Fracture

Since the onset of the Gaza crisis, I have observed with growing concern a rise in Anti-semitic behaviour the world over. Jewish communities across the world have been criticized for their devotion to the State of Israel by vast numbers of the population, and there has been a marked rise in Anti-Israel sentiment, which has manifested through an increase in Anti-Semitic attacks in countries including France, Venezuela and many other countries. From the arson and desecration of houses of worship to the victimising of Jewish children as they walk the streets of their adopted countries, it has become clear that the world’s perception of Jewish people is strongly linked to the policies and behaviour of the State of Israel, the Jewish homeland.

In many ways, this is correct. Israel is the land of Jews and its existence and security is paramount to the confidence of an entire religion. In the eyes of many Jewish people, to stand against the policies of Israel is to stand against the essence of one’s Jewish identity. Yet, there are those who disagree with this view. In the secular world, there is a tendency that it is important to look at all sides of an argument, which has led a number of people, even a number of Jews, to the belief that Israel’s attacks on UN hospitals, schools and heavily populated civilian areas were disproportionate, badly managed and ultimately, evidence of the continued “oppression” of the Palestinian people.

This article is not about the debate as to whether Israel was right or wrong. If it helps, the writer of this piece stands strongly with the State of Israel’s right to defend itself from continued attacks but has obvious and understandable reservations of the humanitarian costs of this security. What this article aims to investigate is the nature of this resistance and dischord within the South African Jewish Community, where the mainstream community is up in arms against those people who have taken the position of criticizing Israel’s actions in the Gaza Conflict and the many other military crises that have preceded it.

The “Letter of Shame” has become a major talking point in the community. A number of individuals on the liberal left of the South African community have put their names on a “not in my name” letter that clearly indicates that they do not support the Israeli action in Gaza. The mainstream community has met this letter with outrage. Labelled “Anti-Semites” and “Hamas Supporters”, the mechanisms of the community have sought to repel these views from the community consciousness with the official line of the community being a continued devotion and support for the state of Israel. The mainstream community does not ask these individuals to recant their views, but rather derides these individuals as self hating Jews who demonstrate elements of the anti-semitic behaviour that seems to be sweeping the world at the moment.

This is not the first time the Liberal left, or other denominations of South African Jewry, has been derided and dismissed by the mainstream community in South Africa. Since 2005, the South African Jewish community has been marked by consistent attacks of Jewish denominations that fall outside the mainstream of conventional South African Orthodoxy. The reform movement in South Africa has suffered from dwindling influence, in no short amount due to the continued intolerance and delegitimising of their movement by the Orthodox Rabbinate. Youth movements, who espouse either liberalism, secularism or reform Judaism, have been removed from the sight of schoolchildren, creating an insularity and anti-pluralist approach in the youth. In addition, the orthodox movement has commandeered all Zionist observance on a communal level. This has denied other denominations of Judaism the ability to support Israel in a communal setting and has alienated a fair number of secular or reform intellectuals.

Therefore, this writer finds it unsurprising that the community has become polarized into a liberal left that is critical of Israel and a religious right that is devoted to the state. In recent years, the community mechanisms of South African Jewry, especially in Johannesburg, have sought to isolate communal Zionism by keeping it contained in the narrow framework of Religious Zionism. This has led to an alienation of liberal, secular and reform Jews resulting in a situation where a number of people are unwilling to stand with the community view on the situation in the Middle East.

How can our community leaders propose to speak as one voice for the South African Jewish Community when all they have shown themselves to be are proponents of internal division and dischord? The leaders of our community need to wake up and recognise the damage that has been done to communal unity by the continued alienation of other denominations of Jewry. If our leaders expect the community to be united forIsrael and against Anti-Semitism, they need to put up a rallying banner to every denomination and bring people back into the community fold in a way which suits the individual, in a way that is not limited by narrow constructions of orthodoxy.

In conclusion, it is apparent that the Jewish community in South Africa is at a clear crossroads, especially with regards to uniting communal support for the State of Israel. Just like Israel, it is faced with a Catch 22. The community leadership can either continue to suppress and show intolerance towards the other denominations and beliefs that exist within the community, or they can rally communal support for the many important issues we face by being inclusive and tolerant of alternative approaches to Judaism, but in doing so compromise their all-encompassing control of the mainstream. This writer votes for the latter.