A mediation meeting between Deputy Minister of International Relations Marius Fransman and the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) failed to take place when the Deputy Minister informed the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that he would not be attending after all. The meeting, the date of which had been mutually agreed upon a month before, was scheduled to take place under the auspices of the SAHRC on Friday, but when the SAJBD representatives arrived, they were informed not only that Fransman would not be attending but that he had no interest in participating in any future mediation process. [read more]
On 12 March 2013, anti-Israel demonstrators brought a recital by Israeli-born pianist Yossi Reshef to a premature end by invading the venue and forcibly disrupting the performance. Unable to defend the disgraceful actions, those responsible and their supporters have since resorted to playing the race card, fabricating atrocity stories and invoking conspiracy theories against the Jewish communal leadership. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) rejects this despicable tactic with all the contempt it deserves, as will all fair-minded, reasonable South Africans. [read more]
Earlier this week, two swastikas were daubed on the wall of a Jewish residence in Sandringham, Johannesburg. The incident was reported to the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), which is currently investigating the matter. The SAJBD investigates all antisemitic incidents very thoroughly and so long as there remains any possible avenue to explore will do everything it can to bring those responsible to book.
Certain allegations have since been made via Twitter that members of the Jewish community were responsible for painting the graffiti. The SAJBD would like to stress that no evidence has been found that in any way supports this claim. At this stage, it is not known who the perpetrators are, and therefore accusing members of a specific ethnic or religious group of being responsible is reckless and needlessly divisive. [read more]
Zev Krengel, President of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, has categorically denied accusations that he was present at and involved in the alleged mistreatment of a protester at Monday night’s Yom Haatzmaut celebrations. Such claims, he said, were just one more example of BDS-SA activists seeking to smear the Jewish communal leadership by fabricating malicious and unfounded charges against its representatives. [read more]
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