Fundraiser against Cape Union Mart halted

Local crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy has frozen a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) fundraising campaign on its website. The campaign was urgently trying to raise money to fund the PSC’s defence in its case against South African Jewish-owned family business Cape Union Mart. 

The PSC launched the campaign on BackaBuddy three months ago, but this week ramped up its call for financial support. However, after the SA Jewish Report and others pointed out to BackaBuddy that the campaign went against its rules, it closed it and placed it under review. As of 26 November, the campaign has been shut down. If it remains closed by BackaBuddy after the review process, the money raised will be returned to donors. 

BackaBuddy Chief Executive Patrick Schofield told the SA Jewish Report that the PSC’s campaign was brought to BackaBuddy’s attention on 25 November, and once reported, “it was flagged multiple times by multiple people”. 

Schofield says the campaign “didn’t conform to our guidelines as a platform that looks to ensure that no campaign has the potential to incite violence or hatred. It has been closed and placed under review with the content removed. I apologise that we didn’t pick up on this campaign sooner.” 

He says after seeing the content of the campaign, it’s “very unlikely” it will be allowed to continue on the site, but BackaBuddy will still follow its review process. 

Cape Union Mart and its executive chairperson, Philip Krawitz, are asking the Western Cape High Court to interdict and restrain the PSC, several named individuals, and unidentified protesters from making defamatory claims about him. 

Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) Executive Director Daniel Bloch says “antisemitic rhetoric, defamation, harassment, and incitement to violence have no place in our society. Those who engage in such conduct will face consequences, including financial ones. This is a stark realisation for the PSC, which now must raise funds to pay for its actions.” 

The PSC’s campaign comes hot on the heels of another fundraiser on the same platform by local author Zaahied Sallie, who is being sued by local rabbi Nissen Goldman for defamation. Like the PSC, Sallie is looking for supporters to fund his defence. That campaign has also been brought to BackaBuddy’s attention, but remains active for now. 

The PSC campaign named its fundraiser “PSC Zionist Lawfare Defence Fund” and it was aiming to raise R300 000 before February, when the case will be heard. As of 25 November, it had raised R75 000, only about 25% of its goal. In a video on social media, PSC treasurer Martin Jansen said, “We need funds to defend ourselves. Unfortunately, legal defence costs a lot of money. We need senior counsel, for example.” 

The PSC campaign on BackaBuddy included a video showing images defaming Krawitz and Cape Union Mart. On the same fundraising page, the PSC states that the organisation was formed to “campaign in support of Palestinians and the liberation of their land from European Zionist Jews’ colonial occupation and genocide”, and describes Israel as “the Zionazi terrorist state”. The organisation said that one of its aims was to “counter South African Zionists’ support for Israel”. 

Cape Union Mart Group Legal Adviser Simone Sulcas says Cape Union Mart has taken legal action to “stop the PSC from defaming the company by falsely accusing it of funding genocide and killing children”. The company further asserts that these protest actions “aren’t being conducted lawfully, as they involve harassment and intimidation of customers”. 

The lawsuit “sends a clear message that such defamatory and unlawful conduct will no longer be tolerated or allowed to continue unchecked”, Sulcas says. Though Cape Union Mart “respects lawful protest and freedom of expression, it insists that these rights must be exercised without infringing on the rights and safety of others”. Cape Union Mart is “committed to protecting its reputation, and ensuring that defamers are held accountable under the law”. 

In the video on BackaBuddy before the campaign was closed, PSC coordinator Usuf Chikte stated, “We are willing, waiting, and wanting to be in court [to fight the case]. We are going to boycott them [Cape Union Mart] and even if we must change the law to do it, we will do it.” 

On the BackaBuddy page before closure, the PSC stated that on the day Hamas committed its 7 October 2023 massacre, “the Israeli regime declared its final solution genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people. Since then, we campaigned for a boycott of Cape Union Mart due to the support by its owner, Philip Krawitz, to the state of Israel.” 

Bloch says the Cape SAJBD “supports the legal recourse taken by Cape Union Mart. We reject the baseless and defamatory accusation of genocide directed at both Cape Union Mart and its Jewish owner. These claims are legally and morally indefensible. They are designed to incite hostility, spread misinformation, and inflame public sentiment.” 

One supporter who donated R1 000 anonymously on BackaBuddy stated, “We must defeat the fascists if we want a better world.” However, on Instagram, a social media user posted, “Why pick a fight knowing that it’s going to court? This makes no sense. You are going to lose this case not because of money, but on principle.” 

The PSC continued to say that “Zionist forces in South Africa have retaliated with their lawfare campaign to silence and cripple us. We have had to defend ourselves and the constitutional right to protest at great expense, and we are winning. However, our defence needs more funds to continue to do so.” 

But Krawitz stated in his affidavit that “the applicants are in no way attempting to prevent the respondents from exercising their right to freedom of expression and freedom to assemble. The relief sought doesn’t curtail those rights.” 

In August, the Western Cape High Court ordered protesters to stop harassing customers outside Cape Union Mart stores and preventing shoppers from going into the stores. The parties agreed that the main application would be postponed to February, when the rest of the issues as per the notice of motion will be ventilated in court, including the determination of costs. 

At the time of the order, Krawitz said, “Like most South Africans, I would desperately like to see an end to the war and the tragic deaths of innocent civilians on both sides. As a father and grandfather, I particularly agonise over the deaths of children. It’s now time to find a route to peaceful coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians.” 

Bloch says the Cape SAJBD will “continue to support our community and all who stand with us in the fight against hatred. We will not hesitate to advocate for our rights or to take legal action against any individual or group who seeks to undermine them.”