Last Friday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold arrived in South Africa for a historic three-day visit. It was the first such visit by an Israeli diplomatic official of his rank in a decade, and it was surely galling to the local ‘Boycott Israel’ lobby that it coincided with the latter part of their “Israel Apartheid Week”. In the various meetings between Gold and his South African counterparts it was agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in water management, agriculture and technology, fields which are crucially important to South Africa’s national interests. We are encouraged to see that our government is no longer choosing to cut itself off from such beneficial partnerships simply to appease the radical anti-Israel lobby. Apart from the obvious lost beneficial opportunities for South Africa, such a policy would have (and has in the past had) no impact on Israel, done nothing whatsoever to advance peace prospects and would obviously not improve one iota the position of the Palestinians, the very people for whose sole benefit the BDS lobby claims to be acting.
Recent Articles
Above Board 27 August
Desperate Dangor’s antizionist rant
In recent weeks, the SAJBD has observed a rise in increasingly hostile efforts to challenge the perspectives of our community organisations and silence “mainstream” Jewish voices. In this case, “mainstream” Jewish refers to community members who are traditionally Jewish in observance (be it orthodox or progressive), and Zionist in orientation. Yet, the discourse has shifted, increasingly framing Zionism itself as beyond acceptable bounds, thereby deeming aligned groups inherently problematic. What stands out, however, is that the campaign against mainstream Jewry is increasingly desperate, incoherent, and too often driven by a quest for attention rather than substantive dialogue.
Unpacking Holocaust Inversion: A Deep Dive into Jewish Plurality and Ideological Battles
Unpacking Holocaust Inversion: A Deep Dive into Jewish Plurality and Ideological Battles
Above Board 21 August 2025
Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending and presenting at Limmud, an event that over the years has truly become a cornerstone of our communal calendar. It stands as the most invigorating platform we have for exploring the rich diversity of Jewish views and topics that shape our community, dealing with issues that simply aren’t addressed with such depth and openness in any other forum.