PLEASE CIRCULATE:
AN OPEN LETTER TO NATHAN GEFFEN, DORON ISAACS, STEVEN FRIEDMAN, ALEX FREEMAN, HEIDI-JANE ESAKOV, RAN GREENSTEIN AND ALL THOSE MISGUIDED, THIRSTING TO BE LOVED YOUNG MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY WHO JOINED THE RANKS OF PLACARD-HOLDING DEMONSTRATORS AT THE RECENT DANIEL ZAMIR JAZZ CONCERT AT WITS.
Victor Gordon
The Germans have a word, ‘Schadenfreuder’ which, loosely translated means to take satisfaction in the discomfort of another. Little can do so more than to witness the efforts of Nathan Geffen, Doron Isaacs, Stephen Friedman et al, scramble to disassociate themselves from the anti-Semitic utterances of their bedfellow, Muhammed Desai who reportedly lead the chorus in a rendition of the chilling mantra, “Shoot the Jew”.
Anyone sufficiently naïve to think that this noble call to action died with the defeat of the Nazis has received a clear signal as it exists, not only within our very midst, but amongst those openly supported by members of our very own community.
Not that this comes as any surprise to those of us with the foresight to disseminate fact from fiction, truth from lies, honesty from hypocrisy. The depth of the hatred directed at Jews both in this country and abroad, if not clearly evident, lies just beneath the surface, waiting to pop out at the slightest provocation.
Before I’m accused of oversensitivity as the target of a supposedly innocuous chant calling for my death, allow me to remind Desai that the equally harmless call to “Kill the Boer” appeared to contribute directly or indirectly to a fair number of the murders of white farmers over the past two decades. There is little more unpredictable than the actions of an uncontrolled mob.
Up to now, Jewish supporters of the BDS campaign (all well known to our community), have ducked and dived behind the claim that the focus of their organization is primarily directed at Israel’s supposed ill-treatment of the Palestinians and ending the occupation of the West Bank. It was made clear that whatever steps BDS had undertaken were solely in the interests of both conflicting parties, the end goal being the establishment of a two secure and independent states. The villain of the piece was Zionism as defined by BDS, never Jews as such.
Happy to work for a good, recognisable cause, our intrepid, young do-gooders climbed on board. Nothing makes one feel better than to have a banner to wave and an underdog to support, particularly when you’re doing it from the safety of an armchair thousands of kilometres removed from the site of the action. After all, this had nothing to do with being Jewish – it was all about fairness, morality and humanity which, it would seem, are sadly lacking in the hearts and minds of the average Israeli.
Despite the clear clang of loud warning bells, which included some hostile, anti-Jewish comments from Zwelithini Vavi, Bongani Masuku and that doyen of the ANC, Ahmed Kathrada, our brave, committed activists, chose to ignore, for one reason only, some of the most vitriolic anti-Jewish barbs uttered since winning our freedom from oppression and the adoption of Ubuntu; these threats were not directed at them; they were not a component of the target; after all, were they not the ‘good Jews’ with the good cause and the right friends?
Of course, the analogy is clear; Germany 1933-45. There were no ‘good Jews’, only good dead ones.
What a shock to suddenly find yourself on the outside looking in. What a strange sensation to find yourself having to rethink some previously indisputable assumptions – to have to face the cold reality of a leading light within the BDS movement, Muhammed Desai, defending the call to shoot Jews as, according to him, “ the word ‘Jews’ was not meant in a literal fashion.” In fact, Desai claimed, the call to kill Jews was “just like you would say kill the Boer at [a] funeral during the eighties [and] it wasn’t about killing white people, it was used as a way of identifying with the apartheid regime”. Perhaps Desai can explain that to Amy Biehl, Dr Melville Edelstein and the 3000 white farmers, murdered in an orgy of killing following the acquisition of our new-found freedom. Desai should also explain how the word “Jews” can be used in any sense other than the “literal”. It is certainly no verb, adverb nor adjective.
