions and illusions that alienate human beings from one another? 

Blind Sided. While photos like this of death and destruction in Ukraine that will likely lay the groundwork for future charges of war crimes against Russia, South Africa’s ANC government prefers to look the other way, advocating instead “to not take sides” in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Our country should seek to apply its foreign policies with uniformity, and show a degree of courage and leadership at the same time. South Africa holds the Presidency of BRICS in 2023 – will we use this position of leadership to hold Russia and others to account? Or will the ANC government continue to pick and choose its moral responsibilities based on its nostalgic political relevance of yesteryear?




About the writer:

Rowan Polovin National Chairman, South African Zionist Federation 







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).

FORGOTTEN HISTORY REMEMBERED

The heroic past shall be ‘unveiled’ at an upcoming ceremony at Johannesburg’s Jewish cemetery illuminating ‘bloodlines’ between South Africa and Israel

By David E. Kaplan

On the 27th November, people of all faiths and races – some wearing medals of battles past – will gather at the South African National Jewish War Memorial at West Park Cemetery in Johannesburg. They will do so to remember those South African soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the world wars of the twentieth century that not only “changed the course of history” but profoundly impacted on the destiny of the Jewish people. The acts of bravery by these soldiers – whether aware at the time or not – contributed to the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in their ancestral homeland in 1948.

Live stream link on Sunday 27/11/22, 10:30 (SA time) – https://www.facebook.com/SAZionistFed/

The drama of three long forgotten and for many never even known events, will be ‘unveiled’ together with the stones embodying their pulsating pasts.

STORY OF A STONE

When only a year ago, students at  UCT ( University of Cape Town) tried to expunge the memory of South Africa’s famed wartime Prime Minister Jan Smuts by defacing and covering his bust with plastic bags and ultimately removing it from the campus as well as renaming the historic men’s residence from Smuts Hall to Upper Campus Residence, the upcoming gathering on the 27 November has a contrary agenda of honouring his memory as it connects with the Jewish people. If UCT students sought to ‘cover’ Smuts’ bust, the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF), JNF (SA), the South African Jewish ex-Service League together with its committee member, Selwyn Rogoff and its former Chairman, Peter Bailey also representing the Isaac Ochberg Heritage Committee in Israel, have sought to uncover Smuts’ less known past, notably his contribution to the State of Israel.

Century of a Stone. The cornerstone originally unveiled by Prime Minister Smuts in 1922 to be again unveiled by his great-grandson Gareth Shackleford on the 27 November 2022 at West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg.

When it was brought to Bailey and Rogoff’s attention that a cornerstone honouring South African Jews who had fought and died in the Great War that had been unveiled by Prime Minister Smuts in November 1922 at the old Jewish Guild War Memorial Building in downtown Johannesburg had after a century of travels to different locations  resurfaced in the garden of a bowling club, they felt a special memorial event marking the centenary should be held. Bailey felt further that it should include two other monumental contributions of South African soldiers who died in the service of that biblical land that would in time emerge as the state of the Jewish people – Israel. Through this writer’s intervention, he contacted Benji Shulman of the SAZF that set in motion the upcoming event that will have Smuts’ great-grandson, Gareth Shackleford, who will unveil again the cornerstone that his grandfather originally unveiled a century earlier reminding the world of the love Smuts had for the Jewish people and his role in the creation of the Jewish state.

Dead at Delville. Included amongst Jewish South African soldiers killed in WWI was the writer’s grandfather’s brother, Victor Kaplan, who volunteered for overseas service and was killed in the Battle of Delville Wood in 1916. (Family photo)

Too few are aware that when Smuts and Chaim Weizmann met in London during the Great War, the two began a close friendship that lasted for the rest of their lives and greatly influenced events in Palestine. In an essay on Smuts and Weizmann, Richard P. Stevens writes:

perhaps few personal friendships have so influenced the course of political events during the twentieth century as the relationship between General Jan Christiaan Smuts, South Africa’s celebrated prime minister, and Chaim Weizmann, Zionist leader, and Israel’s first president.”

Meeting of Minds. They emerged friends with shared visions – Chaim Weizmann (left) and Jan Smuts, circa 1915 (photo credit: JERUSALEM POST ARCHIVE)

Research reveals that Smuts played a monumental backroom role in the drafting of the Balfour Declaration, providing Weizmann with a direct conduit to the War Cabinet. Another of Smuts’ great-grandsons, Philip Weyers, said of his great-grandfather, who he fondly refers to as “Oubaas” (old boss) that:

he was the anonymous partner to the Balfour Declaration. The spirit and even some of the wording of the Balfour Declaration came from the Oubaas’ mouth. His thoughts and views carried a lot of weight, and is imbedded in that fateful document.

