Board joins ADL fight

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies was last week honoured to be represented at the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) “Never Is Now” conference, the world’s largest summit on antisemitism. With thousands of participants from across the United States and hundreds of international Jewish leaders in attendance, the Board not only took part but played an active role, with National Director Wendy Kahn speaking on a panel about the global fight against antisemitism.

It was deeply unsettling to hear how Jewish communities worldwide are facing similar trends of antisemitism to those we’ve witnessed in South Africa. While we have thankfully not experienced the same levels of open aggression as communities in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the pattern of intimidation in workplaces, academia, healthcare, and public spaces is strikingly familiar.

The conference was closed with a powerful speech from actress Gal Gadot, declaring, “My name is Gal, and I am Jewish!” This inspiring sentiment was the spark for a deep and enlightening discussion that occurred the following day in a round table session held for the representatives of the international communities. Daniel Aghion, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, posed a question to all those gathered about how to respond to community members who are fearful for their safety or wish not to be identifiable as Jews for their own security.

It was illuminating to learn that this is a question that has plagued so many leaders of Jewish communities, all of whom have battled to find the correct way to support community members who are understandably plagued by anxiety. Leaders from Helsinki to Bogota as one voice expressed the complexity of the Jewish identity and self-identification in an increasingly hostile world.

The ADL’s own statistics show that anti-Jewish sentiment is at the highest level since the ADL started measuring it more than a decade ago, with 46% of the global population believed to be harbouring some form of antisemitic view. Social media is a “super-spreader” of these views, and it’s a key battle ground in which the ADL, as well as other international Jewish organisations must fight. The summit hosted a number of sessions on this topic, and honoured a group of social media personalities and influencers – Jewish and non-Jewish – with its “Heroes Against Hate Award”, presented by David Schwimmer (you may recognise him as Ross from Friends).

In his presentation, Schwimmer spoke of the courage of these personalities, who, despite the potential threat to their livelihoods, stand up against antisemitism and use their voices to promote tolerance. Schwimmer went on to bemoan the stance of many fellow Jews in Hollywood, who, despite leaning into their Jewishness professionally, have been unwilling to take a public stand against antisemitism. As one commentator put it, Schwimmer became the friend we needed most!

In his final remarks to the international leaders present at the event, ADL Chief Executive Jonathan Greenblatt said that he used a single metric in deciding whether to take action or not – the question, “Will this help save Jewish lives?” We are grateful and proud to be associated with the ADL, as well as other major US and international Jewish organisations, who co-operate with the Board, encouraging dialogue and sharing resources to help us to carry out our mandate to protect Jewish lives and rights in South Africa.