Shame on the haters

A young idealistic man travels the world, running marathons in memory of two little ginger-haired Israeli boys who were brutally murdered in Gaza after being taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on 7 October. 

The young man, Yoel Levy, is a British Jew who is focused on building awareness against hate, creating bonds over barriers, and uplifting communities. However, having travelled all over the world, including to countries like Australia and Britain where antisemitic attacks are rife, it was in South Africa that his life was threatened. It was here that Levy felt real fear. 

This is the welcome he got from our haters. Instead of showing a guest our national hospitality, they threatened his life and bombarded him with hate. 

“Every time I speak up, whether it’s about Israel, antisemitism, or simply showing Jewish joy, someone is there to try and knock it down,” he writes in a post about his experience in South Africa. He came here to show his pride in his heritage and his passion for his people, certainly not to fight or get involved in politics. 

I am disgusted at my fellow South Africans. While I appreciate that Jews and supporters of Israel came out in their droves to run with and ensure the safety and security of Levy, it unfortunately didn’t absolve or take away the hurt of the hate. 

Levy is a proud Jew, as are most of us. He doesn’t stand up and say he supports war, the present Israeli government, or even the army. He does nothing like that. He runs in a Batman outfit in the name of two toddlers who were murdered with their mother. His posts are always uplifting and kind. 

He doesn’t shout about hating anyone because what he is about is love. 

For that, the haters came out in full force against him. They did all they could to make him scared and try and frighten him off. Those who claim this is not antisemitism aren’t fooling anyone. This is clear unadulterated Jew-hatred, even if a handful of those at the helm of this hatred happen to have been born Jewish. Anyone who hates Jews is an antisemite, even if they claim the title of “I’m-a-Jew-but”. In my mind, such people are simply a disgrace to our community and to our country. 

The haters were so proud of unsettling Levy and making him afraid. Really! Is that what they call human rights activism? So what is Levy? Not human? 

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign proudly posted, “The public pressure was so intense it stripped him [Levy] of his disguise ‒ he was spotted running maskless and isolated at almost every point.” 

Of this they were proud. Of making a young man, whose only commitment is to do good, feel scared and isolated. What heroes our haters are! Really! They are disgusting! 

While Levy leaves South Africa with a sense of massive support from our community, he also leaves with the sickening taste of true hatred and blatant antisemitism. How does it happen that it is in our country – where we believe that antisemitism isn’t as bad as in most other countries – that he felt this for the first time? Shame on all of them! 

Bravery of survivors 

On the flip side, I so admire the two men who came forward and spoke openly to us about being sexually abused as boys at the King David hostel back in the early 1980s. 

For 40 years they lived with and hid these horrific experiences, unable to share their pain. For 40 years, the rest of us were oblivious of the horror they experienced. They had a choice to let it lie so many years later. 

It takes great courage to reignite this pain and be open about what happened to them. One of the worst things about sexual abuse is that the survivors are made to feel shame about what happened to them. Except the shame is not theirs. The shame belongs 100% to the perpetrators of the abuse. 

These brave men were triggered by seeing their own children at the age they were when they were abused. This gave them momentum to speak up about it. 

I was at King David High School Linksfield around the time of their abuse and, in all honesty, I had no inkling of this happening. I asked a few people who were at school with me, but they too weren’t aware. I wasn’t at the hostel though. 

While I don’t know what the management of King David did back then, or if it had any knowledge of the abuse, I salute Rabbi Ricky Seeff and the South African Board of Jewish Education (SABJE) for standing by these men and encouraging them to lay charges. More than that, the SABJE actually brought the one man out to lay charges. 

Rabbi Seeff himself wasn’t even born at the time of these crimes, and those on the board now were, at most, just children when this all happened. However, they have stepped up to the plate and are showing a true willingness and commitment to see this through the legal system with the survivors. They have asked for other survivors to come forward and I commend that. 

It shows just how real their commitment is to ensuring this criminal behaviour cannot and will not be allowed anywhere near the King David schools, now or ever. They have shown commitment to ensuring this is the case. Kol hakavod! 

To Rabbi Seeff, the SABJE and, more than anything, the survivors, we support you in this mission. May there be no place in our community, country, or our world for sexual abusers! 

Shabbat shalom! 

Peta Krost 

Editor