It is little wonder that kibbutz Ramat Yohanan – founded in 1932  – was named in honour of Jan Smuts; ‘Yohanan’ being the Hebrew translation for the Afrikaans ‘Jan’ or English ‘John’, in recognition of his unstinting efforts on behalf of the Jewish people.

LETTER TO LEGEND

However, Israel’s ‘Magna Carta’ – the Balfour Declaration of 1917 – would have meant very little beyond a letter or footnote in history had not the actual ‘feet’ of commonwealth soldiers – including the Cape Corps comprising members of South Africa’s Coloured community – fought valiantly to relieve Palestine of the Ottoman Turks. Some 54 Coloureds  – Christians and Muslims – lost their lives in what became known as the Battle of Megiddo, opening the road for General Allenby’s breakthrough to Damascus. Most important from a Jewish perspective, while it “opened the road” for Allenby, it cleared the region of the occupying Turks, paving the way for a British Mandate and ultimately Jewish statehood in 1948.

Jubilation in Jerusalem. One month after the Balfour Declaration, General Edmund Allenby enters the Old City on the 11 December 1917 to accept the surrender of Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks. Next battle to follow – Megiddo.

A year following the famous battle, Field Marshal Viscount Allenby, GCB, GCMG had this to say about the men of the 1st Cape Corps:

 “I heard you are creating a Roll of Honour containing Cape Corps names. I had the honour of serving with many of the Cape Corps in Palestine and I should like to add my tribute of appreciation. The record of those of the Cape Corps who fought under my command is one that any troops might envy. Especially on September 19 and 20, 1918, they covered themselves with glory, displaying a bravery and determination that has never been surpassed.”

A descendant of this battle, Cmdr. M. Adeel Carelse MMM (Ret.), whose grandfather Cpl. C. H. Carelse fought bravely at Square Hill and Kh Jibeit that were decisive battles within the larger Battle of Megiddo and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, will unveil on the 27 November a plaque to the Cape Corps. Today in Cape Town’s suburb of Retreat, there is Square Hill School that is named after this famous battle that too few remember or the sacrifices made.  However, these mostly forgotten battles fought in a biblical land, ended Ottoman Turkish rule and led to the eventual establishment of the independent states of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and ISRAEL!

Valiant Fighters. Men of the 1st. Battalion, Cape Corps(160th Brigade, 53 Welsh Division) in Palestine 1918.

WORKED TOGETHER, DIED TOGETHER

The third stone of history to be unturned at the ceremony, will be to remember and honour the 644 black Southern Africans who went down with 140 Yishuv Jews on the SS Erinpura during WWII.

They had all worked together as volunteers on a British labour project in Palestine for the war effort and were together in a convoy in the Mediterranean in May 1943 . The SS Erinpura was carrying more than 1000 troops, including Basuto and Batswanan members of the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps and Palestinian Jewish soldiers of 462 Transport Company of the British Army when on the evening of 1 May 1943, German bomber aircraft attacked the convoy 30 nautical miles (56 km) north of Benghazi.

They Made History. On parade but soon to be tested in battle are soldiers of the Cape Corp during WW1 who performed so heroically at the Battle of Megiddo in 1918 against the Ottoman Turks.

In one wave of the attacks, a bomb hit the Erinpura in one of her forward holds, causing her to list to starboard and sink within five minutes. The crew of her 12-pounder anti-aircraft gun continued to return fire until she sank with a loss of life of 800 that included the 633 Sotho, 11 Tswana soldiers and 140 Palestinian Jewish soldiers.

Lives lost at Sea. The ‘SS Erinpura Memorial’ on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem is dedicated to the 139 Jewish soldiers of the British Army  462 Moving Unit in British Mandate of Palestine  that lost their lives on the SS Erinpura  that was sunk in an attack  by the Luftwaffe on 1 May 1943.

The monument on Mount Herzl  to the 140 Jewish soldiers who drowned aboard the SS Erinpura is shaped like a ship  with a pool of water representing the sea where on the bottom appear the names of the fallen. Above the pool is a turret adorned with the Hebrew text of Psalm 68, verse 22:

The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea.”

Ship of Soldiers. The ill-fated SS. Erinpura that went down with South African and Jewish Palestinian soldiers in WWII.

This did in a sense happen with the emergence five years later  with the gathering of Jews and the established of the Jewish state in 1948.

It is only fitting that  Israel’s Ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotsercovsky, will unveil a memorial plaque at the West Park Cemetery ceremony to the tragic loss of life of both the Yishuv Jews and black South Africans who lost their lives together in a cause that others may live.

