Soldiers in the Social Media War: Josh Broomberg and his impact on the South African Jewish Community

As a South African Jew, a proud Zionist and former student of King David Victory Park, I want to commend Josh Broomberg and his peers for their principled and humane stand in solidarity with Palestinian suffering. Young people standing up for what they believe is a behaviour that should be encouraged, not only in the Jewish community, but in South Africa and the world at large. While I’m not sure that taking a photograph with a keffiyeh, which to many supporters of Israel is symbolic of the agenda of Hamas, was an ideal way to represent the Jewish and Zionist ethos of King David Victory Park, I don’t see how the action itself was inflammatory enough to warrant the kind of vitriol, threats and anger that the photograph received from elements of the Jewish community. Fortunately, the criticism garnered by the boys has been matched by outpouring of support from across the rainbow nation: former head prefects and students of King David, members of the Jewish Community, and the rest of South African society.

So I guess the questions on everyone’s lips are:

Why did certain members of the Jewish community come out so strongly against Broomberg’s photograph? Why, within a day of posting the image, did a petition appear calling for King David Victory Park to dismiss him as deputy head boy and revoke his honours blazer? What is actually going on in the Jewish Community that it would viciously attack a teenager who took a stand for humanity?

As with all the other discussions pertaining to this conflict, the truth is…complicated.

The first point to make is that, for the most part, we are a community that is not only proud to live in a democratic and free South Africa but proud to live in world where Israel exists. For Jews the world over, the existence of the state of Israel is our trump card against anti-Semitism. It provides us with a sense of security that we have somewhere to go should atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust ever happen again.  In addition, the way that Israel has developed in its short 65 year life span is a marvel to most of us.  This is a modern country with a thriving economy, a rich culture and language, a hub of technological innovation and real spiritual significance. Israel is the Jewish Homeland – the one place on this planet, where the religious and cultural ideologies of the Jewish People are reflected in the everyday life of people who live there. For South African Jews, Israel is a key part of our Jewish identities, and more than that, Israel’s right to exist is not a question that we should have to answer for.

The second point is that the media and, in particular, social media has brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to South Africa. There can be no doubt that Facebook has become the new battleground of Operation: Protective Edge.  Those within the community who are passionate advocates for Israel find themselves profoundly on the defensive. Confronted with widespread support for the Palestinian cause and basically non-existent support for Israel from the South African public, coupled with 1 or two scary posts from ANC members, such as Rene Smit, social media manager of the ANC Western Cape, posting a picture of Hitler with the words “Yes Man, you were right” or Jessie Duarte’s comparison of Israel’s action in Gaza to that of Nazi Germany, these social media soldiers are doing their best in a tough environment to combat powerful anti-Israel sentiment and real anti-Semitism.

Thirdly, we don’t like it when Pro-Palestinian activists criticise Israel, but it’s some next-level-shit when it’s one of our own. There are numerous examples of South African Jews critical of the policies of the Israeli Government, who have become Persona Non Grata in the mainstream Jewish community. South African Jews like ANC veteran Ronnie Kasrils and Judge Richard Goldstone, who led the highly critical UN fact finding mission on the 2009 Gaza Conflict, have been pretty much excluded from Jewish life in our community. A powerful example of this was when Judge Goldstone was nearly prevented from attending the Barmitzvah of his own grandson in Johannesburg, owing to a threatened protest by angered members of the community. The problem that the broader community has with Jews that are critical of Israel is that they hold a mirror to our entrenched dogma and they force us to interrogate our own entrenched belief systems about Israel. As a community, we tend to ignore the fact that both Israel and South Africa are democracies with a multitude of different views from across the political spectrum. Somehow we can’t replicate that same diversity or openness ourselves.

But surely no one could have imagined that our inability to handle criticism from our own could have backfired on the community so badly. An online persona known only as “Concerned Zionist South Africa”, an anonymous digital manifestation of right wing extremist Zionism, has been on a one-man name and shame campaign in the Jewish community. The only difference from a conventional name and shame is that he’s not targeting adults with fully formed opinions, instead he’s targeting the youth of our community. The ultimate target of his name and shame campaign is Habonim Dror, a liberal Zionist youth movement that creates an environment for youth in which debate and openness are paramount to establishing their own Jewish identity. A by-product of this approach to open mindedness is that a generation of young adults is emerging, who have the ability to think critically about the policies and actions of the Israeli Government.  Some of this new generation have emerged as strong activists for human rights and Palestinian freedom. Others have emerged a strong Zionists and communal leaders.

The response of “Concerned Zionist SA” to his perceived corruption of the youth by Habonim Dror was to create and distribute a video conjecturing about its leadership’s so-called anti-Israel beliefs and lack of empathy with Israeli causes.  This “Concerned Zionist SA” is also the person responsible for starting the petition to remove Josh Broomberg as deputy head boy and revoking his honours blazer. Essentially, an anonymous extremist, without any affiliation to any Jewish community body, has been on a single minded mission to character assassinate any teenager or young adult who may be openly critical of the state of Israel. He is doing this in order to prove his point that a Zionist youth movement is an enemy of the state of Israel, and by extension, an enemy of the Jewish Community. Without any meaningful attempt  to condemn or control him by the Jewish communal leadership, this anonymous character has been allowed to run rampant, spreading misinformation and sowing division amongst the community.

The worrying thing is that this one person, this “Concerned Zionist”, has now fed the social media monster. The 2000 odd supporters of the petition that he generated to have Broomberg dismissed from his role have had their say in a hugely vocal and disturbing manner, and, in-turn, have damaged the perception of the Jewish Community by the South African public. This emotive and hysterical attempt to punish a dissenting voice has now made Josh Broomberg front page news and a national hero, with the by-product of making the broader Jewish community come across as deeply intolerant. I sympathise deeply with the members of the community who signed the petition – they have been manipulated by an anonymous extremist into taking an unnecessary and irresponsible position that compromises our united defence of the Israeli position and our fight against anti-Semitism.

So what, if anything, can we take out of this whole scandal?

Josh Broomberg has held up a mirror to our community and forced us to examine how we treat inquisitive young people who challenge our entrenched dogmas. We have learnt that there are scared and hysterical people in our community who are struggling to deal with the social media war that is ensuing all around us. We have also learnt that there are one or two noxious extremists who are stewing hatred within our community through irresponsible propaganda and the targeting of young people with views that go against the mainstream narrative and are critical of Israel.

However, we have also learnt some positive things. We have learnt that there is an exciting new generation of leaders coming through in our community who are willing to take a stand for humanity. We have learnt that there is a large majority in the Jewish community who will rally for and support Broomberg and other young people who are independent thinkers. And with that, I think there is a real sense of hope and optimism that with these brave youngsters and an open-minded community behind them, we can evolve our advocacy for Israel to a space where we can actually drive towards achieving the only meaningful solution – two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and harmony.