MARY KLUK
Even as we were mourning the tragic loss of three young Jews at the hands of Palestinian terrorists, people from within our own ranks were carrying out a barbarous revenge crime against an innocent young Palestinian. Quite rightly, the reaction of the Jewish world has been one of profoundest shock, combined with sympathy for the bereaved family.
The Board’s press statement condemning the killing, quoted former President Shimon Peres, who said that Israel did not “distinguish between blood and blood. The murder of a child is reprehensible, regardless of the religion or nationality of the child” and that a Jew guilty of such a crime would be “put to the court like any other criminal, there is no privilege, the law is equal to all and all are equal before the law”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar statements. We can at least take some comfort from the fact that these reassurances have swiftly been borne out by Israel’s law enforcement agencies, which within days had arrested the suspected perpetrators.
Preventing the recurrence of such heinous acts, however, cannot be left solely to politicians and law enforcers. Ultimately, it is incumbent on the Israeli people as a whole to oppose uncompromisingly any tendency to demonise an entire community on the basis of the actions of individuals from within that community.
Who knows better than Jews, after all, how the notion of “collective guilt” can so easily lead to the persecution and even outright murder of innocents?
Closely related to this, I am at the time of writing in Israel attending the 9th International Conference on Holocaust Education. This event, which is taking place under the auspices of the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem, brings together over 400 Holocaust survivors, scholars, educators and artists from 50 different countries.
Shortly before my departure, the challenge we face of sensitising humanity to the lessons of the Shoah, was brought home by the appearance in a local paper of an advertisement likening the treatment of pigs being readied for slaughter with that of Holocaust victims.
The paper in question has since apologised unreservedly for carrying the advertisement, stressing that its inclusion was the result of a failure of proper oversight on the part of the senior editorial staff and assuring us that that “rigorous measures” had been put in place to ensure that it did not happen again.
We have accepted the apology, but in a broader sense, we should be concerned about how those responsible for the advert evidently had no compunction in trivialising the legacy of the Holocaust and insulting the memory of its victims in order to draw attention to their cause.
Such tasteless shock tactics cheapen and demean the real horrors of the Nazi genocide, and part the challenge facing Holocaust educators the world over must be to convey to society at large why this is so.
The Board has dealt with many issues over the past week, with regular updates being provided via its electronic and social media outlets. Community members are urged to follow us on Twitter @sajbd and to “like” us on the SAJBD Facebook page, so as to remain continuously informed.
- Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM every Friday 12:00 – 13:00. This week, Charisse talks to Dr Les Glassman on the event that former South Africans in Israel are having with the SA Ambassador to commemorate the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
adam levy
Jul 10, 2014 at 8:29 am
‘What about the other children murdered by the IDF in the West Bank or the family of 8 murdered by the IDF in their homes?
\nwe wait with bated breath for the condemnation. if your condemnation is based on any degree of moral principle you would wilingly do so.
\nthere’s a child killed every 4 days by israeli’s. that says enough.
\nor is your condemnation selective to win you kudos?
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EDITOR’S NOTE TO USERS: Adam Levy has proven time and again to be an alias for either an anti-Zionist Jew or a non-Jew and SAJR publishes his anti-Israel comments that don’t break any of SAJR’s COMMENT GUIDELINE rules and is hence welcome to voice his or her opinion on this website.
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When he/she becomes anti-Semitic or otherwise
\ntransgresses the rules of this website, his
\ncomments are deleted. online.editor@sajr.co.za
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‘
Gary Selikow
Jul 10, 2014 at 9:33 am
‘What is Ms Kluk going to say about Jessie Duarte’s statement of hate speech in her official ANC statement comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and saying ANC will picket Israeli interests together with BDS?
How is SAJBOD going to make the ANC look like they are really our friends this time?’
Gary Selikow
Jul 11, 2014 at 8:17 am
‘Adam Levy is a very embittered, hate filled, venomous person’
Choni
Jul 11, 2014 at 9:05 am
‘Adam Levy’s comment says it all.
No, Ms Kluk there is a world of difference between ‘blood and blood’ Stop being so politically correct.
Revenge is a holy concept, because we answer the chilul Hashem committed by murderers. When they attack a Jew they are attacking the God of Israel.
Our Tanach is filled with acts of revenge which sanctify God’s name. This week we read the zeal and vengeance of Pinchas. He was rewarded with eternal priesthood for carrying out a \”barbarous\” act of killing. There are so many other acts of revenge against the Ishmaelites written in the Tanach.
Why should it be different now, especially in our own Land filled with an implacable enemy?
‘
Choni
Jul 11, 2014 at 9:11 am
‘Gary is right. I suggest SAJBD, and SAZF, and religious leaders stop whining, and get our young people to leave this exilic \”cemetery\”.
Also isn’t it time to remove the slogan \”Proudly Jewish South African\”?
Also I suggest the chief Rabbinate suspend praying for the walfare of this anti-Israel government.’
Gary Selikow
Jul 11, 2014 at 11:15 am
‘Personally I think the actions and statements of the so-called Palestinians prove they are Amalek and not Ishmail
by the way has SAJBOD mentioned the young girl Shelly Dadon stabbed to death by a Palestinian taxi driver?’
Menahem Yachad
Jul 12, 2014 at 6:36 pm
‘Dear Mr Krengel and Ms Kluk,
Personally, I am disgusted with the speed with
which you rushed to condemn these Jewish kids.
At THIS TIME, there is NO proof that they are
guilty. At THIS TIME, there is no disputing this cold fact.
We are quite used to our \”esteemed\” Prime Minister
putting his foot in his mouth time and time again, condemning his own brothers
in front of the goy, in order to appease his critics in the worldwide media, but
to whom are you trying to suck up? Who’s holding a gun to your
heads?
Confessions – forget about it. Are you ignoring the
facts that minor children were forced to confess without having a lawyer
present? In fact, none of the accused were allowed to have their lawyers
present. Doesn’t this stink of Jimmy Kruger’s methodology? The Israeli police is
so incompetent and riddled with political corruption, that they make a complete
joke of the mitzva of Shoftim and Shotrim.
The kids are ruffians, granted. But the police were
looking for a quick score, and these kids were a convenient bait. Thank G-d the
lawyers are top-notch and quite adept with dealing with these unscrupulous
police, so they will, in the end, be proven innocent of the crime. But, in the
meantime, you have propagated completely unfounded Hotza’a Diba about your
brothers in Israel.
Burning people alive has no basis or precedent in
our culture, but, on the contrary, it is a well-known Arab method of
honor-killing.
But Hashem, and many of us in Israel, will not
forgive you for your shortsightedness and public stupidity for jumping on this
politically-convenient bandwagon, to badmouth your fellow Jews, when NOTHING has
been PROVEN against them.
South African Jews have always been renowned for
their intelligence and fairness. But my friends, by this conduct, you have
fallen very far from your origins, and you should be completely ashamed of
yourselves.
Menahem Yachad
Israel’
Choni
Jul 14, 2014 at 9:38 am
‘All I can say, Ms Kluk, is nuts to your moral equivalency!!
\n[Balance removed as hate speech -ED]‘