SA Jews stand against xenophobia

THE South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) asked the Jewish community to discourage all xenophobic attacks by contributing to a fund it set up to assist the victims of xenophobic attacks in Gauteng.

This appeal was made just in time for the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on January 27, a day when Jews all over the world remember the persecution of Jews during the second world war.

SAJBD spokesperson Charisse Zeifert said she found similarities between anti-semitism, hate crimes and discrimination against Jews, and xenophobia.

“Despite attempts to characterise these xenophobic attacks as criminal in nature, they are clearly hate crimes and must be treated as such. The SAJBD condemns these attacks,” Zeifert said.

She said she expected the same generous response to the appeal the board put out during the previous period of xenophobic violence in 2008.

Associate director of the SAJBD, David Sacks, said out of the 75 000 Jews in South Africa, only a few dozen remained in Limpopo, with the majority moving to Gauteng or having emigrated.

“Some of the main reasons for the decline in the Limpopo Jewish community include isolation from the main Jewish centres, lack of Jewish educational facilities for their children and lack of places of worship,” he said.

“The holocaust remains a deeply traumatic event for world Jewry, particularly those who originate in Europe. Most South African Jewish came here from Eastern European countries like Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, where between 80 and 95% of the Jewish population were murdered during the second world war,” said Sacks.

He maintained that standing against xenophobia was a fit way to commemorate the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, because this was a day they continued to pledge against anti-semitism and all kinds of intolerance.

The Pietersburg Hebrew Congregation said there were only five Jews left in Polokwane. Due to this, the Jewish burial society closed its doors in 2003. However, SAJBD’s spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft conducted weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, funerals, unveilings and other life cycle events across Jewish communities throughout Southern Africa.

For more information on the fund or to contribute, contact Charisse Zeifert at 082 427 2788 or send an e-mail to charisse@sajbd.org.za.