A group of anti-Israel activists held wanted posters with the names and photos of members of South Africa’s Jewish community at a pro-Palestinian protest in Cape Town's Sea Point Promenade on Saturday - demanding the individuals be arrested or deported from the country, the South African Jewish Report published on Thursday.
Many of the individuals, who were contacted by the Report, deny having committed any crime and some claimed they had never lived nor worked in Israel.
A Johannesburg remedial educator told the Report she was shocked to discover her face on a protester. “The most important thing is that when I saw it, I felt proud to be Jewish, and I will always fight for Israel’s right to exist. Doing this won’t change who I am,” she said.
Another Jewish individual stressed he hadn’t committed any crime.
“These posters make it clear that I’m ‘guilty’ because I’m a Jew,” he told the Report. “It’s disturbing to see South Africans holding up posters of fellow South Africans demanding that they be punished because they are Jewish.”
Rising antisemitism in South Africa
South Africa has seen a dramatic rise in antisemitism since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel, Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) Executive Director Daniel Bloch noted. Like much of the world, protests have been held in solidarity with Palestinians, and in some cases, Hamas, weekly.
“We have seen an alarming escalation in aggression, including the use of swastikas and rhetoric inciting violence against anyone who supports Israel”, Bloch said. “This past Saturday, a group of 15 protesters physically assaulted a pedestrian, beating the individual with flag poles whilst verbally abusing him. There’s video evidence of this assault. We will be investigating this further and ensure action is taken against this clearly violent group.”
Many of the posters at the protests, according to the Report, included violent slogans like “Peace isn’t the answer, liberation is the answer;” “Next 7 October, Palestine will be free;” “We trust the resistance;” “You can’t hide, we are coming for you;” and “Resistance until Palestine’s liberation.”
“This isn’t protest, this is targeted harassment,” Cape SAJBD Chairperson Adrienne Jacobson reportedly said. “These protests are thinly disguised antisemitism and intimidation. The protestors’ adoration of Hamas is even more concerning, particularly after the confirmed brutal murder of the Bibas children. Groups calling for another 7 October is further evidence of incitement to violence.”