Entrance to West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg

EPILOGUE

The years have rolled by and like packed away old unread books, heroic lives were lost tucked away in forgotten chapters in recedingly remembered conflicts. The upcoming ceremony on the 27 November 2022  in Johannesburg is designed to address this amnesia and all across the world are invited to attend on ZOOM

https://www.facebook.com/SAZionistFed/

Before all these events played out, the instruction of ‘being careful not to forget’ was already present in Deuteronomy 4:7–9:“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son’s sons.





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).

HOW QUICKLY ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN TURN FROM LIVING ALONGSIDE TO EXTERMINATING EACH OTHER

Why the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre explores the history of the Holocaust and the 1994 genocide in Rwanda side by side.

By Tali Nates

(Based on an article first published online by DAFKADOTCOM )

In April 1994, while South Africans were jubilantly voting in the country’s first democratic elections, in Rwanda, a mere three and a half hours’ flight away, hundreds of thousands of Tutsi, as well as Hutu who opposed the genocide, were being slaughtered .

1994. Two countries in Africa. Two very different paths!

Not that South Africa’s transition to democracy has been easy. As xenophobic violence has shown, South Africans too have the potential for horrific violence against an “other”. 

In 2006, during one of my visits to Rwanda, a personal experience profoundly impacted my thinking on the creation of a future Centre. At a visit to Ntarama Church Genocide Memorial site where more than 5000 Tutsi were murdered, a young survivor, Cocous, was visibly upset. That morning we had also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the last resting place of over 250 000 Tutsi, including his parents. Sitting with Cocous, who bears a large machete scar on his head, I shared my own family’s history. I told him about the murder of my grandmother Leah Turner and my two aunts, Cela and Helen. My father Moses and his brother Henryk were rescued by Oskar Schindler, but the rest of the family were murdered in the Holocaust. He touched my face in disbelief saying:

“and still after that, genocide happened in my country?”

We spoke about the words ‘Never again’ placed on every memorial to the murdered Tutsi around Rwanda. They sounded hollower than ever.

Never again, yet again?

That encounter persuaded me that any museum in South Africa dedicated to the Holocaust and genocide had to include the story of Rwanda. ​

Personal Horrors. Sylvestre Sendacyeye, survivor from Rwanda, next to the Memorial for the Tutsi who were murdered in the genocide. (Photograph: Catherine Boyd)

This conversation took place while we were reflecting on the importance of memorialising the Holocaust and genocides in the 20th century and how to make such immense human catastrophes feel resonant, relevant and ‘personal’ to South Africans in the twenty-first century. Around the world museums are emerging more and more as institutions dedicated to facilitating human rights awareness and education, dialogue, and debate; we hoped that the Centre would encourage South Africans to grapple with our own history (and how that continues to inform our present), within the context of broader histories.

With or without our intervention, the Holocaust is present in South African public life. In 2007, the Department of Education included the study of ‘Nazi Germany and the Holocaust’ in the South African national social sciences and history curriculum for Grade 9 and 11 (15 and 17 years old). By first learning about the Holocaust and then about Apartheid, they hoped students would have a better understanding of human rights, peace and democracy. All good in theory, but to make this really work requires a huge amount of education before the first lesson is even presented. Much of the essential preparation is provided by three independent Centres, all under a national association, the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation. The first Centre was opened in Cape Town (1999) and a second one was established in Durban (2008). The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre was officially opened in March 2019 but operated from temporary offices since 2008.

Illuminating Darkness. The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre sheds light on the holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda.(Photo JHGC, Johannesburg)

In order to offer visitors a deeper understanding of recent genocides, the core exhibition, developed over many years, covers more generally genocides in the 20th century, starting in 1904 with the Herero and Nama genocide in Namibia and the Genocide of Christian Armenians beginning in 1915. It also looks at the development of the word genocide and explores the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its aftermath. Finally, the exhibition connects to current human rights abuses in South Africa, particularly xenophobia and racism.

The iconic building is replete with symbolism. Its South African architect, Lewis Levin reflected:

How can the language of architecture be recruited to describe and symbolize the terrible events that took place in Kigali and Auschwitz?”

Asking Holocaust and Rwandan survivors what symbols they would like to see represented in the building, Levin recalls:

The first images that emerged from our discussions were those of trains, railway lines and the vast transportation network of Europe that was employed and diverted to haul people to their deaths. Trains and railways, once a symbol of industrial progress, in the eyes of 20th century modernists, were transformed by the Nazis and their collaborators into a vast killing machine. In Africa, the railways that represented the great dream of the colonialists, not only brought along empire, but also oppression and human misery”.

The building’s façade is lined with railway lines embedded in concrete and rock. The railway, a symbol of modernity and progress, as well as oppression and suffering, is a strong reminder of genocide, a man-made catastrophe.

