Zev Krengel, President of the SAJBD writes: In the course of - TopicsExpress

Zev Krengel, President of the SAJBD writes: In the course of this year, I have been privileged to take part in a variety of events celebrating twenty years of democracy in South Africa. Several of these were put together by the SAJBD to involve the Jewish community in those celebrations. The transition to democracy, after all, brought freedom to everyone in this country. All of us, living as we do as equal citizens in a society where all basic democratic freedoms are scrupulously upheld, are enjoying the fruits of what we, as South Africans, were able to achieve back then. During the past few weeks, we have experienced a great deal of hostility, often crossing over into overt antisemitism, against our community. Naturally, we should feel concerned about this, and do whatever we can to counter these trends. However, nothing fundamentally has changed. South Africa remains a society that respects diversity, recognizes the right of minority groups to practice their culture to and whose bedrock laws protect all its citizens from unfair discrimination and prejudice. Much of the hate rhetoric we are seeing is aimed at intimidating South African Jews and making them feel unwelcome in the country. In response, we should show that we are not intimidated, and that we stand by our right, as full and equal citizens, to assert and stand up for our beliefs. Those who accuse us of being a disloyal, negative influence in South Africa, make up a very small percentage of the population. The conflict in Gaza has brought these elements out into the open, but the great majority of the population has no problem whatever with Jews and indeed, a great many have shown themselves to be extremely well disposed towards our community. I have experienced this time and again in my own interaction with my fellow South Africans, from the highest levels of government downwards. We are not a community under siege, nor should we behave like one. Difficult as the past month has been, let us not overreact to what is being said in certain quarters. Where the line has clearly been crossed, there is recourse in our law to deal with the individuals concerned, and the SAJBD will ensure that the necessary action is taken. At the time of writing, there looks to be no real prospect of a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza being brokered in the near future. This is a conflict that was forced upon Israel, and it will do whatever it has to do to neutralize the threat that Hamas poses to its people. Meanwhile in South Africa, as in the rest of the world, life goes on as normal, as it should. We should not allow ourselves to become hostages of what takes place in other parts of the world, but should continue to enthusiastically live our lives as proudly Jewish South Africans.