Right to voice your views

In the past few weeks, every day has aged the news of the day before. So, while one day, we were writing about people being devastated by ballistic missiles from Iran, just days later, that feels like history. Perhaps, that is, for us on the southern tip of Africa.

For so many people living in Israel, this isn’t necessarily the case. The war is certainly not over for those whose homes were demolished or those who had to be evacuated because of their building’s structural damage.

For those who were impacted by the war in any way, it’s not so simple for life just to move on. Trauma doesn’t just go away. Ever heard of post-traumatic stress disorder? Well, much of Israel is living with it, albeit making the best of their situation and still grateful they are living in their homeland.

We, on the SA Jewish Report, try to keep our eyes open to this because, as we are well aware, Israelis do their best to make light of their trauma. Not because it doesn’t exist, but because they feel the need to keep going strong no matter what.

It’s true that Israelis are incredibly resilient. They have no choice. But don’t for one moment believe that they don’t feel pain when engulfed in it. Don’t assume that because they are Israeli, life simply goes back to normal after trauma. They are, after all, only human – strong, tenacious, but still human.

But like all of us, no two people are the same. Brothers and sisters deal with things in different ways. That’s natural. While I may lose my cool, yelling and screaming and letting it all hang out, others may appear to feel nothing but hold onto the anger and pain for years. That’s just two ways of reacting to a situation. There are many others.

We all also have different political religious, social, and other views. In terms of politics, some of us believe that you dare not say anything negative about the Israeli government or Israel. Others, who may not be happy about everything the government does, will keep quiet because they believe it’s dangerous or simply unacceptable to speak out against the government. Still others believe it’s fine to argue about this among family and friends, but we must keep shtum with other people. Then, there are those who recognise that everyone is entitled to their opinion and just like it’s okay to be critical of the South African government and still love South Africa, you can do the same for Israel.

So, though there are many in our community who believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a phenomenal leader, there are many others who have various other beliefs about his leadership. There are also those who believe he should have been replaced the day after 7 October 2023.

What’s important to note is that everyone I’m speaking about is 100% Zionist. They all believe intrinsically in the state of Israel and its right to exist. They all believe that the Jewish people have a right to national self-determination in their ancestral homeland, which is Israel.

They are firm in the belief that they can criticise the Israeli government because the government of the Jewish state is important to every Jew in the world. If the government should destroy the country, it would fall on the shoulders of every single Jew in the world. Now, I’m praying this will never happen, however, it’s for this reason Jews around the world have the right to be critical of something that happens in Israel.

Much like in South Africa, we’re fully entitled to criticise our government and we do so ad nauseum. If we have a problem with what the government or our president does, why should we be quiet?

Now, when it comes to Israel, many in our community believe that by criticising Israel, we’re playing into the hands of our enemies. On that note, I resonated with something that Sir Mick Davis said (See page 3).

He insisted that our haters aren’t waiting to see what we say or what we do. They hate us already, and have made up their minds about us and Israel. So, though we’re cautious about baiting them, they don’t care what we’re doing. Their plans are already made, and are not waiting for us to put them into action.

Many people have been critical of what Davis has said in recent times, specifically about Israel. I get it. He has been quite scathing of this particular Israeli government, and is deeply worried about what it is doing to Israel. He believes it’s a bigger threat than Israel’s outside enemies.

So, some will and have called him a “self-hating Jew” because he’s critical of Netanyahu and his government. But, as he clearly states, it’s because he loves Israel so damn much that he doesn’t want to see it implode or be damaged beyond repair.

He is quite open about respecting the decision to retaliate against Hamas in Gaza following 7 October. He also agrees with Israel firmly hitting Iran’s nuclear armament. He does, however, have a real problem with the government losing its liberal, democratic way.

Now, if Davis lived permanently in Israel and was saying all of this, he would be criticised by some, but most would accept that he has a right to his views, left, right, or centre. Every Israeli has different views. Most Jews have different views. That’s who we are as a people. And we really have no reason to hide them.

So, when you read Davis’s views, can I ask that instead of lambasting him because you don’t agree, put pen to paper – or get onto your laptop – and write your personal views, not about him, but about pertinent issues pertaining to our community, and become part of our National Jewish Dialogue.

Davis is the perfect person to start this dialogue because he isn’t afraid to speak out and be counted. He believes he must. He told me he regretted not standing up for what he believed when he grew up in South Africa. He doesn’t want to be guilty of saying and doing nothing about Israel, which is so vitally important to him and all of us.

Join him in giving your views. See the criteria for participating in the National Jewish Dialogue on our website bit.ly/sajrdialogue in Howard Sackstein’s letter last week, put your views down, and send us your opinions.

Shabbat shalom!

Peta Krost

Editor