 “The next images that haunted the survivors,” Levin continued, “were the forests and landscapes of death. The Nazis murdered Jews and others within the panoramas of the European landscapes, often in lyrical forest settings. In Rwanda, the genocide took place in a spectacular landscape of lush green vegetation and terraced hills”. Indigenous yellowwood trees wrap the building from all sides. As you enter the foyer, the railway lines disappear into voids, memorialising the loss and scars of genocide.

Story of a Survivor. Doris Lurie, survivor from Vienna, Austria, with her son Peter next to her portrait and story. (Photo: Catherine Boyd)

LOOKING IN AND LOOKING OUT

​The permanent exhibition area has wide, high windows, unlike many other museums that present this history in darkness. The design invites the visitor to remember that genocide does not happen only in the dark but in broad daylight while neighbours are watching. It challenges them to explore their role as bystanders today and encourages them to move to action. The exhibition journey ends in a Garden of Reflection with a soundscape, Remember/Zachor/Ibuka, by renowned South African composer Philip Miller, with music, songs and testimony of survivors of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda.
 
The JHGC’s core exhibition and education programmes feature stories, photographs and artefacts of Johannesburg survivors that would not be found in any other museum in the world and are uniquely South African. The Centre collected many photographs, documents and objects from survivors of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. Genocide survivor Xavier Ngabo, for example, donated objects found with the remains of his mother Beatrice. In response to hearing his testimony, students sponsored his return to Rwanda to find the remains of his parents and bury them. 

Processing Evil. Most important are South Africa’s students, who will be tomorrow’s leaders, to visit the Holocaust Centre.(Photo Catherine Boyd)

The JHGC recorded hours of testimonies from Holocaust and Rwandan survivors. For many of the Rwandan survivors, when filmed, it was the first time they told their story – 20 years after the genocide. Holocaust and genocide survivors are also among the Centre’s volunteers and share their testimonies with students at schools, colleges and universities.

One recent student is 21-year-old Mikateko Mnene, in her final year at the University of Johannesburg; studying a Bachelors in Education degree, who describes her visit to the JHGC in April 2022 as “eye-opening” in that the experience “made us more aware that stereotypes, even though seemingly insignificant, can turn into mass persecution and murder. This is exactly what happened to the Jews.”

“Never Again”. Studying to be a teacher,  Holocaust Centre visitor Mikateko Mnene believes we need to educate“the world can become a better place.”

Struck firstly by how “such atrocious cruelties could ever happen, but they did and they can again if we do not make a stand and watch each other’s backs,”  Mikateko draws the lesson of her visit to what is happening closer to home when she says:

 “This experience also made us more aware of the current issues we are facing in South Africa and how the xenophobic stereotypes we are seeing now should not be taken lightly.”

She says that as a teacher in training:

I paid great attention to how the Holocaust affected children and teachers, and how the education sector was infiltrated to support and promote antisemitism. I realised the power and influence of teachers and the education sector. Loving children so much, it was so painful to read about the children in the ghettos and camps and how some of them were used for medical experiments through which some died. I am inspired by the few teachers who tried to continue teaching the children. I asked myself as a teacher, what would I have done? I strongly believe that if we could all do our bit to stand for what is right and just in our different career sectors, the world can become a better place.”

Auschwitz survivor and writer, Primo Levi’s words greet visitors as they enter the JHGC:

It happened therefore it can happen again; this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere”.

When visitors leave the Centre these words feel ever more painfully relevant.



About the Writer:

Tali Nates is the founder and director of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre. She is a historian who lectures internationally on Holocaust education, genocide prevention, reconciliation and human rights. She has published many articles and contributed chapters to different books, among them God, Faith & Identity from the Ashes: Reflections of Children and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors (2015) and Remembering The Holocaust in Educational Settings (2018)






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).

NOT WITH A BANG, BUT A WHIMPER

By Adv. Craig Snoyman

This week, with a whimper, ended  probably  the longest-running  hate-speech case in South African legal history. Following a Constitutional Court order,  an apology was published on the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) website in which “Mr Masuku and Cosatu hereby tender their unconditional apology to the Jewish community and regret the harm caused.”

Spelling it Out. South Africa’s Constitutional Court has found remarks by Cosatu’s Bongani Masuku in 2009 to have constituted hate speech against the Jewish community.

The unionist and his union were obliged to give an  unconditional apology  to the Jewish community.  The  apology had to receive at least the same publicity as Masuku’s initial offending statement. As the hate-speech was published on a weblog that no longer exists it was sent to the SAJBD, which then released it on its website. Some of us missed the judgment that was handed down. Most of us missed the apology. All of us had heard about the issue.

