Obed Bapela undermines SA democracy in his attack on Jewish Community
Obed Bapela has undermined the very core value of South Africa’s democracy by proposing a change to our law purely to prevent one sector of our society, in this case, South African Jews from having a relationship with Israel.
Bapela has called for the notion of Dual Citizenship to be revised, simply to prevent the Jewish community who make up 0.1% of the South African population, from identifying with Israel.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) and the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) condemn his proposal.
This unfortunate political grandstanding by Bapela is motivated by his own narrow understanding of the Middle East conflict, which is based on religious fundamentalism and the BDS lobby within the ANC, and we would hope that in no way reflects the views of the ANC. This is not the first time that Bapela has attacked the Jewish community and its leadership.
The singling out of any minority group for discrimination is ominous for South Africa’s democracy. In a country which battles against racism and xenophobia on a daily basis, Bapela is further inflaming divisions within our society. While mentioning Jews today, it will be other minorities tomorrow.