Cape Jewish Chronicle

The Board fully supports the principle of freedom of expression, recognising that this is one of the cornerstones of any democratic society. There comes a time, however, when the boundaries between fair comment and offensive propaganda are crossed. Such was the case with a cartoon by Zapiro that appeared in all the Independent newspapers on 12 March. In essence, this accused Israeli Jews of celebrating their deliverance from persecution whilst simultaneously committing the same acts of oppression against the Palestinians.

Using the contacts we have built up with the local media over the years, the Board was able to ensure that responses to the cartoon appeared in all the papers in which it was originally published. This included the publication of a full opinion piece in The Star and Mercury and numerous letters in the Cape Argus and Pretoria News.
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The National Executive Committee of the Board comprises a broad and genuinely representative cross-section of South African Jewish leaders. The latter are drawn from all the major Jewish centres countrywide and include some of the country’s foremost businessmen, academics and lawyers, as well as lay and professional leaders, who have given many years of service in a wide variety of capacities to Jewish communal life.

Earlier this month, the NEC held its first meeting for 2008. There were many serious issues on the table. What emerged very strongly was the extent to which crime, the ongoing power crisis and the general post-Polokwane uncertainty was negatively impacting on our community’s morale.
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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CAPE COUNCIL

I begin by congratulating our Cape Council on an outstanding conference, as well as the newly elected committee. In my congratulatory message to the Cape Council for the occasion, I made the point that South African Jewry owes a deep debt of gratitude to the Jewish community of Cape Town. Not only is it our mother community, where organised Jewish life first took root, but to this day it remains a vital hub of Jewish activity that caters for every aspect of Jewish communal life within a superbly organised, disciplined framework that allows for both growth and continuity.
The Cape Council, as the central representative and coordinating body of Cape Jewry, has always been served by people who combined vision, leadership abilities and experience, with a deep commitment to furthering the greater Jewish cause. This proud tradition continues to this day, with leadership of the highest calibre emerging to take up positions of responsibility on the community’s behalf.
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Just before Rosh Hashanah the Board was engaged in the latest round of its extended battle against Radio 786 when the Constitutional Court considered the latter’s application to strike down certain provisions of the Independent Communications Authority of SA legislation relating to complaint and adjudication. The aim of the application was to overturn ICASA’s ruling upholding the Board’s complaint against Radio 786 for antisemitic broadcasting.

The Board, as fourth respondent, strenuously argued against the application. Judgment has been reserved and we wait the outcome with interest. I warmly ommend the Board’s legal team, and in particular Mervyn Smith and Ivan Levy, for the outstanding work they continue to do in this important matter, on which hang many crucial issues concerning freedom of expression and the continued illegality of hate speech in South Africa.
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