It is always important to remember that the Jewish community of Cape Town does not stand alone.
On Friday 16 May, the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies rallied Jewish individuals and organisations to join an interfaith silent vigil on the steps of St Georges Cathedral. The purpose of this gathering was to show united support with all South Africans, against the unlawful abduction of some 200 Nigerian school girls from their boarding school in Chibok, Borno State in Nigeria, in April.
Attacks against the liberty of children and the targeting of schools are prohibited under international law. The UN ‘Declaration of the Rights of the Child’ enshrines all children’s rights to education, and freedom from discrimination and exploitation.
We call on the Nigerian government to continue to intensify their efforts, with the support of international governments and humanitarian agencies, to find the missing girls and return them to their families.
The Cape Board is proud to stand in unity with faith groups, civil society and concerned citizens the world over, in this humanitarian crisis. We share in the grief of the parents and families of the abducted girls. We pray for their safe return and an end to the increasing violence and terror being waged in that region.