Masuku’s apology  is the culmination of a 13-year debacle that started  during Operation Protective Edge, in January 2009. His trade union organization, Cosatu, led a march to the offices of the SAJBD and the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF)  in support of “the Palestinians”. During this “mostly peaceful” march there were swastikas in evidence and an Israeli flag was burned.

Masuku then posted, on a  now-defunct weblog, that:

 “[A]s we struggle to liberate Palestine from the racists, fascists and Zionists who belong to the era of their Friend Hitler!  We must not apologise, every Zionist must be made to drink the bitter medicine they are feeding our brothers and sisters in Palestine.  We must target them, expose them and do all that is needed to subject them to perpetual suffering until they withdraw from the land of others and stop their savage attacks on human dignity.”   

Now where have we heard something similar about ‘perpetual suffering’?

Maybe the utterance that the Jews and their  successive generations will bear a communal guilt in perpetuity for the killing of Christ perhaps?

Menacing Masuku. “We must target them [the Jews], expose them and do all that is needed to subject them to perpetual suffering” said Bongani Masuku (above) who has been finally ordered by the Constitutional Court to apologise to the SA Jewish Board of Deputies for his hate speech comments made back in 2009.
 

The following month Masuku addressed a Palestinian student’s group meeting at the University of the Witwatersrant (Wits}.  During his speech, he stated that he was making a distinction between Jews and Zionists. Three aspects of his speech drew attention.  First, he said that Cosatu had members at Wits and they can make sure that for “that side” it would be hell. He also continued by stating that South African parents who choose to send their children to be part of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) must not blame them when something happens to them with immediate effect.  The third aspect of his speech was that Cosatu supported the Palestinian cause and would do everything to ensure – whether at Wits or Orange Grove – that those who did not support equality and dignity should face the consequences even if it meant  “something  that may necessarily cause what is regarded as harm.”

Masuku’s utterances provoked an outcry with parties very vocally taking sides. The SAJBD  referred the initial blog statement and these  three portions of his speech to the South African Human Rights Commission seeking that the matter  be pursued as ‘hate speech’ in the courts.  The issue required to be determined by the  court, as set out in its most basic terms  was:

Did Masuku’s statements amount to hate speech in terms of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act? (sometimes called by its acronym PEPUDA,  but usually  referred to as the Equality Act).  Or are his statements constitutionally protected as freedom of speech? The equality and dignity as set out in the provisions of Section 8(3) of the Equality Act on the one side were  balanced against freedom of expression as set out in  Section 16 of the Constitution. Not for the first time were the South African courts called upon to interpret  poorly drafted laws with  unclear sections. Using the Act and the Constitution the Court had to decide the intention of Masuku.

Just as an aside, in a series of further  hostile communications with the blog,  Masuku also stated that “no pro-Israel Jews should ever consider South Africa to be their home (sic).  His further rabble-rousing statements were not  raised or dealt with in the courts, but one  – or should I say, “the reasonable person” – can get an idea of his mindset as he published his poison. Perhaps this ancillary little ditty was not deemed necessary to be included as part of the hate speech. However, in hindsight, this small voice believes that it would have been significant.

With the process through the South African courts grinding exceedingly fine, the  matter slowly wended its way through the Equality Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and eventually the Constitutional Court. Finally, some twelve years after commencement, a final judgment was handed down in February this year.

Unmasked. Wearing covid masks does not hide the mass hatred of these protestors on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa against the Jewish state.

The court of first instance,  the Equality Court, the Commission was of the view that the statements were offensive and unpalatable to society; that they were of an extreme nature in that they advocated that the Jewish community should be despised, scorned, ridiculed and thus subjected to ill-treatment because of their religious affiliation. It found that a prima facie case of hate speech had been established.

While Section 21 of the Equality Act provides for numerous different sanctions, the Court imposed an apology on Masuku, holding that “an order for an unconditional apology is by no means lenient, and should not be viewed in the light of the proverbial slap on the wrist”.

It would represent a recognition of “the fact that the statements are found to be hurtful and hate speech”, and would constitute “a notable move towards compensating the target groups, in this case, the Jewish community”.

Masuku appealed  to the Supreme Court of Appeal. There he argued that  the Equality Court was wrong and that  just because most people who  ‘would most likely support’ Zionism, were most likely to be  offended were Jewish, did not mean that the statements were directed at them. Rather the statements were  directed at the State of Israel and his statements  could not be  transformed  into ones based on religion or ethnicity. In coming  to its judgment, the SCA seemingly placed great reliance on  the opinion of numerous academics that the “convoluted” Section  10  of the Equity Act expanded the definition of hate speech  and  was unconstitutional. The Appeal Court decided the case solely on the basis of Section 16 of the constitution  and ignored the Equality Act entirely. The Equality Court decision was entirely overturned.

