South African Jews for a Free Palestine

South African Jews for a Free Palestine

We are an organisation of South African Jews working towards a just and peaceful end to the conflict in Historic Palestine

News & Information

The Complex Dynamics of Holocaust Remembrance

Sep 5, 2024

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by

SAJFP

in Member Voices

I sat listening in delight to the travel stories of a South African man of Croatian heritage as he recounted his trek to the small…
Statement on SAJFP Picket at the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre (CTHGC)

Aug 10, 2024

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by

SAJFP

in Statements

On Friday, 9 August, South African Jews for a Free Palestine held a picket outside the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre (CTHGC). The picket…
South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) condemns the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh – An irresponsible act and serious setback for the ceasefire negotiations

Jul 31, 2024

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by

SAJFP

in Statements

South African Jews for a Free Palestine unequivocally condemns the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of the Hamas Party. His role as a diplomat…
South African Jews for a Free Palestine Demands Banning Israel from the Olympics

Jul 29, 2024

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by

SAJFP

in Media & Publications, Statements

South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) fully endorses the statement issued by the South African Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (SA BDS) Coalition to…

sajewsforfreepalestine

For this week’s Shabbos Spotlight, we are recomm

For this week’s Shabbos Spotlight, we are recommending a collection of poetry from various Palestinian and Jewish anti-Zionist poets. The collection features the work of Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, Mosab Abu Toha, Fara Tucker, Hind Joudah, Ahlam Bsharat and Muin Bseiso and a Yiddish anti-Zionist folk song! ✊

The collection was curated by Caitlin Le Roith and designed by @tams.wilson

Thank you for joining us for our Women’s Month S

Thank you for joining us for our Women’s Month Shabbat against Genocide! Women’s Month is historically rooted in the commemoration of the 9 August 1956 march by 20 000 South African women to the Union Buildings to protest the horrific pass laws and to struggle against the patriarchal, classist, and racist society. This event was a chance to honour that history and to recognise that the struggle against various forms of oppression continue. Through it, we focused on South Africa (with some of the highest rates of gender based violence worldwide) and of course on women in the contexts of genocide, specifically in Palestine as well as the DRC. While calling this a Women’s Month event, we wanted to acknowledge the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, and ability that may impact the ways in which women – and non-binary people – experience deeper forms of privilege or oppression, as well as how they resist them.

Thank you to the AIDC for hosting us so generously, and to Vanessa Farr, @nnamwezi from the @panzifoundation, and Samah El-Boraei from @hcw4palestinesa for offering your insights.

📸 @tams.wilson

For this week's Shabbos Spotlight, here are ten br

For this week's Shabbos Spotlight, here are ten brilliant books by modern Palestinian authors, all released in the past 5 years 🙌✊

In this week's Shabbat Spotlight, @the_queer_jew s

In this week's Shabbat Spotlight, @the_queer_jew shares his thoughts on Ghassan Kanafani's short story, Men in the Sun. Kanafani is one of Palestine's most influential writers. His work has had a profound impact both on Palestinians and people around the world, even though his life was cut short at the age of 36.

Men in the Sun is a must-read, as is all of Kanafani's bibliography.

#freepalestine

Happening on September 6 at the Open Book Festival

Happening on September 6 at the Open Book Festival in Cape Town!

Book your tickets now!

Cape Town: Join us on Thursday as we protest again

Cape Town: Join us on Thursday as we protest against the continued sale of coal to Israel from South African shores. Coal embargo now!

JHB: Join us on Thursday as we protest against the

JHB: Join us on Thursday as we protest against the continued sale of coal to Israel from South African shores. Coal embargo now!

In this week's Shabbos Spotlight, @mitcheljhunter

In this week's Shabbos Spotlight, @mitcheljhunter shares their thoughts on Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa @susanabulhawa

Mornings in Jenin was the first mainstream novel in English about life in Palestine after the nakba. Its success helped pave the way for the English releases of many more Palestinian authors and their stories.

In addition to the content of the slides, Mitchel notes:
"This book was powerful. I read it over two intense days crying and stopping frequently to think over her writing."

Get your copy at the link in our bio!

Today is Tisha B’Av, the day the Jewish people g

Today is Tisha B’Av, the day the Jewish people grieve for all the disasters, natural and man-made, that have occurred throughout history. It marks the culmination of 9 days of mourning. This year, we grieve the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people in our name. Each of the headlines in the slides above describes a different atrocity from just the past 9 days, including the brutal massacre of more than 100 people praying and sheltering in a school in Gaza.

