A recent German Facebook friend, Fred Fischer of Keren Hayesod in Munich discovered something on the page of one of my earliest Facebook (and personal) connections, Spotlighting SA. This led to Fred doing some research and writing to the South African Council for Educators (SACE).

Truth be told, until today I didn’t know of the body. Another admission, I had no intention of opening my computer today other than to check and moderate comments on the Jewish Report website, but have found myself fascinated with the issues that arise here.

When I read the following in Fred’s letter to the SACE: “It is absolutely insane and as a Jew and leader of an Israeli institution, this is absolutely unacceptable for me. Be sure, I will spread the word about this as well as many others do. Be sure, I will send this message in bcc to many other addressees in your country, government and around the world. Especially the Jewish press!” it really pricked my interest.

And so, I went a-Googling. I thought I’d find out a bit more about SACE, Fred and Cassim Mahomed Jasat, the subject of his complaint to them, just to see where this was going and if it would be a story for a nosey investigative journalist like myself?

After all, to paraphrase the opening of Fred’s letter to SACE (see full letter below), he asked: (i) was Jasat in fact an SA Government employee?; (ii) Do SACE tolerate such hateful posts against Jews?; and (iii) were they aware that Jasat “wants to send people into gas chambers again”!

That was it. I have been researching this matter for hours. Below is the tamer side of Mr Jasat’s hate for Israel in his public space. I simply couldn’t help myself. I had to keep looking. What I found did not paint a pretty picture. Not at all!

Thanks for spoiling my day, Fred and Spotlighting SA :).

The more I found, the more I wanted to look deeper.

It quickly became obvious to me that I had come to the point of losing any possible objectivity in this matter – and hence I am posting it as a blog (my opinion) as against a news story (pure facts, from all sides, which would require me to interview Mr Jasat, and I cannot face the thought of talking to the man).

After the holidays, however, I will certainly take it up as a news story and interviewing the KZN Department of Education and SACE, to inquire whether they abide this type of illegal racism and hate-speech on the private social media of their staff – and members – respectively.

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Are lies ok?

Are lies ever okay? Should we simply accept that Mr Jasat can post his filth and slander while we turn the other cheek? Should we allow him to threaten that someone go to the gas chamber (see below) simply because they are a South African Jew?

In contrast, should non-Muslim South Africans be allowed to take it out their revulsion and frustration about ISIS on Mr Jasat (pictured below) simply because he is Muslim? Of course not.  

While the world has become sadly desensitised the posting of images such as the one on the right of late, the fact that the Gaza incursion began to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent Jewish children being targeted by multitudes of rockets from Gaza makes this a lie.

We have become so used to the propaganda war being waged against us that we have learned to live with these lies all around us, all the time. Maybe we are the ones to blame. Maybe we should be the ones who bear the shame for simply letting them go.

Who among us stands up and challenges the illegitimacy of a photo-propagandised thing like this. 

We know the ANC is okay with staffers posting Hitler hate speech as ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told me as much in an exclusive interview on 14 July last year.

This is a revealing and frightening read for any student of Middle East politics – because this is not a lone wolf, he is no single meshugenah, it is the Secretary General of the ANC, one of their Top-Six as they call themselves and someone who aspires to be next deputy President of the ANC and the country.

So, the loony Jew-hater, Cassim Mahomed Jasat, is on Facebook where he currently has just 40 followers. He is also on Twitter and is clearly uneducated in the SA Constitution, media law and tha fact that he is committing serious crimes against the State of South Africa which criminalises racism and hate-speech of the type he seems to feel at home spewing forth in the public domain.

Exactly when Mr Jasat went from being a pro-Palestinian (as many of the older posts on social media suggest) to anti-Zionist is unclear.

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Nazi flag

By 2010, however, he was already comfortable, as an educator nogal, to allowing youngsters to dance around waving flags, including the Nazi flag (illustrated at right) at an Arbour Day event (even though he spelled it the US-only way) and proudly posting pictures of his charges doing so.

We do know that he evolved into a serious anti-Semite and our communal thanks must go out to to Spotlighting outing him saying things like: “LIES LIES LIES. U JEWS ARE FULL OF IT. THEY ONE LOT OF HERPES FILLED MOT**********” and “ONE NIGHT IN A GAS CHAMBER FOR YOU” – and to Fred Fischer of Keren Hayesod in Germany picking up on it and writing to the SACE and the media.

Further research of his social sites shows this seemingly placid educator and gentle family man, who is mad about football in general and Arsenal specifically, the All Blacks and Pink Floyd.

He is vehemently pro-Palestinian (and there is nothing wrong with that). But he is also a Jew-hater, and there is everything wrong with that.

When will Palestinian supporters learn that this view, and hating Jews, are mutually exclusive? You CAN be one without the other.

Personally, I hate ISIS and al-Qaida terrorism. Do I have to hate all Muslims because of that? Of course not!

Reading through Mr Jasat’s social media allows us to see that he thinks he is a nice man, without too many social friends, though. There are not a lot of things he hates. In fact, having delved into the man for a few hours, I’d say his hates are correct spelling (strange for an educator), Israel, America and all Jews.

And he strongly supports the ANC, and anyone else who hates Israel and/or Jews.

He makes no bones about this. How sad is it that when a brave Jewish lady and Twitter user who Jasat surely doesn’t know, intervenes in a hate fest on the platform (including Jasat’s: “I just swear these sons of whores”) by posting: “Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind!”.

How very brave and pleasant – a very typically Jewish response. My heart is so touched by your remark, m’am, I am just sad that we live in a world where it is better not to shout out your name! 

Mr Jasat, the Jew-hater feels safe, so above any moral standard of behaviour, above ethics and above the law to offer the following vicious response to her attempt to normalise a discussion going bad: “One night in a gas chamber for you”! he said in the public domain. 

I know what I would like to say to Jasat. I just wouldn’t do so in the public domain… 

WARNING: The visual material below may upset sensitive users and the language may not be appropriate for younger users.

The graphic was created by SpotlightingSA and forms the core of the complaint by Fred Fischer to SACE. The formal complaint, and what users can do to echo his complaint and questions, also appear at the end of the article…

One has to admire the political correctness of Europeans in the form of how Fred addresses his mail: “Dear Madam and Sirs,” – very formal and ladies first. Nice.

Dear Madam and Sirs,

Is this (Cassim Mahomed Jasat, SA Government employee in Education) really an employee of your government organisation and do you tolerate such postings full of hatred against Jews and people in general? This man we wants to send people into gas chambers again, etc.

Please see what he has posted on Facebook. It is absolutely insane and as a Jew and leader of an Israeli institution, this is absolutely unacceptable for me.

Be sure, I will spread the word about this as well as many others do. Be sure, I will send this message in bcc to many other addressees in your country, government and around the world. Especially the Jewish press!

Best regards, Fred Fischer
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, B’Shalom, Fred Fischer – פרד פישר

Büroleiter München, Keren Hayesod – Vereinigte Israelaktion e.V. Schillerstr. 780336 München
www.keren-hayesod.de www.kh-uia.org.il 

• To register your own complaint over this you can click here: ethics@sace.org.za to e-mail SACE or call them in Pretoria at:  086 100-7223 or 012 663-9517