Jewish Life Digital Edition November 2014 | Page 34

SPONSORED FEATURE

THE SA JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES

NEW YEAR,
new beginnings
Despite a rise in anti-Semitic abuse in SA, government ‘reiterated SA’s
willingness to support all sides to find a solution’ in Israel
BY WENDY KAHN

30 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 79

SA Jewish Board of Deputies meeting  President Zuma and members of his
cabinet at his residence Mahlamba Ndlopfu in Pretoria.
and Zola Skweyiya had a very constructive
meeting with deputy foreign minister Tzachi Hanegbi, a positive development.
Throughout Operation Protective Edge,
our government leadership reiterated
their willingness to engage and showed
some balance to the conflict.
In DIRCO’s initial statement during the
war, it acknowledged the rocket fire into
Israel and recognised that: “The lasting solution to the Middle East problem lies in
serious and genuine negotiations involving all parties.” President Jacob Zuma followed this with comments in his budget
speech that “both sides were responsible
to end the conflict” and that the only solution lies in “serious and genuine negotiations involving all parties” and “this is not
the time to apportion blame”.
President Zuma’s envoys, on their return, called on “both sides to agree to a
ceasefire and resume negotiations”. In
Washington, on 6 August, DTI confirmed
that SA had no plans to impose trade restrictions on Israel, and Zuma included in
his speech condemnation of the “killing of
Israeli civilians by Hamas”.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, at
the NCOP, applauded the ceasefire and com-

mitted SA government’s involvement in the
negotiation process through its envoys.
Prior to Rosh Hashanah, the SAJBD
met with Zuma and cabinet ministers Jeff
Radebe, Susan Shabangu and Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. At the meeting, Zuma expressed “unequivocal support for the twostate solution of Israel and Palestine living
side by side in peaceful co-existence, and
reiterated South Africa’s willingness to
support all sides to find a solution”.
On the day before Rosh Hashanah, Zuma
issued a statement wishing our Jewish community a happy Rosh Hashanah. Included in
his message, he said: “We commend our
Jewish citizens for continuing to foster and
live by their age-old traditions while at the
same time fully identifying with and contributing in multiple ways to the building of our
young democracy. It is fitting that Rosh Hashanah commences on the evening of Heritage Day, the public holiday through which
South Africans celebrate their cultural diversity in a spirit of friendship and unity. Ours
is a country where the different backgrounds
– religious, cultural, linguistic or otherwise –
are not merely tolerated but wholeheartedly
affirmed.” A sentiment that I hope will lead
us into a more positive 5775. JL

PHOTOGRAPH: SUPPLIED

ROSH HASHANAH 5775 CERTAINLY BROUGHT TO A
close a very difficult and challenging time
for South African Jewry. We entered our
Holy days surrounded by concrete barriers
and a feeling of having been battered and
bruised in the preceding months.
Our community had been the target of
a dreadful spate of anti-Semitic abuse in
July and August, unprecedented in our
statistics. Although this trend was in line
with escalations worldwide, it was still
chilling to hear the level of aggression and
hatred in the threats and intimidation.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies is hard at work responding to these
incidents through the various constitutional and law enforcement bodies to protect South Africans against hate speech.
What also devastated us was the hostility with which our beloved Jewish state was
treated in our country and globally, politically and in some of the media. Once again,
Israel was demonised and delegitimised.
BDS SA worked tirelessly at trying to
portraying Israel as tyrannical and lobbied
hard for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled and SA’s ambassador to be recalled.
Significant pressure was applied to the
South African government to sever diplomatic ties between the countries.
Despite the many thuggish campaigns
staged by BDS, and even in the context of
comments by ANC members, our government was firm in its stance of engaging
with both parties and trying to play a constructive role in some small way.
In the face of great pressure to act punitively, our government chose – for the
first time in many years – to re-engage
with Israel, sending envoys to the region
to engage with all leadership. Aziz Pahad