Hate on the Street. While these protesters gather outside Parliament in Cape Town on the 12 May 2021, during a march organised by the Al-Quds Foundation and the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), it appeared less like solidarity with the Palestinians and more about antagonism towards Israel and Jews!  (Photo: Victoria O’Regan)

There was much celebration in BDS circles when the appeal Court decision was handed down.  One of the most notable quotes from BDS South Africa used its now “acceptable”  political expression. It  compared the SAJBD and its Zionist agents to Shylock in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”  – an intentional slur as  Shylock presents with its many false traits of “the Jew” that are universally recognised as antisemitic stereotypes.  The SAJBD had been denied its ‘pound of flesh’, they proclaimed. There could be little confusion  as to whether their reference was to Jews or Zionists. But they  were safe in their new-found freedom to defame.

The Constitutional Court,  in its customary eloquent manner then proceeded to give the Supreme Court of Appeal (and the Chief Justice of the Appeal Court, who was an assenting judge in the decision) a scathing  tongue-lashing and lambasted the  SCA judgment. It scolded that court for not applying the Equity Act at all.  It held that the Equity act had been  enacted to give life and extend context to the Constitution by the principle of subsidiarity.

The Constitutional Court picked its way carefully through a minefield and set out a clear course to follow in the future.  The statements should be judged objectively applying “the reasonable person’s” view. Applying this standard, the Court held that the statement in the blog constituted hate-speech, but nothing in Masuku’s speech made to the Palestine students fell within the definition of hate-speech.  It re-instated the order of apology.

Love Street. Countering the hatred embodied in a language of disinformation emanating from some quarters in the ANC, increasing numbers of Christians in South Africa are coming out in support of Israel.

This  decision, with much to  commend it,  still  shielded those who make harmful statements. It was abundantly clear that Masuku sought to incite harm and violence.  While the Court made clear its abhorrence of the statements made at Wits University, it  correctly held that the statements did not constitute hate-speech which protects only against race, ethnicity, gender or religion.  However, by acknowledging  the extreme nature of  Masuku’s  incitement, it was ideally placed to make an order in terms of  Section. 21(2)(n) of the Equality Act,  that  institution of criminal proceedings in terms of the common law or relevant legislation should have been ordered against  Masuku. The statements constituted criminal  conduct.  But in fairness,  it does not seem that it was asked to do so.

Jews who regard themselves as Zionists can hardly be expected to feel protected as a result of this judgment. The potentially devastating effects of the type of speech remain. The first statement  did not identify Jews by name, but it was viewed as hate-speech. In his  Wits speech is seems that because he said he was distinguishing between Jews and Zionists, there was no hate speech – although the speech was clearly more threatening.  Simply because Zionism is not regarded as race/ ethnicity/ gender/ religion and is excluded from the definition of hate-speech, it does not render that person safe or the atmosphere any less fraught. How is the reasonable person to decide whether I wear a Jewish kippa or a Zionist hat? In all these statements there were only referrals to Zionists. Jews, or even pro-Israel Jews, were never mentioned. Sometimes,  contextual circumstances and perception of the “reasonable man” do not intersect.

Can the reasonable South African objectively identify whether I am a Jewish Zionist? Certainly the opposing experts who testified in the court proceedings could not agree or make a clear contextual  distinction. So if I am confronted with a Masuku-like statement  I wish to repeat to you so that it is clear that if you send your son to the Israeli Defence Force then don’t blame us if something happens to you with immediate effect”  –  am I going to be objectively viewed as a Jew or a Zionist?  In either event, it must be regarded as a serious threat.  If I’m identified  as a Jew, then it is both hate speech and a criminal offence. However, if as  a Zionist, then it is only a criminal offence. The nature and gravity of  such an offence  will  likely result in  our over-worked National Prosecuting Authority declining to  pursue the matter criminally.   Clearly,  identifiable context is everything, especially  when the person making  the statement has also just said that these pro-Israeli Jews have no place in South Africa, (a judenrein South Africa?) 

The novelist, Upton Sinclair wrote:

 “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”  

The BDS spin doctors are spinning, and these experts are being paid according to their paygrade. Since the judgment, we have heard the spin:  Bongani Masuku remains a non-racist.  Cosatu still remains supporters of the oppressed Palestinians. BDS will continue to rely on the illustrious “human rights” organisations which hold that Israel is an apartheid state. There must still be a concerted effort to root out the kids signing up for the Israeli Defence Force. Sure, there is a  ‘Court ordered Apology’ on record,  but the judgment should still be seen as a win.  The publicity against apartheid Israel following Masuku’s statements was substantial, while his  apology wasn’t even really an apology. His apology was only  for “any harm caused” but he didn’t apologise  for what he said, or for the threat of immediate harm against those living in Orange Grove. He didn’t have to because the court held that that was part of the three out of four statements which were not hate-speech. Victory!

