“Minorities must become nation-builders” in SA

MOIRA SCHNEIDER

CAPE TOWN – The problem in South Africa today was the government’s failure to implement some of the provisions of the country’s Constitution on the one hand, and citizens not claiming the rights safeguarded thereunder on the other.

This was the warning of former President F W de Klerk, addressing the Cape Conference of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, held here over the weekend.

De Klerk advocated that minorities present themselves as nation-builders and not just as looking inward and asking for protection.

“All South Africans who are interested in continuing to protect the safe places that we established between 1990 and 1996, should do everything they can to uphold our Constitution,” he urged.

“If we deviate from that, I see big problems ahead, also for minority communities, (including) the Jewish community.”

The theme of the conference was “Safe spaces: Making room for your views”. De Klerk was speaking about the South African model of a safe space that had been created in order to negotiate a new non-racial Constitution, as well as the adoption of that Constitution which created a safe space for all, by guaranteeing fundamental rights.

A panel discussion featuring community members who may have felt marginalised, saw Jacqui Benson, who is gay, noting that this was the first time that the LGBTI – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, inter-sex – issue had been on a conference agenda. “We’re certainly taking steps in the right direction,” the former Jewish youth leader said.  

Aubrey Katzef, chairman of Likud Cape Town, maintained that Jewish organisations did, however, have to set boundaries. “Open Shuhada Street is an extremely anti-Israel organisation and there’s no room in this community for people like that,” he said to applause.

Katzef praised the Board for making him “very welcome”, but said he had experienced problems with other community organisations. “Attacks have come and gone on me because I have taken a stance,” he said, adding that he had even been gagged at one conference.

News editor of City Press and “proud Herzlian” Natasha Joseph, whose father is Jewish said: “I consider myself culturally Jewish and ask for respect from the community.” Recalling “a lot” of abuse she had received after penning a particular column, including a comment “You’re not even Jewish”, she said it was a pity that the Jewish tradition of dissent did not translate into our daily lives.

Bemoaning the “stock standard ideas” about Israel and Judaism in the community, Eshed Cohen, chairman of the South African Zionist Federation Youth Council, said these did not necessarily gel with the youth’s views. He proposed checking the constitutions of community organisations to examine if they were outdated.

“We need more neutral zones that are aimed at the youth,” he added, suggesting a more autonomous youth council to enable the youth to express their own opinions and to counteract the apathy which he attributed to the lack of a link between the youth and community organisations.

Replying to a comment of Cohen’s on the irony of denying cartoonist Zapiro the right to speak on freedom of speech at Herzlia, Ronnie Gotkin, principal of Herzlia Highlands Primary, said the school was not a “safe space” for anti-Zionists. “It’s antithetical to our ideology as a proudly Zionist school and it’s not incumbent on the school to promote (anti-Zionism).

“Zapiro has spoken at the school. He was told that he could speak on the topic given, but he should not stray on to the topic of Israel. We feel that’s perfectly acceptable.”

The ethos of the school was to be “completely accepting” with regard to gay pupils. A decision by the principal to allow a female to bring her female partner to the matric dance had in fact been endorsed by the campus rabbi at the time.

Commenting on the fact that only Progressive rabbis had interacted with the recently-formed Jewish gay movement here, David Jacobson, executive director of the Cape Board, asked if Chabad would engage. Rabbi Asher Deren replied: “I don’t see why people shouldn’t be engaged with. No-one expects a rabbi to back down from his principles, but people expect a level of empathy and sensitivity, which you’ll find in abundance. I look forward to taking it forward.”

Earlier, David Jacobson said he had noticed “an alarming increase in vilification among Jews who disagree. It’s not about creating consensus, but an environment in which one can passionately disagree, but allowing space for the other’s views to be heard.”