Rabbi sues for defamation over ‘genocide’ claim

Rabbi Nissen Goldman, the co-director of Chabad on Campus at the University of Cape Town (UCT), is suing local author Zaahied Sallie and two South African anti-Israel organisations for defamation. This is after Sallie held up a poster showing his face, naming him, and saying he charged him with “genocide” at a protest earlier this year. 

In March, the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) Cape Council hosted a conference titled “Let’s Talk! Zionist Connect: Cape Town 2025” at which they hosted local and international speakers including Gilad Erdan, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations (UN). 

The event saw spirited debate on Zionism. Several panel discussions took place, and Goldman participated in one titled “Jewish on Campus 2025”. Anti-Israel extremists protested outside the venue amidst a large security presence. It was there that Sallie held up a sign he had made with a photo of Goldman, along with the words “Rabbi Nissen, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” 

Local extremist groups South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) and Cape Town Intifada (CTI) shared the images on social media, and are therefore also being sued by Goldman. 

Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) Chairperson Simone Sulcas says, “The Cape SAJBD stands in solidarity with Rabbi Goldman. We reject the baseless and defamatory accusation of genocide directed at him and, by extension, the Jewish community. Such claims are legally and morally unfounded and serve only to incite hostility and further misinformation.” 

Sallie is now raising funds for his legal defence, using the platform BackaBuddy. His fundraiser is titled “Zionist lawfare against justice activism.” He writes, “I heeded a call from the SAJFP to protest outside the venue. During the protest, I held up a poster exposing [Rabbi Goldman’s] association with Erdan and the genocidal state that he represents and defends.” 

Goldman is the son of Rabbi Yossy Goldman, life rabbi emeritus of Sydenham Shul and the president of the South African Rabbinical Association. The younger Goldman was born and raised in South Africa, and is no way “associated” with Erdan or Israel. He is simply a Jew living in the diaspora, devoting himself to giving students a full, enriched Jewish life on campus. 

“Every bit of support will help us to resist Zionist intimidation and their attempts to silence us in exposing Israel’s crimes and holding its supporters accountable,” wrote Sallie. 

He said the SAZF had “hosted the Zionist conference flagrantly in the very country that brought the [International Court of Justice] case. It remains our moral duty to act and speak up.” 

As of 18 November, Sallie had raised R34 600. One donor wrote, “May the Almighty facilitate success against these hooligans.” Another supporter wrote, “Freedom to the world from Zionism.” 

The court summons, filed in the Western Cape High Court on 3 September 2025, describes how Sallie held up the poster knowing and intending that it would be photographed and shared widely. 

The summons describes the poster as defamatory because it’s understood to mean that Goldman has “perpetrated the crime of genocide [or] is responsible for the perpetration by others of the crime of genocide”. It frames Goldman as “a murderer” and “was published with the intention of injuring his reputation”. 

The summons says Goldman has suffered damages which Sallie refuses to pay. Goldman is asking for R500 000 in damages and an order directing Sallie to make an unconditional apology, “published in a manner and form to be determined by this court”. He is also asking for costs. Goldman has indicated his agreement to the possibility of mediation. 

“Charging someone with committing genocide is serious,” says Milton Shain, local antisemitism expert and emeritus professor of history at UCT. “To my knowledge, Goldman has not been in combat in Gaza. And, even if he had been, Israel hasn’t been found guilty of committing genocide.” 

All Goldman did was “participate in an event with Erdan”, says Shain. Yet the poster is “unequivocal” in condemning him. “This is madness. Soon Zionists will have to wear a yellow ‘Zionist’ star, if Sallie and his ilk get their way. Supporting Israel, a legitimate member of the family of nations, and a state created by the UN, will be proscribed.” 

In their defendant’s plea, the SAJFP said it had removed the image from its social media after it received Goldman’s letter of demand. It said its Instagram post was simply “reporting” on the event. It also said that by attending the conference and being on a panel, Goldman “participated in propaganda”, and therefore the poster was justified. 

CTI shared the image on social media along with the caption “Rabbi Nissen is one of the hardest Zio agenda pushers in Cape Town.” In its defendant’s plea, it said the statement on the poster wasn’t intended to be understood literally, but “the sting of the statement was true and published in the public interest”. It said that because Goldman is a “public figure”, the law requires him to be “more robust in the face of criticism”. 

Both groups repeatedly said the poster was justified because Goldman publicly and vocally supports Israel and its actions in Gaza. However, Goldman hasn’t made public statements about Israel or the war. He rarely speaks to the media, and when he does, it’s only about Jewish life on campus. 

Sallie has long expressed radical ideas. On 23 November 2023, he wrote an article describing Israel as “a lunatic genocidal state” and said the West was “responsible for its metamorphosis into an unremitting violent obscenity”. 

He said Israel had “grown into an organism independent of the rule of law,” and “the inner promptings of its conscience are extinguished”. He described the Jewish state as “a rabid dog that will continue to inflict egregious harm if not disarmed”. 

Tapping into classic antisemitic tropes, Sallie said, “The South African government, the SAZF, and the SAJBD have become inextricably linked. Many members of the SAZF and SAJBD have grown into financial behemoths with the power to influence governments. And influence, they do.” 

He wrote that “powerful Zionist actors are at play”, and many South African politicians, “dance to the tunes of their wealth”. 

SAZF spokesperson Rolene Marks says the SAZF applauds Goldman “for his insistence of legal consequences for ad hominem attacks on his constitutionally protected rights to both association and belief”. 

Says Sulcas, “We support the right of community members to seek legal recourse when faced with such damaging allegations. Accusing Jews of ‘genocide’ can lead to antisemitism as it seeks to demonise and isolate the Jewish community, echoing patterns that have fuelled discrimination.” 

She says one “cannot tell untruths that Rabbi Goldman or any member of the Jewish community is ‘committing genocide’ under the pretence of freedom of speech. A successful court action will send a clear message that antisemitic rhetoric and defamatory attacks have no place in South African society.”