Extremist targets judge in antisemitism case

Walking into the Western Cape High Court on 25 August, political extremist Mehmet Vefa Dag shouted “Death to Israel” at Jewish community members gathered for his Equality Court hearing on charges of antisemitic hate speech. 

Dag, who is originally from Turkey, became a South African citizen in 2006. 

The Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) has taken him to court for a plethora of social media posts disparaging Jews. “Jews have ruined SA”; “Jews are looting SA”; “Jews are dogs, they should be burned”; and “One hundred thousand Jews control the entire economy of South Africa,” are some of the statements he made on X, all just in July 2024. 

When the hearing began, Dag verbally attacked Judge Nontuthuzelo Elizabeth Ralarala. 

He accused her of ordering his “unjust” imprisonment when he was in contempt of court in a different case. Dag had tweeted an image of Ralarala the day before and written that she had “unjustly incarcerated me in Pollsmoor [Prison] last year without a trial. We will ensure that this judge’s tenure comes to an end. This unacceptable behaviour must lead to her resignation from the court.” He later deleted this tweet. 

Yelling “You are the most unjust judge”, he accused Ralarala of being the reason he was “almost murdered” in prison. When she said she had not been that judge, he responded that all African women look similar, which is why he’d been confused. Along with his antisemitic and racist statements, Dag has also targeted the LGBTQI+ community. 

Cape SAJBD executive director Daniel Bloch says, “We noted with deep concern the racist and accusatory remarks directed at Judge Ralarala, which she handled with remarkable composure, dignity, and restraint befitting her office.” 

He says such conduct has no place in a court of law. “Judicial officers must be able to perform their duties without being subjected to racist or personal attacks.” 

The Cape SAJBD filed the case against Dag in 2024. In the summons, it says his comments demand that Jews “be killed, harmed, or otherwise suffer reprisals”, and describe Jewish people as “illicitly, by force, and without consent, kidnapping the children of non-Jewish people”. 

In just one example, on 2 August 2024, Dag posted on X, “Jews, your ancestors came to this country [South Africa] as refugees and robbed the whole country. Now take your bags and go to Israel. Don’t let me lose my coolers.” 

Before the Equality Court hearing, Dag wrote on social media that he would “use this legal process to place his position before the court and to defend the principles of justice, equality, accountability and freedom of expression”, implying that he would represent himself. He also tweeted on 19 June, “Israeli settlers must leave South Africa on 25 August 2026 [the date of the hearing]. We are shutting down the Western Cape High Court.” 

But at the hearing, he asked Ralarala for a postponement because, he said, his lawyer had withdrawn from representing him the day before and he needed legal representation. 

He also asked for a postponement because he believed Ralarala had ordered his previous imprisonment. She told him he was “making a very serious allegation” and asserted that she was not that judge. 

Ralarala said she was glad the media were in the room to record Dag’s racist remark implying all African women look the same. 

A small group of supporters accompanied Dag, who calls himself the “president of the Truth and Solidarity Movement” and says he is a mayoral candidate in the coming municipal elections. His followers addressed him as “President Dag” or “Mr President”. 

At the court, he told the SA Jewish Report that Israel belongs to the Ottoman empire and he aims to return it to “Ottoman” rule and remove the current inhabitants. He said Jewish families like “the Oppenheimers” must “go to hell!” He said he does not “fear these people” [Jews] and “You [Jews] only know one thing: you know how to loot, you know corruption, and you stole land of [the] black man!”. 

He continued to say “Death to Israel” before court proceedings began, and told the judge he was there to “free Palestine”. 

The judge agreed to a postponement of the case, but ordered Dag to submit a formal application, explaining his reasoning for the postponement, by mid-September. She ordered a new hearing on 2 November, despite Dag asking for a longer postponement. 

Bloch says the Cape SAJBD remains committed to pursuing the matter and to “ensuring that the issues raised in these proceedings are adjudicated fairly and in accordance with the law”. 

He says it was disturbing to hear Dag repeatedly chant “Death to Israel”. “Such inflammatory and provocative rhetoric has no place in a court of law, which should be respected as a forum for reasoned argument, evidence, and due process, not as a platform for calls for death or hostility.  

“It is important to emphasise that these proceedings concern allegations of antisemitic hate speech and conduct directed at Jews; they are not proceedings about the Middle East conflict or the merits of any particular political position,” says Bloch. 

Outside court, one of Dag’s supporters said, “We don’t have a problem with Torah Jews, only Zionists” and Dag, too, reiterated that his only problem was with Zionists. He said his grandmother was born a Jew in British Mandate Palestine. When the SA Jewish Report asked why he then has a problem with Jews living in Israel, he couldn’t answer. 

In the case summons, the Cape SAJBD says Dag’s statements describe Jewish people as “evil, morally corrupt, and wicked”, and say that “Jewish people should be forcibly removed from South Africa”. Dag also describes Jews as “illicitly and unjustly controlling the South African and global economy”, and says that Jews “furtively use money, power, and influence to further their own interests and undermine the interests of others”. 

Dag also demands on social media that “Jewish people and their businesses should be boycotted or otherwise made to suffer reprisals”. 

He says “the Holocaust never occurred; Jewish people were not victims of genocide during the Holocaust; and Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust to pursue their own interests”. 

The Cape SAJBD argues that Dag’s words “could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be harmful or incite harm and to promote or propagate hate”. 

It’s asking the court to declare Dag’s statements as “harmful, inciting harm, and propagating hate, amounting to hate speech”. The organisation requests that the court order Dag to tender an unconditional apology to the South African Jewish community, donate R25 000 to the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, and pay the costs of the legal application. 

“We remain confident in the merits of the case and will allow the legal process to run its course,” says Bloch.