Jewish Life Digital Edition October 2013 | Page 32

SPONSORED FEATURE

THE SA JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES

BLATANT HATE SPEECH SHOWS

BDS’ TRUE COLOURS

BY WENDY KAHN

MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY, AND ALSO FROM MANY
other quarters of South African society, were
outraged when BDS SA protesters sang
“dubula e juda” (“shoot the Jew”) outside the
Wits Great Hall on the night of the Zamir
concert, especially when it’s co-ordinator,
Mohammed Desai, tried to defend and
justify it.
For those aware of the campaign by BDS
SA against our community for some time, it
did not come as any great shock. It merely articulated the underlying theme of its activism. It has little to do with furthering the
rights of Palestinians and more about intimidating and threatening anyone who expresses support for the Jewish homeland. This is
the antithesis of the values of our democratic
South Africa that values free speech.
We have witnessed, over the past year or
two, an escalation of intimidation. In March
this year, the Reshef concert at Wits was violently disrupted by Wits SRC members,
cheered on by Desai. Audience members were
threatened and sworn at as they entered, and
the recital was forcibly ended as protesters
smashed down the door, causing frightened
audience members to flee from the venue.
Two weeks later, our Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration concert at Gold Reef saw BDS thugs
enter the venue, attempt to jump on the stage
to disrupt the concert, and throw stink
bombs, something that was particularly
frightening following a bomb threat that had
been called through to the theatre earlier that
night. Fortunately, the concert continued.
In May, BDS SA again jumped into action,
trying to prevent the Jewish community
from joining the Gandhi Walk in Lenasia. We
were shocked that pressure could be exerted
to exclude Jews. Fortunately, the organisers

30 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 67

IT HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH FURTHERING THE
RIGHTS OF PALESTINIANS AND MORE ABOUT
INTIMIDATING AND THREATENING ANYONE WHO
EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR THE JEWISH HOMELAND

of the event saw through this malicious call,
and sent us a letter stating that “in the spirit
of the Gandhi Walk and Ubuntu in South Africa, all communities and nationalities are
welcome to attend”.
But the campaign did not stop there. During the ‘Israel Apartheid Week’ at Wits University this year, Jewish students were called
the four-letter word ‘Kikes’, and the four-letter word ‘Jews’. A SAUJS pamphlet was
burned by the then deputy president of the
SRC, Tokelo Nhlapo, who was also videoed
painting over a SAUJS mural. This type of
behaviour has no place on a university campus, or in a country with the type of abhorrence for racism that our South African democracy espouses.
The BDS SA mass e-mail spam communications have systematically demonised South
African Jewry for the deep connection that
many of us have with the Jewish State. The
fabrications and ongoing campaign of hatred
is libellous and intimidatory.
At long last, BDS is being seen for the bully and thug that it is. The true motives of its
campaign were uncovered the moment its coordinator defended the singing of ‘shoot the

Jew’. In an editorial in The Star newspaper
(4/9/13): “No place for racism – ever”, the
editor unequivocally condemns not only this
singing of the song, but the unconvincing
manner in which the BDS movement responded to this hate speech.
It is interesting to note that even some of
the Palestinian activist groups in the country
were offended by the ‘shoot the Jew’ comments. The Rhodes University Palestinian
Solidarity Forum said the following in a
statement: “The response of Mohammed Desai, co-ordinator of BDS South Africa, to this
appalling and intimidatory expression of anti-Semitism is not only totally unacceptable,
but legitimates crude and inflammatory racism.” The forum called for an unequivocal
apology and the resignation of Desai. At the
time of writing this piece, neither has been
forthcoming…
We, as proud South African citizens, have
full democratic rights to have a relationship
with Israel and to express our Zionism in our
country. We should never allow these crude attempts to intimidate us affect our community.
BDS SA is a bully and thug, and we will at all
times stand up to its campaign