South Africans Rally Against Antisemitism and the Targeting of Jewish Owned Businesses; Celebrate strengthening ties between South Africa and Israel South Africans from all walks of life gathered in today’s rallies against antisemtism and the targeting of Jewish-owned Businesses. The rallies, held in both Johannesburg (outside the Gauteng Legislature) and Cape Town (Parliament), protested the targeting of Jewish Businesses, specifically those known to be founded, owned or run

Once again, ANC Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte’s obsessive hostility towards the State of Israel has seen her, on behalf of the ruling party, align herself with a movement that routinely promotes hatred not merely against Israel, but against the Jewish community in South Africa.  The annual propaganda circus known as “Israel Apartheid Week” (IAW) has consistently shown that it its aim is not to be pro-peace or even pro-Palestinian, but simply to be viscerally anti-Isr

There is much excitement within the South African Jewish community around the visit of Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres.   Mr Peres is a former President and Prime Minister of the State of Israel and will be in Johannesburg for one night only, in what promises to be a never to be repeated experience. At 92 years’ old, Peres is the last of Israel’s founding generation. He was first elected in 1959 to the Knesset and held the post for 48 years, the longest ever term of service

The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) condemns the violence that has taken place at the University of the Free State (UFS).  The SAJBD recognises the ongoing concerns of students and workers across the Higher Education sector.  All parties must be given space to engage in the right to protest and all acts of violence, especially racist violence should be condemned in the harshest terms by all South Africans.  We urge the Student Body and University Management and the Depart

“Stop the hate. The slow march towards healing. While 2016 was still in its infancy and we were surfacing from the holiday euphoria, we got the news that has shaken our precious democracy; that racism was well and thriving in our country. Penny Sparrowbroke the bubble with her ‘monkey’ comments, followed closely by Steven Hart, Velaphi Khumalo, and Nicole de Klerk. Sadly, I suspect that by the time this is published there will be many more. While 2016 was still in its infancy

Zev Krengel, James Motlatsi, Bobby Godsell write for City Press Voices about the Anti-Racism Pledge all South Africans should sign.  It would be naive to expect 300 years of race-defined conflict to disappear in the first two decades of democracy. Our new Constitution of 1996 lays a solid foundation for a nonracial society.It affirms that our country belongs to all who live in it. View the full article  here.

The World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban in 2001, left a psychological scar on anyone who witnessed the blatant anti-Semitism that accompanied it. But what was it like for Israel’s ambassador to South Africa at the time, Tova Herzl? Would Israel and the US in fact participate? Was it the right decision to boycott it altogether? Would it not have been better to stay at the conference, and battle it ou t?  These are some of the questions that Herzl asks herself in he

It is not generally known today that originally, when pundits and politicians spoke about the problem of ‘racism’ in South Africa, they were referring to tensions between the English and Afrikaner sections of the white community. It is not generally known today that originally, when pundits and politicians spoke about the problem of ‘racism’ in South Africa, they were referring to tensions between the English and Afrikaner sections of the white community. Only much later did

The irony of the Gauteng Legislature hosting an “International Solidarity Day with Palestinians inside of Israel” are great. It is absurd that in a time of gross persecution of religious minorities throughout the Middle East, the Gauteng Legislature chooses to single out the only country in the Middle East where religious minorities enjoy complete legal protection. The irony of the Gauteng Legislature hosting an “International Solidarity Day with Palestinians inside of Israel

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has lodged a complaint of hate speech with the SA Human Rights Commission against Port Elizabeth attorney Maureen Jansen. This is in response to a comment posted by Jansen on her Facebook in which, amongst other things, she referred to Jews as ‘monsters’ who should be ‘exterminated’ for their support – whether active or passive – of Israel. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has lodged a complaint of hate spee

Racism. The ugly debate rages across the country, spreading like wildfire and flaring up on social media platforms.  Racism. The ugly debate rages across the country, spreading like wildfire and flaring up on social media platforms.  Click here to view the full article