{"id":11240,"date":"2013-10-22T09:11:28","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T09:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praag.org\/?p=11240"},"modified":"2013-10-22T09:11:28","modified_gmt":"2013-10-22T09:11:28","slug":"bds-leader-in-south-africa-calls-on-supporters-to-shoot-the-jews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praag.org\/?p=11240","title":{"rendered":"BDS Leader in South Africa calls on supporters to \u2018Shoot the Jews\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bds<\/a>by Victor Gordon<\/p>\n

The Germans have a word \u2013 \u2018Schadenfreude\u2019 \u2013 which, loosely translated, means to take satisfaction in the discomfort of another. This is exactly what many South African Jews are feeling as we witness Nathan Geffen, Doron Isaacs, Stephen Friedman et al., try to scramble and disassociate themselves from the anti-Semitic utterances of their bedfellow Muhammed Desai,\u00a0who recently led crowds in a rendition of the chilling mantra, \u201cShoot the Jew.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone sufficiently na\u00efve to think that this noble call to action died with the defeat of the Nazis has received a clear signal that it continues to exist, even amongst those who are openly supported by members of our very own community.<\/p>\n

Not that this comes as any surprise to those of us who can tell the difference between fact and fiction. The depth of the hatred directed at Jews both in South Africa and abroad, if not clearly evident, lies just beneath the surface, waiting to pop out at the slightest provocation.<\/p>\n

Before I\u2019m 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 \u201cKill the Boer\u201d contributed to a fair number of murders of white farmers over the past two decades.<\/p>\n

There is little more unpredictable than the actions of an uncontrolled mob.<\/p>\n

Until now, Jewish supporters of the BDS campaign have ducked and dived behind the claim that the focus of their organization is primarily directed at Israel\u2019s supposed ill-treatment of the Palestinians, and ending the occupation of the West Bank. The villain was always Zionism, never Jews as such.<\/p>\n

Happy to work for a good, recognizable cause, many intrepid Jewish 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\u2019re doing it from the safety of an armchair thousands of kilometers away from the site of the action.<\/p>\n

Despite the clear 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 plow ahead. These threats were not directed at them; they were not a component of the target. After all, were they not the \u2018good Jews\u2019 with the good cause and the right friends?<\/p>\n

Of course, the analogy is clear;: Germany 1933-45. There were no \u2018good Jews,\u2019 only good dead ones.<\/p>\n

What a shock to suddenly find yourself on the outside looking in. What a strange sensation to have to face the cold reality of a leading light within the BDS movement, Muhammed Desai, defending the call to shoot Jews because, according to him, \u201cthe word \u2018Jews\u2019 was not meant in a literal fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Desai claimed that the call to kill Jews was \u201cjust like you would say kill the Boer at [a] funeral during the eighties [and]\u00a0it wasn\u2019t about killing white people, it was used as a way of identifying with the apartheid regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps Desai can explain that to Amy Biehl, Dr. Melville Edelstein, and the 3,000 white farmers murdered in an orgy of killing following the acquisition of new-found freedom.<\/p>\n

Desai should also explain how the word \u201cJews\u201d can be used in any sense other than the \u201cliteral.\u201d \u00a0It is certainly no verb, adverb, nor adjective.<\/p>\n

One can only imagine the outcry and retribution that would follow were Jews to sing, \u201cKill the Muslim.\u201d<\/p>\n

What doesn\u2019t appear to penetrate Desai\u2019s limited intellect is that when a mob with a cause (however misguided) is presented with an appealing and emotive slogan, the line separating rhetoric from violence is thin indeed. Ask the millions of Jews who died in the pogroms of Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cany and all incitement to violence and racism \u2013 including anti-Semitism and Zionism- even if it were to come from within our ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the context of his statement, Esack is saying that \u201cZionism\u201d should not be subject to racism. This is an open admission by Esak that Zionism is not the monster that it is portrayed as\u00a0being,\u00a0but is in fact the respectable movement that it is.<\/p>\n

Thank you Dr. Esack! Your supporters will be delighted with your acknowledgment of Israel\u2019s respectability.<\/p>\n

However, \u2018the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh.\u2019 And close behind this admission, Esack ensures that we clearly understand that it is \u201cunfortunate but not unexpected that supporters of Israel will focus on the singing of this song. \u2026 \u00a0[as the] purpose and context [of the protest] \u2026 were and remain the larger struggle against Israeli apartheid, Israel\u2019s illegal Occupation and its violation of Palestinian rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that Israel\u2019s occupation is, according to International Law, not illegal; that Israel does not practice apartheid by any stretch of the imagination; and that Palestinian rights may be being violated, but are violated more severely by the Palestinian Authority,\u00a0is obviously not understood by Esack.<\/p>\n

Esack\u2019s claim that it is unfortunate that supporters of Israel will focus on the singing of the song prompts the question: \u201cUnfortunate for who?\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunate for the veracity of the BDS movement, which sails on the so-called victories of \u2018persuading\u2019 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 that enables him to speak?<\/p>\n

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. In calling for the killing of Jews, they have revealed the evil within their ranks and the corruption of their aims.<\/p>\n

Another Jewish advocate of BDS, political analyst Professor Steven Friedman, has rushed to say, \u201cA series of organizations that support the boycotts have made it clear they don\u2019t think it\u2019s a remotely acceptable slogan. \u2026 It is very important that those of us who support the boycott make it clear it\u2019s about the denial of rights and the denial of self-expression and self-government for the Palestinian people. It\u2019s not targeted at a particular ethnic group.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not true, Professor, otherwise what was sung would not have been sung. What do you not understand about \u201cShoot the Jew?\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Finally, prominent anti-Israel activists, Nathan Geffen and Doron Isaacs lamely bleat that, \u201cAnti-Semitism, besides being personally insulting to us, scores an own-goal. It undermines the struggle for Palestinian freedom.\u201dHow touching. Perhaps you need to reassess who your real friends might be.<\/p>\n

My closing question to those Jews who swell the ranks of BDS is simple: \u00a0With the identification of the undeniable true feelings of your fellow travelers, where is your self respect? – algemeiner.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Victor Gordon The Germans have a word \u2013 \u2018Schadenfreude\u2019 \u2013 which, loosely translated, means to take satisfaction in the discomfort of another. This is exactly what many South African Jews are feeling as we witness Nathan Geffen, Doron Isaacs, Stephen Friedman et al., try to scramble and disassociate themselves from the anti-Semitic utterances of … Continue reading “BDS Leader in South Africa calls on supporters to \u2018Shoot the Jews\u2019”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[492],"tags":[7070,5960,902,5318,7069,7072,3164,7067,7065,7071,5937,7066,7064,2789,7068],"class_list":["post-11240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-ahmed-kathrada","tag-amy-biehl","tag-anti-semitism","tag-bds","tag-bongani-masuku","tag-doron-isaacs","tag-dr-melville-edelstein","tag-kill-the-boer","tag-muhammad-desai","tag-nathan-geffen","tag-schadenfreude","tag-shoot-the-jew","tag-south-african-jews","tag-west-bank","tag-zwelithini-vavi"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/bds-south-africa.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11242,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11240\/revisions\/11242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}