Survé includes Jews in fight against racism

SUZANNE BELLING

PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED

As if to prove a point that he meant any kind of racism (“I include anti-Semitism”), Survé invited as his personal guest to the launch, Israeli Ambassador to South Africa Arthur Lenk.

“People should stop and think, look at history and the consequences of hate speech and inflammatory statements. I believe we should get South Africans talking to each other and put our country into this space.”

Dr Survé has taken some flak from members of the South African Jewish community who have accused him and the Independent newspaper titles of taking anti-Semitic and anti-Israel stances in their coverage of Israel. Survé says he tries to give his editors autonomy but has prevailed upon them not to allow their staff to take sides.

He told Jewish Report that he hoped that someone without an agenda, an individual as opposed to an organisation, might come forward to take a group of Independent Group journalists to Auschwitz, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“I would like them to understand both the Jewish psyche and get a greater comprehension of the complexities of the situation in the Middle East,” says Survé.

Independent’s foreign editor Shannon Ebrahim, who has upset the community with her one-sided anti-Israel articles, recently returned from a trip to Auschwitz and wrote an article about her experience in last week Friday’s Star.

She described the “naked barbarity, the cruelty and the indifference to human suffering that brings you to your knees…if we want an end to the cycle of repression and genocide – whether in Africa or the Middle East – opposing communities will need to go the extra mile to understand the historical and current trauma of the other.”

Sometimes Survé finds himself between a rock and a hard place, being accused by the Jewish community of siding with the Arabs/Palestinians and by the supporters of the Palestinian cause of siding with Israel.

“We should be able to help with the peace process and show how South Africa overcame challenges.”

Survé has held discussions with SAJBD National Chairman Jeff Katz; National Vice-Chairman and Cape Chairman Eric Marx; SA Zionist Federation Cape Chairman Rowan Polovin; and Charisse Zeifert, head of communications at the SAJBD.

“The meeting was off the record, but fruitful,” Survé said.

The urgent need to address racism served as a rationale for the RacismStopsWithMe campaign and to provide a platform for all voices regardless of age, race, education or class. There will be a dedicated website, giving guidance on how to deal with bigotry.

One of Survé’s campaign partners is the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. Kathrada, himself, a former prisoner on Robben Island, has visited Auschwitz and drawn comparisons.

“As a doctor, I see people from all backgrounds, faiths and colours coming together as a cathartic process,” says Survé, who was the key figure in securing the release of Cape Town retired paediatric oncologist Professor Cyril Karabus when the latter was wrongfully arrested and incarcerated in the United Arab Emirates following the death of a three-year-old leukaemia patient while Karabus served as a locum there.

Karabus, Survé’s former professor at the University of Cape Town, was also a guest at the campaign launch.

“There is too much anger around,” Survé told Jewish Report. “Leadership should find that which is beautiful in people. We are all of the same blood. Together we can unite and give the country what it needs. We have a common humanity – let’s concentrate on what we have in common, rather than what is different, give voice to ordinary people across the country – we all want the same thing – jobs and to practise our religions in peace.”

Other partners in the #RacismStopsWithMe campaign include the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union and the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Seta. A Sactwu clothing factory is producing around one million T-shirts sporting the campaign logo and Independent Media intends to employ 100 young South Africans to participate in the campaign as interns.