One can only imagine the outcry and retribution that would follow were Jews to sing, “Kill the Muslim”
What doesn’t appear to penetrate Desai’s limited intellect is that when a mob with a cause (however misguided) is presented with an appealing and emotive slogan, the line dividing rhetoric from violence is thin indeed. Ask the millions of Jews who died in the pogroms of Eastern Europe.
In their scramble to either justify or condemn this embarrassing outrage, some strange things have been said which do no more than raise further questions. For example, Professor Farid Esack, writing on behalf of the board of BDS South Africa, expressed his opposition to “any and all incitement to violence and racism – including anti-Semitism and Zionism- even if it were to come from within our ranks.” In the context of his statement, Esack is saying that “Zionism” should not be subject to racism. If that is so it is an open admission by Esak that Zionism is not the monster that it is portrayed as being (by those who have not the slightest understanding of what it stands for) but is in fact the respectable movement that it is, designed to achieve and promote a homeland for Jews in Palestine. Thank you Dr Esack! Your supporters will be delighted with your acknowledgment of Israel’s respectability.
However, ‘the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh’ and close behind this admission Esack ensures that we clearly understand that it is “unfortunate but not unexpected that supporters of Israel will focus on the singing of this song … [the] purpose and context [of the protest] … were and remain the larger struggle against Israeli apartheid, Israel’s illegal Occupation and its violation of Palestinian rights.” The fact that Israel’s occupation is, according to International Law not illegal; that Israel does not practise apartheid by any stretch of the imagination, and that Palestinian rights may be violated but far more severely by the Palestinian Authority under which they fall, is obviously not understood (and will never be admitted) by Esack.
Prof. Esack’s claim that it is unfortunate that supporters of Israel will focus on the singing of the song prompts the question; “Unfortunate for who?” Unfortunate for the veracity of BDS which sails on the so-called victories of ‘persuading’ visiting performers to cancel their tours of Israel through threats and coercion, or the visit by Professor Steven Hawkins who has yet to explain how he can hypocritically allow himself to use an Israeli designed microchip which enables him to speak? Without them Israel will survive and thrive because that is the nature of the Jewish state. The victories of BDS are small and hollow and other than an inconvenience do little to nothing in advancing the cause they claim to pursue. Their actions, as we have now seen, are grounded in bigotry, hatred and intolerance. They have allowed their guard to slip and in calling for the killing of Jews have revealed the evil within their ranks and the corruption of their aims.
Another Jewish advocate of BDS, political analyst Professor Steven Friedman has rushed to say, “A series of organisations that support the boycotts have made it clear they don’t think it’s a remotely acceptable slogan. … It is very important that those of us who support the boycott make it clear it’s about the denial of rights and the denial of self-expression and self-government for the Palestinian people. It’s not targeted at a particular ethnic group.”
But that’s not true, Professor, otherwise what was sung would not have been sung. What do you not understand about “Shoot the Jew”? All the spin in the world cannot change what has been said and against whom. Even as an avowed opponent of Israel, you, as a fellow Jew, must feel a little niggle of discomfort at the thought that such bigotry can surface so easily from the mouth of one of the leaders of an organization that you openly support.
Finally, prominent anti-Israel activists, Nathan Geffen and Doron Isaacs lamely bleat that, “Anti-Semitism, besides being personally insulting to us, scores an own-goal. It undermines the struggle for Palestinian freedom,” How touching. Though one of you claims to be an atheist with little interest in Israel’s survival, it seems that ‘the Jew in you’ is still sufficiently alive to result in some discomfort when anti-Semitism falls directly in your lap. Perhaps you need to reassess who your real friends might be.
My closing question to those Jews who swell the ranks of BDS is simple: With the identification of the undeniable, true feelings of your fellow travellers, where is your self respect?
Victor Gordon
Media Team Israel 