Tony Ehrenreich vs Jewish Board of Deputies

15 August 2014

Below please find the letter from Tony Ehrenreich in relation to the criminal charges to be brought against the Jewish Board of Deputies and the complaint lodged with the Human Rights Commission.

15 Augusts 2014

Letter to the Editor: Cape Times 

Jewish Board of Deputies - charges  

The references in the Cape Times article on Thursday is an inaccurate reflection of what I said in my personal Facebook post. My statement boils down to this: don't tell me to not buy a tin of coke [boycott] as the sum total of the expression of my outrage at the killings of women and children in Gaza. If it were my children I would want to go to war to stop the slaughter. But I am not advocating violence, as it only ends with us mirroring the evil of the oppressor, whose oppression we should want to stop with the urgency of now. This principle and condemnation applies equally to the killings in Iraq, Syria and China, as well as elsewhere.

At the outset let me state it clearly that I am not Anti-Semitic and am not calling for violence against Jews. My focus is against the Jewish Board of Deputies specifically, for condoning the violence against Palestinians. The Jewish Board of Deputies is now trying to hide behind the Jewish Community, many of whom do not support what the Board is promoting in Palestine.

The statement on my Facebook page is in my private capacity and I stand by it. The killings in Gaza by the Israeli army have never been condemned by the Jewish Board of Deputies. They have in the face of overwhelming rejection of South Africans of the genocide in Palestine, arranged events to support the right to kill Palestinians. The Jewish Board of Deputies fund and condone the actions of the Israeli state. They support the sending of young South Africans to go and kill unarmed Palestinians in Gaza. The Jewish Board of Deputies acts with impunity in South Africa as they try to spread their propaganda.

The reference to ‘an eye for an eye' is to ensure that we take actions that are commensurate with the atrocities. The polite statements that have been made in South Africa thus far, has not seen an end to the murders in Gaza. This however is not a call for violence, but it is a call for more decisive actions in South Africa, that would force the Jewish Board of Deputies to promote justice. The following are some of the options, some of which are already in place;

- Charging the Jewish Board of Deputies with being complicit in war crimes in Gaza, by the SA Government;

- Arresting those who have gone to fight in the Israeli attacks against Palestine;

- Investigating the funding sources from South Africa to the Israeli war machine;

- Instituting immediate state wide boycotts, supported by ex President Thabo Mbeki;

- When the Israeli deny Palestinian rights to protest marches, then we must deny the Jewish Board of Deputies the right to protest in South Africa;

These steps and the language are designed to get more decisive action from the South African community and to get the Israeli army and their supporters in South Africa to act, to stop the killing of women and children in Gaza. This outrage that I feel is because the children there are no different from our children here and we must do more to bring an end to the murders and maiming. If my statements make some people uncomfortable, then so be it, it is infinitely less discomforting than having your family wiped out.

The Jewish Board of Deputies have now elected to lay charges against me for hate speech, which is their right in South Africa, rights they do not afford Palestinians in Gaza. I am in turn laying charges against them for supporting crimes against humanity in Gaza, and for being complicit through their actions or inactions, in the killing of women and children in Gaza. Further charges relate to them sending money and young men to feed the Israeli war machine that is responsible for the massacre of the Palestinians. These charges will be laid at both the South African Police services as well as at the Human Rights Commission.

Let this be a public trial on the value system of South Africa on what we should be doing in relation to advancing our principles. But let it be painfully clear that we will not be intimidated into silence so that the killing in Gaza can continue. We are sorry about what happened during the holocaust and it must never be repeated, but that does not justify what is happening in Gaza, or the constant claim by the Jewish Board of Deputies of being the victims now. The Jewish Board of Deputies must be held accountable for their complicity in this genocide in Gaza.

Tony Ehrenreich

Personal Capacity

Issued by Tony Ehrenreich in his personal capacity, August 15 2014

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