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MANY ISSUES. MORE VOICES.

10/29/2019 0 Comments

Zionist Education and the Jewish Youth of Cape Town: What can we learn?

by ronnie gotkin


​​communal matters
[trends & prospects]

exploring the concerns of the south african jewish community


In this article Ronnie Gotkin analyses the Kaplan Centre's survey of the Cape Town Jewish community with a specific focus on attitudes towards Israel. He further examines what these findings might mean for Zionist education at Jewish day schools. 
IN this article, I will focus on the results of the recent Kaplan Centre survey of the Cape Town Jewish community, pertaining to attitudes towards Israel. My focus is with specific reference to the attitudes of young Capetonian Jews between the ages of 16 and 30.  I further examine the implications of these findings for Zionist education at Jewish day schools.
"One can postulate that an older generation whose lived experience includes the horrors of the Holocaust and the ‘romantic’ era of the struggle for the creation of the State of Israel and its battle for survival would feel more committed to Israel."

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8/27/2019 0 Comments

ANTISEMITISM IN SOUTH AFRICA IN THE ERA OF DEMOCRACY

by David Saks


​communal matters
[trends & Prospects]

exploring the concerns of the south african Jewish community​


​In this article David Saks explores levels of antisemitism in a post-Apartheid South Africa, while looking at comparatives of antisemitism in other countries.  
The 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism  (WCAR) – or strictly speaking, the NGO/civil society component that preceded the official inter-government meeting – is generally considered to be a pivotal event in the evolution of modern-day antisemitism. In addition to arguably marking the launch of the so-called ‘Durban Strategy’, which aimed at isolating Israel in the international arena by depicting it as a racist, apartheid and colonial state, the event frequently spilled over into more explicit manifestations of anti-Jewish hatred.
"The fact that the WCAR took place in Durban ... has created the perception abroad that South African Jewry has been especially affected by the steep rise in global antisemitism... ".

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7/13/2019 2 Comments

South African Jews or Jewish South Africans? Millennials & Identity politics

BY MICHALYA SCHONWALD MOSS


​communal Matters
[trends & prospects]

exploring the concerns of the south african jewish community


In this article Michalya Schonwald Moss argues that one of the greatest crises facing Jewish Millennials in a post-Apartheid South Africa is their struggle to identify strongly as both Jewish and South African. 
THE Regional Nahum Goldmann Fellowship , held in South Africa in 2018, looked to bring together young Jewish leaders to examine their “responsibility to the Jewish community alongside their responsibility to be active citizens in the South African context”. It, however, soon became evident that there was a palpable discomfort in how these young community leaders engaged with their South African identities. Being a Jewish-oriented Fellowship, it was perhaps unsurprising that participants strongly identified with their Jewishness and Jewish heritage. For many, their relationship to South Africa proved to be more ambivalent and complex. 
"...it was the first time I had witnessed Jewish millennials clearly struggling with the dilemma of  ‘how to be Jewish AND South African in a post-Apartheid South Africa?’"

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7/13/2019 0 Comments

right of response

Dr Ruth Rabinowitz responds to Laura Phillips’ “Right of Response” (05/05/2019).
OUR view of history is based on the sources and stories we trust. They range from subjective personal accounts to objective analyses of multiple sources. For those whose telling of history is cemented in an ideology, any source or story that bolsters their allegiance to that particular ideology serves as valid historical evidence.

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5/6/2019 0 Comments

SA Elections: Does electioneering around israel translate into votes?

By wayne sussman


Israel & global Jewry [trends & prospects]
Exploring issues related to israel, israeli society & global Jewry


In this article Wayne Sussman analyses data from previous elections in South Africa and discusses whether electioneering strategies used around the Israeli-Palestinian issue translate into actual votes. 
​AFTER the first democratic elections in 1994, my older brother advised me to not only pay attention to who would become the President and the Deputy President(s), but also to focus on who would be the Minister of Finance, Minister of Home Affairs, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs (now, the Minister of International Relations & Co-operation). ​Alfred Nzo, the first Minister of Foreign Affairs, was one of those names I would memorise. My brother’s advice was to underscore the importance of the Office of the Foreign Minister, which indeed took on a particular resonance under former president Thabo Mbeki and his vision of an “African Renaissance”. 
"... in wards which are either strongly Muslim, or strongly Jewish, very few voters seem to be motivated by
​Middle Eastern developments."

