The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has sent its submission on the ‘Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill’ to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for consideration.  The much awaited Bill aims to give effect to South Africa’s obligations, in terms of both our Constitutional and international human rights instruments, concerning racism and discrimination; to provide for the offence of hate crimes and hate speech; as we

The growing prevalence of hostile racial rhetoric, of which anti-Jewish conspiracy theories are just one part, poses a serious problem to the national well-being. You know that a society is in trouble when sinister invocations of Jewish financial domination show signs of gaining common currency. And you know that it is really in trouble when those in positions of leadership start talking in that vein. It is not just the innate irrationality of attributing extraordinary, as we

Last Monday morning started on a high-note, if you were listening to SAFM “Forum@8” with Sakina Kamwendo. The discussion was “Religious Tolerance”, and the five speakers, each representing a different faith community, were in agreement: South Africans need to be more tolerant of each other, leadership needs to ensure that the various faiths work together in synergy and education about one another is crucial. The Mullah expressed his appreciation that the respective faiths had

Writing on the political succession debate within the ANC (‘ANC's dirty war’, 15/1/2017), Setumo Stone reports that in certain quarters the candidature of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is being opposed on the grounds that he is “in the pockets of the Jews” and “beholden to Jewish business interests” Implicit in this statement is a sinister suggestion of Jewish financial domination.  The problem with this, is that Jews are singled out and accused of manipulating political l

Last Monday morning started on a high note.  If you were listening to SAfm’s with Sakina Kamwendo. The discussion was “Religious Tolerance”, and the five speakers, each representing a different faith community, were in agreement: South Africans need to be more tolerant of each other, leadership needs to ensure that the various faiths work together in synergy, and education about one another is crucial. The mullah expressed his appreciation that the respective faiths had reach

Last Friday, the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) led a delegation to Parliament, comprising mainly South African Jewish stakeholders to address the International Relations Portfolio Committee, at the invitation of its Chairperson The Honourable Masango.  The delegation challenged and refuted assertions that had been presented to the committee in previous weeks by certain anti–Israel lobby groups.  SAJBD National President, Mary Kluk, raised concerns that anti-Israel senti

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies is horrified by the shocking racial attack in Mpumalanga referred to as the 'coffin assault'.  We condemn this racist incident in which Victor Mlotshwa was kidnapped, forced inside a coffin and threatened with his life. Most South Africans strive each day to build a country in  which human rights, including the principles of dignity and freedom, are afforded to all who live in it. Acts of humiliation and hate have no place in a multi

A South African pioneer, he made huge contributions to business in this country, particularly in the field of BEE.  A philanthropist, he was involved with and commitment to, overcoming poverty and inequality.  Gerald played a prominent leadership role in several Jewish communal organisations,  including being a Chairman and President of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, Joint Chairman Johannesburg IUA / UCF, Chairman of Beyachad, Trustee of the SA Holocaust Centre, Chairman of

Just one year after Penny Sparrow reached notoriety for her racist comments about beach-goers on the Durban coast, it is with a sense of déjà vu that the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) condemns yet another South African, Ben Sasanof, for similar offensive comments he made concerning the Durban beachfront this weekend.  All forms of racism are unacceptable in a South Africa where we strive daily to build a culture based on human rights and principles of dignity and freedo

Whereas the Rosh Hashanah issue of Jewish Affairs concentrated on the South African Jewish community and its history, to mark the community’s 175th anniversary, this issue has a more general focus, with articles looking at aspects of, amongst other themes, Diaspora Jewish history, Israel and the Holocaust. Veteran contributor Bernard Katz adds a new instalment to his “A Brief Journey through….” series of skilfully crafted potted histories of major European Jewish communities,

Earlier this year, I was privileged to spend Human Rights Day in Sharpeville. On the square where the horrific massacre took place 56 years ago, I stood next to a woman by the name of Maria Morake, who was a witness to the atrocity. Maria recounted to me her personal story of what happened on that day, 21 March 1960. She described what the square looked like, and the loud bangs that she heard. Since she was only a child, she did not immediately recognise the sounds as gunfire

In 2012, a bill was introduced in the parliament of South Africa calling for the labelling of certain Israeli goods as ‘Products of the Occupied Palestinian Territories’. Our community was outraged and raised the issue in many different forums: political,legal, and through street protests. At the height of our frustration, when we felt that our voice was not being listened to, I had the great privilege of being introduced by Sol Cowen to the wonderful Joan Fubbs, an exception

At the time of writing, Shavuot is just a  few days away. On Motzai Shabbos, thousands of community members will be coming together in shuls and batei midrashim throughout the country for the traditional Tikkun Leil learning programme. It all provides a dramatic contrast to the first Jewish communal prayer service in South Africa, held on Erev Yom Kippur, 1841, in the home of Cape Town businessman Benjamin Norden. The congregation on that occasion consisted of just 17 worship

I have been an ardent admirer of Rachelle  Fraenkel since I first got to know this remarkable woman through the eyes of the media. Together with world Jewry, I prayed for the safe return of Eyal, Naphtali, and Gilad, and grieved when we learned the heart-breaking news that they had been murdered. I watched in awe as she and the other five parents who, caught up in the most horrific situation with which a parent can be faced, exhibited nothing but strength, dignity, and yirat

At last year’s Heritage Day carnival in Pretoria, a wide array of communities, reflecting the rich diversity of the South African population, joined in marching from the CBD to the Union Buildings. Each community, ours included, had its own float, but all were part of one big march, moving together towards a common destination. As I have often stressed, this is one of the great things about post-1994 South Africa. We live in a country that sees no contradiction between being.

The year 1994 was a euphoric time for all South Africans. We celebrated the values of democracy and human rights and we spoke of Madiba magic, the rainbow nation, and of course Ubuntu. Life was good. We had avoided civil war and bloodshed and, in the main, crossed the bridge unscathed into the New South Africa. Fast forward 22 years and, as 2016 was only a few days old, our rose tinted glasses cracked and we were confronted with a very frightening reality. Although we had tho

On July 18 1994, a suicide bomber drove a car filled with hundreds of kilograms of explosives into the Jewish community’s AMIA building in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eighty-five people were killed and hundreds were injured. The AMIA bombing (proceeded in 1991 with the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires where 29 civilians died) became one of the precursors of the wave of global terror that has swept the world and escalated in decades since then. Last month, I particip

At the time of writing this, concerns about the threat of global terrorism are at an all time high in light of the many attacks that have been carried out over the past few months. Hardly a day goes by now without hearing of at least one attack somewhere in the world, whether in war-torn Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, or in France, Belgium, Germany, and other European countries, in the United States or in Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia or other parts of our own continent. Thankfully,

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 Sparrow broke 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. The SAJBD issued a statement voicing that the hate-filled language that was emergi

June the 16th stands out in our psyche and hearts as an historical milestone. It was a day that changed our country and each one of its citizens forever. Just as Americans remember where they were when JFK was assassinated, or when the planes hit the World Trade Centre, so do South Africans remember vividly the day that the horrific brutality of the Apartheid force came down on protesting schoolchildren. The image of the dying Hector Pieterson, one of the most iconic photogra