Editorial

Erasing caricatures

With all the rhetoric against Israel bandied about these days in South Africa and also worldwide, it is easy to believe the country has no friends, that it is totally isolated and surrounded by enemies.

In our local South African context, for example, even our major trade union federation Cosatu has adopted openly hostile stances towards Israel. Much of the hostility derives from historical struggle perceptions forged during apartheid. And the present government is no friend of Israel, although it does maintain a “correct” diplomatic relationship with the country, albeit without real warmth in it and little apparent desire from South Africa’s side to enhance the relationship.

A remarkable exception to this was during the period in office of former President Nelson Mandela, who made a very public visit to Israel in 1999, accompanied by the late Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris - who Mandela affectionately referred to as “my rabbi”. During the governments of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, however, that openness has unfortunately changed.

Israel still has many good friends, however, though they are often under the radar. Last Sunday’s Israel Advocacy Seminar at Beyachad in Johannesburg (see page 3) illustrated this. Participants included the African Christian Democratic Party, Fairplay SA, the SA-Israel Forum and Bridges for Peace.

Among the South African general population there is no deep-rooted historical anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiments. There is great ignorance about the country and the ties of South African Jewry to it, and a significant proportion would be hard-pressed to even find the country on the map.

A corollary is that these people are vulnerable to being influenced by anti-Israel activists towards a hostile position. The vehemently anti-Israel groups in South Africa look for every opportunity to create or bolster such-feelings.

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