Standing together we will prevail

MARY KLUK

The main theme of the conference is “Celebrating 20 Years of Freedom”, where speakers and participants will reflect on the journey our country has taken in the two decades following the transition to democracy, where it finds itself in 2014 and where it still needs to go if the ideals and aspirations that marked the launch of the democratic era are to be realised.  

Normally, I would be attending the conference, but instead have opted to represent our community at two other important gatherings being held in Berlin, Germany. The first, to take place almost simultaneously with the opening of the Gauteng conference, is a demonstration against ant-Semitism outside the city’s historic Brandenburg Gate. This has been organised by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, with those participating including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck.

The other event is the meeting of the governing board of the World Jewish Congress on September 14 – 16. As the representative for South African Jewry on this occasion, I will be participating and giving input into those debates from our own community’s perspective.

Like the SAJBD, the mission of our German counterpart, the Central Council of Jews in Germany, is to strive for a secure, confident Jewish life in their country and to work with their government and supporters in the greater society to achieve this. This mission is pursued on behalf of global Jewry by the World Jewish Congress.

The naked hatred that is now being so openly expressed against Jews, particularly in Europe, but also in many other parts of the world, is a cause of great distress and anxiety to all of us. We cannot afford to remain silent and hope it will go away, but must stand together – Jew and gentile alike – in denouncing and effectively confronting this evil.

I am privileged, as a representative of South African Jewry, to be able to participate in the stand being taken by international Jewry against the escalating anti-Semitic threat. As we are well aware, our own community, no less than our European counterparts, has also experienced a sharp rise in such activity over the past several months.

Confronting these developments and determining the way forward will form the major part of the World Jewish Congress meeting. The challenges we face are certainly formidable ones, but by standing together as a people alongside the many friends and supporters we have outside our ranks, I am confident that we will be able to meet them and eventually to prevail.

I will report back on my Berlin experiences next week, and conclude by wishing our Gauteng Council and all those involved a very successful and productive conference. 

• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM every Friday 12:00-13:00.