Masuku’s apology merely follows the pattern of his defence in these court cases. The Zionists deserve what they have coming to them and his freedom of speech should not be restricted.  His liberation credentials remain intact. His apology is hardly the apology that the Equity court had in mind! He must be well aware of it.  There was no compensation or remorse in his apology. The judgment against him must now viewed by reasonable people as  far less than a slap on the wrist, as far less than the pound of flesh. His sanction is more like a chewed-up piece of  nail that has been spat out by a laughing villain – and about as visible. He received millions of paragraphs of publicity flowing from what he said, but his remorse is reflected in a one sentence apology about causing harm and addressed to a substitute  of the source where he initially issued his hate-speech. That same press which expended all that ink, saved some by ignoring the apology.

But made no mistake,  the SAJBD can celebrate what is really a spectacular and very rare win, in overturning a unanimous full bench decision made by what was once  our highest court in the land. Pure nachas and major boasting rights.

Next time, and unfortunately there will be a next time, they must go for the jugular. The Masuku ilk should not get off so lightly.


About the writer:

Craig Snoyman is a practising advocate in South Africa.





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

The Danger of Desmond

A Light Unto his Nation – a Dark Side to Jews

By David E. Kaplan

The recent passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa  presents a conundrum  – how could someone deservedly so loved and respected, referred to as “a moral compass” and the “conscience of the nation” be an antisemite?

It would seem unthinkable!

The Good and the Bad. The beloved late Archbishop Desmond Tutu internationally respected for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist also caused concern for his negative attitude to Jews.  

Tutu is only another in a long lineup of outstanding personalities who having contributed superlatively to making the world a better place but nevertheless expose this “other side”, this “dark side” – of antisemitism.

So how should Jews come to terms and relate to the legacies of legends?

To this day, Israelis  have a problem with the “genius” German composer Richard Wagner, who while revolutionising the course of music in the 19th century, remains controversial in the Jewish state not only because of his virulent antisemitism but the suggested impact of that hatred. Hitler’s favourite composer, the Fuhrer found Wagner’s music and world view – his antisemitism –  inspirational, begging the question:

What role did Wagner play in the cultural evolution towards the genocidal ‘Final solution’?

Struck a Chord. Hitler’s favourite composer, Richard Wagner, whose music and musings inspired the Nazi Fuhrer.

Jews are left with the question:

Can we separate the man from his art?

What of the Impressionists, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edward Degas, who were both vocal about their antisemitism and at the time of the Dreyfus affair, were proud to stand and be counted in the anti-Dreyfus camp? Less nuanced than Renoir, Degas’ hatred was so deep-rooted that that he once threw a model out of his studio, screaming at her that she was Jewish – she was in fact Protestant!  During the Dreyfus affair, Degas ended relationships with Jewish friends, including Ludovich Halevy, who had been like family to him.

Beneath and Beyond. Belying his ugly antisemitism, the unquestionable beauty of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s ‘Two Sisters (On the Terrace)’, 1881

The works of Renoir and Degas are wondrous; their impact on pushing the boundaries of late 19th century French art incomparable.

Should Jews boycott appreciating their art?

True Colours. Edgar Degas’ ‘Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint’  captures on canvas his understanding and passion for ballet. Just the opposite was his attitude to Jews who he despised and proudly stood at the time in the anti-Dreyfus camp during the infamous trial that exposed French antisemitism.

Platform of Popularity

Is there a more iconic American motor car than the Ford and yet its fonder was a notorious antisemite. Has it stopped anyone from buying a Ford vehicle?

Sitting around a campfire in 1919, a friend of Henry Ford records him addressing their group of fellow campers raging that:

 “all evil to Jews or to the Jewish capitalists…The Jews caused the war, the Jews caused the outbreak of thieving and robbery all over the country, the Jews caused the inefficiency of the navy…”

Fueling Antisemitism. The iconic American automobile engineer and manufacturer Henry Ford – known for changing the auto industry but also for using his immense power and influence to vilify Jewish people – poses in the driver’s seat of his latest model, outside the Ford factory in Detroit, Michigan, c. 1905.

In other words, the Jews are responsible for all the country’s ills.

That same year, Ford began publishing a series of articles that claimed of “a vast Jewish conspiracy” that “was infecting America”. The famed industrialist would then then go on to bound the articles into four volumes titled “The International Jew” and distributed half a million copies. As passionate a car-maker, he was as passionate in his hate for Jews.

As one of the most famous men in America, Henry Ford legitimised ideas that otherwise may have been given little authority.

