Stop quaking in fear from bullies

When I heard news of the earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this week, my first thought was whether there were any Jews living there.

Antakya – which was at the heart of the quake – was far from Istanbul and Ankara where there are large Jewish communities, So, I thought it unlikely, but I was wrong.

Connecting with Jewish media in Turkey, I discovered that there was a community of 14 Jews in Antakya, with a Jewish history going back thousands of years.

At first, I heard that three Jewish people were caught under the rubble and then freed. But later, word got out that the man who people call the leader of the community and his wife had been missing since their apartment building collapsed on 6 February.

Saul Cenudioğlu and his wife, Fortuna, apparently held this community together for so many years. (See story on page 8).

Jews have lived in Antakya, known in ancient times as Antioch, for 23 centuries.

A colleague of mine, David I. Klein, who works for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in Istanbul, visited Antakya late last year obviously not knowing what would happen there now.

He writes of a symbol composed of a Magen David entwined with a Christian cross and an Islamic crescent, which appears much like the city’s logo, as it’s plastered all over town.

Klein said that the Magen David imagery was so prevalent, one could be forgiven for thinking that Jews were a significant portion of the city’s 200 000-strong population. In truth, the small group rarely make a minyan, and the youngest is older than 60.

Back in the days of the Maccabees, this city was the base for Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes IV (the villain of the Chanukah story).

The Talmud, according to Klein, even records visits to the city from Jewish sages like Rabbi Akiva. The Jews who live there today are very attached to the Jewish traditions they can practice in such a small community.

And although they don’t have enough observant Jewish men to have a regular minyan, every Jew has a key to the shul, which was seriously damaged in the earthquake.

In spite of the devastation of the earthquake and the tiny number of Jews in Antakya, it seems they will prevail in the city.

Isn’t it wonderful to know that there are pockets of our people all over the world, even in places you least expect to find them? And so often, there’s a history to their existence that goes back before our time.

I guess it was no surprise that one of the first countries to send help was Israel. It obviously wasn’t heading over to help Jews only, it was involved in a humanitarian effort to save as many lives as possible.

Quite the opposite goes for the anti-Israel lobby in South Africa, which professes to be human rights activists but spends its time bullying anyone who has anything to do with Israel.

Its behaviour over the Tel Aviv Heat rugby team playing in South Africa was disgusting.

The bullying tactics that included death threats were outrageous. Though I would have hoped that the people at the helm of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) would have been able to withstand the anti-Israel lobby’s bullying, they weren’t and they didn’t.

When our senior journalist, Nicola Miltz, got off the phone with the president of SARU, she told me he was seriously rattled by all that had happened.

I can only imagine the threats that came his way and the way of those members of the union, because we’ve seen it all before.

Every time anyone gets wind that sports teams, musicians, or any recognised personalities will include something to do with Israel, the lobby resorts to its vicious and toxic bullying tactics. The same thing happens if a South African wants to visit or perform in Israel. It’s disgusting.

Instead of focusing on uplifting the lives of Palestinians, it focuses on destroying people’s lives. How humanitarian is that?

And there are few who can withstand the badgering, death threats, and bullying. I can’t say I’m surprised. They are just simply a bunch of bullies who have found an outlet for behaviour that I’m sure they perfected when they were at school.

I mean, really, why not just put out your side of the story, and try and explain your situation? They don’t do that because they know they are wrong. Instead, they pull out the bullying tactics and go guns ablazing to stop South Africans having anything to do with Israel.

At what cost?

Destroying people’s confidence, terrifying people, and making their lives a misery.

And for what? In this case, Tel Aviv Heat employs excellent rugby players who didn’t have other outlets. Many of them are South African and not Jewish. Tel Aviv Heat gives them an opportunity to play international rugby to the best of their ability, ensuring that they live the life they want to live.

In so doing, they represent a country that has been good to them. However, these aren’t politicians, they’re rugby players who wanted to come to South Africa to play the game, and not get involved in a political spat.

But by uninviting Tel Aviv Heat, who loses? Not Israel, that I can promise you.

The losers are the rugby players themselves and the fans. The Tel Aviv Heat team won’t play here, and they are out of this tournament, but it also prevents other sides from competing with a really good team. It stops South African fans from seeing this competition, which simply isn’t fair.

Rugby is sport, and sport isn’t politics. And bullying is bullying, whether you see it in school or in politics. It should be outlawed so that people can make up their own minds without feeling threatened or harassed.

And, being able to participate in and watch sport after so long in lockdown is such a breath of fresh air. What a gift it is to be in a stadium full of fans to watch your favourite team play. This is what getting back to life means.

This last weekend, I was able to watch Sting and Imagine Dragons perform in Johannesburg. What a treat, and what an incredible feeling of being back to life, back to reality!

Shabbat Shalom!

Peta Krost

Editor