Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is to be commended for his unequivocal condemnation of the violence and hate speech last weekend over the Israel-Hamas war. A succession of protests gave expression to the rising tension in the city over Israel’s military response to Hamas’s massacre of 1,400 Israelis and the capture of more than 200 hostages on October 7. Hamas estimates more than 11,000 people trapped in Gaza have died since Israel began bombarding the area five weeks ago, and 2.3-million Palestinians are trapped in horrific conditions.
On Saturday, more than 10,000 people marched in central Cape Town in support of Palestine in a nonviolent manifestation of their constitutional right to peaceful protest. However, the march was marred by vicious hate speech directed at children attending the city’s biggest Jewish school, Herzlia, and chants of the chilling slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. While some activists claim it is a call for peace and equality, others hear it as a call for the destruction of Israel and Jews. On Sunday, a much smaller pro-Israel demonstration triggered a violent response from several hundred supporters of Palestine. A large police contingent used water cannon and stun grenades to disperse the crowd and made several arrests.
These developments came in the wake of the EFF’s call for Herzlia to be shut down, and chants of “one Zionist, one bullet” from protesters voicing their opposition to Israel outside a Jewish community centre in October.
This is not a manifestation of the right to freedom of expression, but outright hate speech. The slogans chanted by the anti-Israel protesters — and their revealing decision to target a Jewish community centre — are based on the racist notion that Jews unquestionably support Israel and feel no sympathy for the Palestinian cause.
Hill-Lewis’s call for tolerance, restraint and respect for differing opinions is important. So too is his clear condemnation of threats to schoolchildren, and his call for it to cease.
The Israel-Hamas war has unleashed anti-Semitism across the political spectrum, from the far right to the far left, and fuelled thousands of attacks on Jewish institutions and individuals around the world. A synagogue has been petrol-bombed in Berlin, shots were fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal, Jewish properties in Paris have been daubed with Stars of David, and students were threatened and harassed on US college campuses, to name just a few.
Many leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have spoken out against resurgent anti-Semitism, but too many remain silent — including President Cyril Rampahosa.
His silence is dangerous. At best it creates a sense of impunity. At worst, it could be seen as an endorsement of those who threaten SA’s small Jewish community, which a 2019 survey put at 52,300. Just as Radio Télévision Mille Collines ran broadcasts inciting the Rwandan genocide, in a country as divided as SA there is an ever-present danger that unfettered hate speech, amplified on television and social media, will lead to deadly violence.
The president should make it absolutely clear that our Jewish compatriots enjoy the same rights and protections as anyone else in this country, and that those who call for violence against them on the basis of their faith or culture will face the full effect of the law.
