The lone Jewish candidate of the Freedom Front Plus

JORDAN MOSHE

Anolik is an ardent activist, a proud Jew, and a staunch defender of the state of Israel who has found a platform for securing the rights of the Jewish minority in South Africa. This platform is one most would find odd, that of the FFP.

“If you told me twenty years ago that I would go into politics, I’d have laughed at you,” says Anolik. “I never once dreamed I’d become a politician. While it has its restraints, politics enables me to take up the fight for our rights as Jews in South Africa.”

Describing himself as a typical Jewish man of Johannesburg, Anolik’s involvement with politics was for years limited to supporting the Democratic Alliance (DA). “I supported the DA like my family did,” he says. “My parents had supported and been friendly with Helen Suzman and left-wing parties who had fought apartheid.”

It was when then DA leader Tony Leon entered into a deal with the National Party (NP) that Anolik became disillusioned with the party. “They are parties at two opposite poles,” he says. “One represented apartheid and the other completely opposed apartheid. Oil and water don’t mix. They did it to gain votes, but you can’t break principles and defy who you are.”

In 2013, he decided to leave the DA completely in the wake of an African National Congress (ANC) subcommittee motion to send then Israeli ambassador Arthur Lenk back to Israel. Although he sought repeatedly to get the DA to address the issue, he says he was met with a complete lack of interest.

“I phoned up the DA, and no one would take my calls. Not even my councillor would speak to me. No one would listen to me, and address the issue of the ambassador. I just left the DA, and resigned as a member.”

However, after being invited to meet Congress of the People (COPE) leader Mosiuoa Lekota a few months later, he found himself being drawn into the realm of politics. “Lekota phoned me up and asked if I’d meet him,” Anolik says. “He had heard from a mutual friend about my activism and invited me to be a part of his party.

“I couldn’t see myself doing it. I told him that I was no politician, just a simple Jewish man who fought for our Jewish community and Israel. Still, I decided to join, and became part of COPE that year.”

He became the head of the party’s Gauteng disciplinary committee. However, Anolik says that he not only frequently encountered anti-Semitism in the ranks, but also an indifferent leadership that would do nothing about it.

“I’d spent my life defending Jews, and here I found myself working for a party whose members often made anti-Semitic remarks. Even when I reported the incidents to national level, they did nothing about it, and it kept happening.”

After spending three years with the party, Anolik met the FFP’s Franco De Lange in November 2015, finding a party that would take his concern for the Jewish minority seriously. Despite his initial apprehension and belief that the party was racist, Anolik discovered that the centre-right FFP featured a significant coloured and Khoi representation, and was built on a belief that all minorities deserve the same treatment as the majority.

“The party was said to be racist, predominantly white, and Afrikaans,” he says. “I did my research, spoke to people, and discovered that this was not the case. In fact, I found that its championing of minority rights aligned with my activism for the Jewish minority. So I accepted an invitation to join the party.”

As he became better acquainted with this conservative party, Anolik discovered how much the FFP actually had in common with the Jewish community, and how it supported him as a Jew. “When I attended my first meeting, De Lange insisted that I wear my kippa. I was welcomed with immediate warmth.”

He says he soon realised how connected the Afrikaner and Jewish histories actually are. “I became familiar with their history,” he says. “When I learned that about 27 000 to 30 000 women and children had died in concentration camps at the hands of the British during the Boer War, something struck a chord.

“While the Holocaust was very different, I felt that there was a similarity, that our histories were intertwined. Jews have also engaged with Afrikaners for decades in different industries, from farming to commerce. We are more alike than we think.”

Anolik explains that beyond taking anti-Semitism very seriously, the FFP frequently leads the charge on matters concerning Israel as well. This includes previously challenging the ANC’s decision to rename Sandton Drive in honour of Palestinian freedom fighter Leila Khaled, and opposing the instalment of a statue of Mandela in Ramallah.

Anolik ’s role as the FFP’s co-ordinator for South African Jewry and matters concerning Israel resulted in him visiting the Knesset in December last year, meeting members of various parties to foster positive relationships.

“People think the FFP does nothing,” he says. “The truth is that we work behind the scenes. I don’t jump and scream and protest, but choose to act quietly in the background for the sake of my people and Israel. We want all minorities to be treated like the majority while maintaining their individual identity, be they Jews or otherwise.”

While other parties which express support for Israel such as COPE and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) are invited to engage with Jewish leadership, Anolik says that the same opportunities are not extended to the FFP. “The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) turned us down in spite of the fact that we support the Jewish community and Israel,” he says.

“The Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement needs to be taken to court, and we’ve offered the board the services of advocate Anton Alberts to take BDS on, but it has refused. The FFP can fight for the community as Jews and supporters of Israel, but it doesn’t get the chance.”