Connect, Collaborate, Community
By DANIEL BLOCH, Executive Director, Cape SAJBD
There is a fine line between being famous or being infamous. To some people, you can be a hero and the best thing since sliced cheese. To others, you are the villain and someone who represents evil of the worst kind. As the Executive Director of the Cape SAJBD, I have unfortunately experienced the latter; however, thankfully, I have more admirers for the work I do than those who dislike me.
Recently, the South African Jewish Report (SAJR) asked the Cape Board for comment regarding the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) President’s chants of “We are Hamas” and “Cape Town is Hamas”. The Board responded, criticising the religious leader for his comments, and calling on him to condemn the execution of the six hostages and, not for the first time, we called for peace and an end to the loss of life on all sides. As Executive Director, I was quoted and the comment was not distributed to any other media outlet other than the SAJR.
The appropriate response from the MJC to the Board statement should have been to condemn the execution of the hostages and to share our call for peace. That is what you would expect from a community leader, a religious leader, and a decent human being. Unfortunately, that is not what happened.
Instead the resulting responses were quite unbelievable. The ANC, MJC, Al Jama-ah and other anti-Israel organisations all leaped to the defence of their colleague and reaffirmed their support for Hamas. Quite incredibly – however not unexpected – neither of these organisations condemned the execution of innocent civilians, nor the broadcast and celebration of these murders, and they didn’t even call for peace or an end to all loss of life. I was not surprised by the support for their colleague but more surprised by how many organisations responded and with such long-winded and detailed letters. All the letters contained misinformation and half-truths as we have come to expect and, as per usual, only calls for death and destruction – not for peace.
So, to these organisations, I have become infamous and someone whom they can take their frustrations out on. Or should I be flattered that so many hate-filled individuals wasted so much of their time, critiquing my SAJR comments and mentioning me several times in all their local letters and publications? Imagine if they could use that same energy and apply it to the challenges we face in South Africa? Think of how many South Africans could benefit from community leaders who care more for them as opposed to leaders who care more for people living 10 000 km away!
I am not going to apologise for standing up to the hatred. Nor am I going to apologise for calling out those who support terrorist organisations who murder and execute innocent civilians. I will not and cannot stay silent when people who claim to “love their Jewish neighbours” stand outside our shuls, schools, businesses and homes, protesting. As a leader, one is taught to have empathy for everyone. In every Board article, statement and interview, we continuously call for peace, condemn the loss of life on both sides and call for engagement and dialogue. Unfortunately, the leaders of the anti-Israel organisations do not share our philosophy and would rather chant for death, martyrdom and destruction.
In Judaism, we value life and celebrate life whenever we have the opportunity. We embrace family and community and sing songs of peace and love. We pray that one day we will all be in Jerusalem together. Famous or infamous makes no difference to me – end the war and bring the hostages home.
Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies website: www.capesajbd.org, Instagram, and Facebook page.
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