BDS bullying and interfaith solidarity

Last week brought concerning news from a place where young minds are meant to be nurtured and challenged. St Mary’s School in Johannesburg postponed an address by Klaas Mokgomole, an expert on Israel-Palestine relations, after organisers were advised that the event would attract protesters and thereby pose a security risk to pupils. It is a troubling development that, regrettably, follows a pattern we have come to know all too well. 

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and its allied organisations have made a practice of threatening, harassing, and intimidating speakers, institutions, and individuals until silence becomes the easier option. They have now turned this instrument on a school, its leadership, and its children. This isn’t activism, it’s intimidation. And it must be condemned without qualification by everyone who takes the values of an open society seriously. A place of learning that cannot host a diversity of voices without fearing for its pupils’ safety is a place whose freedom has been quietly corroded. 

We must state that while we are disappointed that St Mary’s acquiesced to the pressure and postponed the talk, it acted in what it believed to be the best interests of its pupils’ security. Our real anger and frustration must be targeted at those who sink so low as to intimidate a school into abiding by their narrow world view. 

South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) Gauteng Chairperson Danny Mofsowitz and National Director Wendy Kahn met with St Mary’s leadership, and were heartened by their assurances that the session wasn’t cancelled but rather postponed until the school can find a way to host the speaker securely. They affirmed the principles of intellectual rigour for which St Mary’s is renowned. 

Context matters here. This invitation didn’t arise in a vacuum. The SAJBD requested that Mokgomole be invited to speak after we received complaints from within the school community that two deeply anti-Israel speakers had addressed pupils. We weren’t seeking a platform for propaganda. We were asking for something far simpler and far more foundational: intellectual balance. It is so unfortunate that the concept of such a diversity of views is so threatening to BDS and its allies that they would threaten to intimidate teenage pupils. It tells us everything we need to know about the nature of this campaign. 

Last weekend, the Holy Trinity Church in Braamfontein was vandalised. We, as Jews, know all too well that a house of worship is a sacred space, and any attack on it isn’t merely an attack on a building, but on the dignity of the people who gather there and on the values of a free and compassionate society. The SAJBD condemns this vandalism and expresses our heartfelt solidarity and support with the congregation and leadership. Sacred spaces must be kept safe, not only for the congregants but for society as a whole. 

This act of desecration occurred in the very same week that the parish’s own Father Russell Pollitt joined us at the Sandton Shul, together with a remarkable group of seminarians from the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, led by Bishop Graham Rose. SAJBD board member Rabbi David Shaw hosted the engagement, in which the seminarians, who are in their eighth year of study, are spending a semester focusing on inter-religious dialogue. The gathering was a testament to the immense value of interfaith engagement in our country and the important role it plays in fostering understanding, mutual respect, and unity.