SA Jewry: Ring the bells that still can ring

Geoff Sifrin

We don’t know what President Trump’s legacy will be when he leaves office. Amidst dismay at his election, people who find him dangerous look for an elusive “silver lining”. His attitudes resonate with the rise of right-wing, fascist figures in other countries.

Ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, racism and other social ills that had become unacceptable in the last few decades, are respectable again with the rise of the new right.

Perhaps one positive aspect is that change is sometimes inherently a good thing as it moves people out of stale comfort zones and creates new energy. In the lyrics of his song “Anthem”, Cohen wrote: “Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.”

It is hard imagining Trump as a bringer of light, but perhaps the crack in the political order he has shattered was the left’s complacency. In its enthusiasm for globalisation and multiculturalism, it neglected masses of ordinary local people in countries worldwide who were left behind and became poorer, while wealthy international elites were creaming it.

With his contempt for everything the “enlightened” establishment regarded as proper political behaviour, Trump became the voice of those angry masses.

In times of upheaval, Jews instinctively ask: “Is it good or bad for the Jews?” There is cause for concern: The rise of the new right coincides with ominous stirrings of racism, which always goes hand-in-hand with anti-Semitism and hatred of other minorities. In countries where it was taboo not long ago to speak publicly against the Jews – even if some people disliked them privately – open expressions of Jew-hatred have become common. In France, for example, masses of Jews are emigrating after attacks on them. 

Even in South Africa, which still clings to the memory of tolerance and multiculturalism of Mandela’s “rainbow nation”, signs are worrying. Earlier this month, for example, graffiti appeared at Wits university campus, saying “Kill a Jew” and “F*** the Jews”; last month, a kippah-wearing student was called a “Motherf***ing Jew” by fellow students.

Jewish organisations say anti-Semitism remains low in South Africa compared to other countries. But the rise of populists such as Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, who claims to speak for millions of angry, poor and jobless black masses, brings dangers. His populist tactics are similar to Trump’s, but from a leftwing, albeit nationalistic, perspective.

In their drive to power, demagogues willingly use any tools, often couched in simplistic terminology which promises to solve everything. While he has not publicly expressed anti-Semitism, Malema’s vitriol against whites and his refrain that “white monopoly capital” is the root of the country’s problems could easily be tweaked to “white and Jewish monopoly capital”.

Sinister bedfellows would jump from the sidelines to support him in this line. Jewish South Africans must be prepared for this.

Trump may turn out to be less catastrophic than doomsayers predict. In politics, yelling viciously from the sidelines is easy, but once a person gets his hands on the steering wheel, things look different. And US politics has so many checks and balances, it is hard for any leader to go completely off track.

For Malema, however, South Africa’s political restraints are less robust. Either way, we’re in for an interesting few years.

Read Geoff Sifrin’s regular columns on his blog sifrintakingissue.wordpress.com