Commemorating the Second Anniversary of the October 7 attack
October 7 marks the second anniversary of the brutal attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians in Kibbutzim and at a music festival in the south of Israel. Victims were tortured, raped and burned alive, resulting in a protracted and horrific war. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) abhors the tragic loss of all innocent life and the immense human suffering that has resulted from this war.
For Jews worldwide, October 7 is a very painful day of mourning. Many South African Jews personally knew someone who was murdered or taken hostage on that day. Hamas took 242 civilian hostage, holding them in underground tunnels in appalling conditions with no access to the International Committee of the Red Cross Association. 731 days later, 48 of the hostages are still in Hamas captivity, with only 20 still believed to be alive in tunnels, experiencing torture and deprivation as seen in cruel videos issued by Hamas over the last months.
The impact of this war has also reverberated globally in unprecedented levels of antisemitism including violent attacks on Jews. Last week, two Jewish people were killed and four seriously injured, following a terror attack outside a Synagogue in Manchester. A further attack on a synagogue in Berlin was prevented by the authorities in Germany. Many South African Jewish businesses and Jewish citizens have been targeted for their connection to Israel. It talks to the cry of Hamas, that the Intifada be globalized. In the month following October 7, Pagad leader Abdus Salaam Ebrahim called: “Let’s decentralize the war! Let’s take the war to them right here”.
Our government’s hostile rhetoric and punitive actions have prevented it from making a meaningful contribution to ending this war and bringing relief to the people in Gaza and Israel. It is an embarrassment that our government chose virtue signaling over constructive peace building and dialogue. Closing the embassy, the ICJ case and their obsession with the Flotilla stunt have precluded them from being part of this historic moment of bringing peace to this war-torn region.
The SAJBD welcomes America’s peace proposal and the support of it by many Arab nations, which will see the immediate return of the hostages and the end to the fighting. While it is not perfect, it is the first concrete attempt to stop this war. To this end, when peace is made, it is a pity that South Africa will have had no role in shaping the outcome of this conflict - a role it could have had if it had not insisted on taking sides with Hamas. It has abandoned South Africa’s legacy of resolving international disputes through dialogue and negotiation.
As we commemorate two years of the 7 October attacks, the SAJBD prays for a speedy end to this war, the return of the hostages, and a peaceful solution that will allow both Palestinians and Israelis their own secure states.