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5/5/2019 0 Comments

Right of Response

Laura Phillips responds to a recent DafkaDotCom article, "The Matter with the Myths - Buthelezi is the Obvious Ally for the Jewish Community", by Dr Ruth Rabinowitz
​I welcome Dr Ruth Rabinowitz’s engagement (10/04/2019) with my DafkaDotCom article (13/02/2019) and can only lament, as she does, that the constraints of word count limit my ability to respond in full. In this short reply then, I will just pick up on a few of the issues she raises

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4/10/2019 2 Comments

The Matter with the Myths – Buthelezi is the obvious ally for the Jewish Community

By dr Ruth Rabinowitz


​COMMUNAL MATTERS
[TRENDS & PROSPECTS]

EXPLORING THE CONCERNS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY


​In this article Dr Ruth Rabinowitz, former Member of Parliament for the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), responds to a recent DafkaDotCom article by Laura Phillips. She argues that Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has been unjustly characterised, and urges the Jewish community to examine critically the prevailing narratives about the IFP. She further argues that it is in the community’s best interest to foster a deeper relationship with Buthelezi.   
IN a recent DafkaDotCom article by Laura Phillips (13/02/2019), Phillips questions the Jewish community’s association with Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Before any debate about whether the Jewish community should identify with, let alone honour such an individual as Buthelezi, it is crucial to have an honest perspective on the facts around which Phillips builds her argument. As a Jewish representative of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), first in the Senate and then the House of Assembly, I spent years challenging the types of allegations Phillips levels against Buthelezi – what I came to term “the matter with the myths”. I tried then, as I do now, to show the chasm between true facts and the falsehoods that have been propagated about Buthelezi.  
"Discovering how easily fake news can be embedded in a populace smitten with an ideology that is served by it, one of my goals here is to present the “Matter with the Myths” about Buthelezi and the IFP."

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2/13/2019 2 Comments

The perils of realpolitik philanthropy

BY LAURA PHILLIPS


​Communal matters
[trends & prospects]

exploring the concerns of the south african jewish community


In this article Laura Phillips argues that the organised Jewish community's philanthropic relationship with Mangosuthu Buthelezi and King Goodwill Zwelithini is problematic due to both being implicated in some of the most brutal parts of recent South African history. She contends that when securing support for Israel is a primary motivation of local outreach efforts, South Africa's Zionists will inevitably find themselves with compromised allies. 
IN a recent article for DafkaDotCom (20/09/2018) Benji Shulman commends the South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) for its close relationship with the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini, and presents SAFI’s initiatives in rural KwaZulu Natal as an example of how the Jewish community should act to advance its own interests when engaging in philanthropic activity. A month after the publication of Shulman’s article, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) and the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) paid tribute to Mangosuthu Buthelezi on his 90th birthday. 
"... though Buthelezi and King Zwelithini claim to promote development in rural KwaZulu-Natal, they are implicated in some of the most brutal parts of recent South African history".
​Extending their good wishes to the Zulu Prince, the SAJBD explained they had gathered to celebrate the Board’s long-standing relationship with Buthelezi and their joint development efforts in underprivileged communities. In response, Buthelezi thanked the “Jewish Community” for its good wishes and then lambasted the South African government for downgrading the South African Embassy in Israel. 

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12/20/2018 1 Comment

Israel & Progressive politics in South africa: Lessons from moses hess

BY GLEN HENECK

 
communal matters
[trends & prospects]

exploring the concerns of the south african Jewish community


​In this article Glen Heneck reflects on how an ideological impasse over Israel is preventing progressive South African Jews from finding a home in the broad left today.  

Black & white? Anti-apartheid activism & the Z-word

UNTIL the 1990s progressivism came relatively easy. South Africa was still under dark white rule and getting that undone was a straightforward and compelling ideal. As Jewish activists we did not have to spend much time worrying (or arguing) about what we were for, because we were perfectly clear as to what we were against. 

Would that things were so simple today. 
"This is not to say that, at the time, the Palestinian struggle was a non-issue on the left ... it had long been a popular cause; it just could not match the battle against Apartheid in terms of either optics or popularity".

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11/7/2018 0 Comments

LIVING TOGETHER IN HARMONY: THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERFAITH INITIATIVES TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY

​BY MARLENE SILBERT

​​
​COMMUNAL MATTERS 
​[TRENDS & PROSPECTS]

exploring the concerns of the south african jewish community


​In this article Marlene Silbert looks at the importance of interfaith spaces for the South African Jewish community. She focuses on an Interfaith-Intercultural Youth Programme, aimed at grade 10 & 11 learners from schools across the Cape Metropole, which she initiated under the auspices of the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative. She further discusses the potential that interfaith collaboration can hold for the South African Jewish community. 
 The Interfaith-Intercultural Youth Programme helps us understand and respect differences and make friends with one another. I have learnt not to react badly when people offend me unintentionally because they make uniformed statements. As ambassadors of the Interfaith Programme we should respectfully engage such people and help them to become informed and change their mind-set
​(Grade 11 learner, Herzlia High School).
RECENT estimates suggest that nearly ninety percent of all Jewish children in South Africa attend Jewish community day schools. Many also attend Jewish youth movements. De facto, this means that the vast majority of our children have very little, if any, meaningful engagement with the full diversity of broader South African society. And, of course, the converse holds true: there is very little opportunity for broader South African society to engage with and learn about Jews and the Jewish community, particularly at a younger age. 
"Prejudice towards Jewish South Africans can derive from not having any engagement or meaningful dialogue with members of the South African Jewish community."
​This is not just an issue facing the Jewish community in South Africa. It is, however, this social and cultural chasm within South African society that interfaith programmes try to address, some with greater success than others. 

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