By Ron Jontof-Hutter I grew up in South Africa during the apartheid years, born to parents who had survived the Nazis. Thus, I heard firsthand what they experienced, which shaped my sensitivity to social justice and support for civil disobedience against that regime. In 1948, the South African government, under Prime Minister Daniel Francois “D.F.” Malan, […]
A Johannesburg court filed an indictment against 24-year-old twins, who supported ISIS and planned on blowing up Jewish institutions and the US Embassy in the country. The suspects were first identified by local security forces after the two attempted to leave South Africa in order to join ISIS forces in Syria. By Judith Abramson Is […]
Skinny Pasta – victim or perpetrator? By Ariel Zorrowski Earlier today Skinny Pasta was accused of antisemitism after an ex-franchisee spouted antisemitic rhetoric on the South African companies Facebook and Twitter accounts. South African franchise of popular product sold in Israel decides to attack ‘zionist ashkenNAZI’s (sic)’ on the Internet. What followed was an angry […]
By Shelley Glaser Maureen Jansen, a South African lawyer, reportedly posted on her Facebook page this week that the “Bloody Israelis should be exterminated along with all the ‘Jews’ everywhere who support Israel by action or silence.” Being a Jewish, South African lawyer and a member of the South African Law Society, Jansen’s words have […]
By Shelley Glaser I have a friend who is a Leftie, yes, one of those… and I was saying to him how it really upset me when some of the lefties fled to quieter shores when South Africa finally became a democracy after years of Apartheid. My friend said well the lefties were Right. And […]
By Shelley Gaser Cry, the Beloved Country and all that As I sit looking out at the rolling green hills of South Africa that Alan Paton described so beautifully I am saddened once again. Not just about South Africa’s history but also about our current avid friendship with the Palestinians. The friendship has had us […]
By Shelley Glaser The Hamas visit to South Africa was overshadowed by the #FeesMustFall campaign: A lesson in ‘Blessings in Disguise’. When the ruling ANC announced it was officially hosting Hamas and Khaled Mashal in South Africa, Jews both locally and internationally reacted with outrage. The Israeli government made an official statement condemning it as soon […]
By Shelley Glaser A delegation of 16 for seven days this month, under the auspices of the SA-Israel Forum (SAIF). Dan Brotman, the director of SAIF, told Haaretz that the aim was “not to make [the students] pro-Israel, but to expose them to a narrative they really don’t hear in South Africa.” But before the […]
By Shelley Glaser I wrote this a while ago about my grandfather (a religious Jew who only spoke Yiddish) living here at the bottom of Africa. He came from Lithuania to South Africa in 1929. It is partly based on fact and is biographical (I suppose it’s a type of creative biography). It examines his being […]
By Shelley Glaser, South Africa By last Wednesday night I had a case of the ‘black dog.’ Our electricity has been disconnected because of ‘load shedding.’ My kids were revising for end-of-year exams, and we practically had to light a bonfire on the dining room table so that they could guess at the words on […]