Archbishop Tutu joins this list of impressive influencers in the impact they can have in creating negative mindsets against Jews. The reverence Tutu justly deserved in his struggle against Apartheid and his subsequent role in facilitating national reconciliation through his adept chairmanship of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, provided him a platform and a protection when it came to his vocal attacks on Jews.

This is what made him dangerous in life and no less today in death. In paying tribute to the celebrated esteemed icon, eulogies in the media and online, spared no effort to exploit this ‘heavenly’ masqueraded opportunity to convey the Archbishop’s animus towards the ‘collective Jew’ –  Jewish state of Israel.

Cognisant of the danger of a Tutu protected by his international acclaim and popularity, Jay Nordlinger – a senior editor of National Review and author of a ‘Peace, They Say: A History of the Nobel Peace Prize’ – wrote in 2014: 

The most harmful of them [Nobel Laureates] is Desmond Tutu: because he is a South African hero who  for decades  has peddled the lie that Israel is an “apartheid state”. Coming from him, it is more harmful than from (the countless) others.”

The accusation of being an antisemite did nor seem to bother the Archbishop. Whenever so questioned, Tutu would flippantly respond with his two preferred stock answers:

  • Tough luck” 

or

  • My dentist’s name is Dr. Cohen

There is however one major difference between the mindset of a Wagner, Renoir, Degas and Ford and that of Archbishop Tutu – the intervening  Shoah!

Lost in Thought. From the man who said “The gas chambers made for a neater death” begs the question what was Archbishop Tutu truly thinking on his visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem, on 26 December 1989 (AFP)

It is doubtful that the nineteenth and early twenty century antisemites could have foreseen the Holocaust or predicted the impact of their animus in contributing to what was to follow. Tutu, on the other hand, had the benefit of hindsight and still could be so insensitive that on a visit in 1989 to Israel’s Holocaust memorial  – Yad Vashem – to say that the Nazis ought to be forgiven for their crimes to the Jewish people. Two thirds of European Jewry were wiped out in a methodic mass murder and at the memorial to their memory all the Archbishop could say was:

We pray for those who made it happen, forgive them and help us to forgive them, and help us so that we, in our turn, will not make others suffer.”

This, he said, was his “message” to the Israeli children and grandchildren of the murdered!

Where were the archbishop’s  prayers for the  six million victims, including 1.5 million murdered children?

Tutu’s behaviour baffled no less a fellow Nobel Peace Laurette, Elie Wiesel who said:

 “For anyone in Jerusalem, at Yad Vashem, to speak about forgiveness would be, in my view, a disturbing lack of sensitivity toward the Jewish victims and their survivors. I hope that was not the intention of Bishop Tutu.”

Clearly it was “the intention” otherwise how else do you explain Tutu saying that “The gas chambers made for a neater death” than Apartheid’s resettlement policies?

And for those who rush to ‘explain’ Tutu’s fulminations against Jews as ‘a perfectly understandable’ default position of viewing all perceived problems in the world through a South African lens, how do you excuse Tutu declaring back in 1984,that:

 “The Jews thought they had a monopoly on G-d” or his other insensitive observations:

  • Jews … think they have cornered the market on suffering
  • that Jews are “quick to yell ‘antisemitism
  •  that Jews display “an arrogance of power – because Jews have such a strong lobby in the United States.”

Tutu draws close to the antisemitic thinking of  Henry Ford when he expressed in April 2002 that:

People are scared in [America] to say wrong is wrong, because the Jewish lobby is powerful, very powerful. Well, so what? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin were all powerful, but, in the end, they bit the dust.”

Tutu did not talk here of an Israeli but a “Jewish” lobby and longingly predicts that in the end, the implied devious and “powerful, very powerful, ” Jewish power brokers will be crushed like their kindred spirits – Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. In the age-old tradition of antisemitic diatribe, what a despicable construct from the Archbishop designed to sow suspicion and foster hatred of Jews. All the worse in that the ‘voice’ behind this venom enjoyed the ‘moral’ authority of the South African Anglican church.

Written Proof. A letter written by Hitler’s favourite composer Richard Wagner in April 1869 to philosopher Edouard Schuré warning about “corrosive” Jewish influence on culture was auctioned in Jerusalem for $34,000.
Wagner wrote in this letter that Jewish assimilation into French society meant that it was harder to see that “corroding influence of the Jewish spirit on modern culture”.

Whichever way one tries to decipher these disturbing words, Tutu comes out “in his own words” an antisemite.

Beneath the beloved veneer of South Africa’s archbishop resided an unabashed enemy of the Jews and there lies the conundrum:

When famous personages, who contribute to mankind are acclaimed by an appreciative populace and then use their platform of popularity to turn on the Jews, are they to be revered or reviled?


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).