A major furore has erupted in the South African Jewish community. Howard Sacksteins response is the right one, and his message should be heeded. It has an important global message. Howard writes: My dear friends I know our community is angry and hurt. I know our natural inclination is to lash out against anyone or anything that smacks of anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist sentiment and this is absolutely understandable and, in many ways, commendable. We have experienced more fascist, neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic sentiment this month than at any time since the Brown Shirts tried to spread their racist ideology in South Africa in the 1930’s and 1940’s. But sometimes we as a community go too far and I fear we ourselves have crossed a line. Our community is not homogeneous and neither is our history. Hillel and Shamai slogged it out and our culture and faith is peppered with debate, understanding, humility and humanity. The founders of the state of Israel were communist and capitalists, humanitarians and fanatics, religious zealots and fundamentalist atheists and yet somehow, they find common ground, which through its diversity, resulted in the most vibrant democracy in world - Israel. Our ability to respect the opinions of others even when we disagree with them is one of our cultural strengths. This is certainly not the time to tear our community apart over minor fractions or because someone else’s ideology differs slightly from our own. We watch in horror as young Israeli soldiers sacrifice their lives to protect the state and people of Israel. With each additional Hamas rocket, we pray that the Iron Dome will protect our family and friends in Israel. But this war is not against the Palestinian people, with whom we hope one day to make peace. This war is against Hamas, the fundamentalist terror group that holds Gaza hostage to their terror. If we as a people were not sensitive to the sufferings of others we would stop to be Jewish. If the pictures of dead children in Gaza did not wrench at our hearts, we would have lost our souls, even knowing that Hamas started this war and has continued to perpetrate gross International War Crimes against the people of Israel. When Josh Broomberg, wore a Palestinian scarf, this was not an act of terror, this was an act of stupidity. I do not agree with what he did or the way he did it, but in some ways, this kid who proudly describes himself as a Zionist, should not be ashamed that he feels deeply for the plight of Palestinians who have suffered so greatly during this conflict. The response of our community in its aggression and vitriol to this teenager has been deeply disturbing. We need to learn to listen, to debate, to accept diversity and to educate where needed. But this is a young man, who’s stance is shared by many in Israel, who has expressed a view, which although different to my own, is not beyond the pale and who should not be attacked and vilified in the way he has been on Facebook. I believe we have crossed a line, we need to take a step back, think logically and act as mensches in this process. Its time for all of us to calm down, take a breath and fight our real enemies and realise that Josh is not one of them. We need to ensure that Josh and others are not hounded from our community and driven into the malevolently arms of BDS. We need voices like his within the broad tent that is our community in South Africa. For the sake of completeness Josh Broomberg has issued a statement which I include below. Am Yisrael Chai Howard Sackstein For those of you reading this, my name is Josh Broomberg. I am the currently the Deputy Head Boy of King David Victory Park and the Captain of the SA National Debating Team. What follows is my statement regarding the recent controversy over my stand against the human rights abuses currently being perpetrated against the citizens of Gaza. Firstly, I would like to apologise. It was not intended to create the uproar it has, it was not designed to offend or upset. Because this has occurred, I apologise. But what I will say is this: I am proud to be a South African Jew, and I am proud to attend a Jewish Day School. I am also a Zionist. I believe in Israel’s right to exist, and her right to defend herself from the threat presented by those seeking to hurt her citizens. All citizens of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza have the absolute right to live in peace and security. It was with this in mind that I, and my team, chose to take the stand we did. It was not about politics, or about states. It was about humanity. We stand with the thousands of civilians who have lost their lives in the conflict. We stand with a people who do not yet have a state to protect themselves. We stand with the innocents. We stand for two states. We do not stand against Israel. All of this applies to me personally as well. While I apologise for the hurt we seem to have caused, I do not apologise for standing with Palestine on this issue. This is not because I do not believe in Israel or its people. I do believe in Israel, and I take this stand because I can love and support the state of Israel but still reject and criticize some of its actions. In fact, I consider it my duty to contribute to the growing worldwide discussion surrounding the desperate need for a quick end and lasting solution to this pernicious conflict. In my eyes, this criticism is not a betrayal, but actually the only honest and true way to show my patriotism and commitment to Israel, as well as my belief in human rights and the entitlement of all citizens of all countries to those right. To improve, we must criticize. I will note, explicitly, that our support and sympathy also lies with the innocent Israelis exposed to threat at the hands of terrorists. The conflict is a tragedy for all, and once again, all innocent life is equally valuable. We took a stand for the thousands and for those without a voice but we do not for a second condone any violence what so ever. We stand for peace. Most importantly, the issues are complex but we can never let go of the ability to talk and engage with the other side. if we lose this ability we lose our claim to be an enlightened community. We lose what it means to be human. I am proud to bear the responsibility of continuing the discussion. Josh Broomberg
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 22:06:58 +0000
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