Tisha B’Av is described by the Talmud not as a day to wallow in self-pity, but rather as an opportunity to reflect on where we ourselves have gone wrong. It is easy to deflect in August 2024. After all, if anyone should be reflecting, it should be Zionists who are committing and justifying the violent gang rape of Palestinians amid daily massacres.

But the lesson from the Talmud is that we only have agency over our own actions. As such, we ask today how we got to the point where the above 9 stories are just the tip of the iceberg in reflecting the horrors of the genocide in Gaza, even over the past 9 days alone.

We do not reflect out of a desire to centre ourselves in the narrative, but rather to learn how we can do better for the Palestinian people.

Never Again means Never Again for Anyone. Let us reassert our commitment to Tikkun Olam - making the world a better place for all.

Source: @aljazeeraenglish

#neveragainforanyone #antizionismisnotantisemitism
#freepalestine🇵🇸

Cape Town: the next Shabbat against Genocide is th

Cape Town: the next Shabbat against Genocide is this Friday night (16 August). Please join us at the D6 Homecoming Centre and spread the word!

On Friday, 9 August, South African Jews for a Free

On Friday, 9 August, South African Jews for a Free Palestine held a picket outside the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre (CTHGC). The picket was mostly silent, but included Jewish prayers and songs for peace, such as “Lo Yisa Goy” (whose lyrics translate to “nation shall not take up sword against nation, never again will they know war”) and the Mourner’s Kaddish (an ancient prayer for those who have died). We decided to hold this picket after numerous failed attempts at engaging the Centre about their silence on the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Friday marked the end of a six-day conference hosted by the Centre titled “Building Resilience Through Holocaust & Genocide Education”.

The Centre has been utterly silent on Gaza. It has failed to acknowledge the thousands of Palestinians killed by Israel, and the dehumanisation tactics that have primed the world to turn their backs on plausible genocide. However, it is not only to note an omission that we are taking a stand against this Centre. The Centre’s silence on the atrocities in Gaza is a poignant indication of how dangerous education can be when it becomes an instrument of a violent political ideology.

On the surface, this violence may seem at odds with the education offered by the CTHGC. On its website, the Centre claims that a core purpose of Holocaust education is to “draw attention to the dangers of indifference, apathy and silence.” The Centre does not only teach about the Holocaust but other genocides and human rights violations such as the Rwandan Genocide, the Holodomor in Ukraine and Apartheid.

However, when digging deeper into the Centre’s approach, it becomes clear that their education is far from universal in its spirit. For example, in a talk titled “New realities of Holocaust education” the content omitted any reference to the atrocities — which have been likened to those by the Nazis — being committed against Palestinians. Instead, it reinforced time and time again, how Holocaust memorialisation can be a useful tool to understanding and responding to the events of October 7th.

Continued in comments...

In light of our protest against the silence of the

In light of our protest against the silence of the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre, today’s Shabbos Spotlight focuses on MAUS. Recommended by Jenna, Art Spiegelman’s masterpiece sheds light on how dehumanising is used by genocidal regimes to facilitate genocide. His own words reflect the axiom that 'Never Again' means 'Never Again for Anyone!'

#neveragainforanyone

We read out our flyer at our protest and the Cape

We read out our flyer at our protest and the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre today. We also recited Mourners' Kaddish. More to come on events at the protest

#neveragainforanyone

Today we held a silent protest at the Cape Town Ho

Today we held a silent protest at the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre, to call out their silence on the Gaza genocide. This protest occurred as they hosted Zionist apologists at a conference for educators. Swipe to see the message on the flyers we handed out.

More to come...

#neveragainforanyone

Photos from Saturday's event hosted by @fossilfree

Photos from Saturday's event hosted by @fossilfreesa

📷 @tams.wilson

#freepalestine #divestfromfossilfuels

This account is posing as ours and trying to solic

This account is posing as ours and trying to solicit donations! Please be aware and report them if you come across them ✊

In this week’s Shabbos Spotlight, Shereen Usdin

In this week’s Shabbos Spotlight, Shereen Usdin shares her thoughts on The General’s Son by Miko Peled @mikopeled

This is a book that resonates with many of our members, as it follows the author’s journey from a Zionist upbringing to an activist for Palestine.

Art: @gavi_levin.art

Get your copy at the link in our bio!

#palestine🇵🇸

South African Jews for a Free Palestine unequivoca

South African Jews for a Free Palestine unequivocally condemns the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of the Hamas Party. His role as a diplomat has been invaluable in attempts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza which, in turn, would not only guarantee cessation of attacks from Israel’s neighbouring states but also avoid conflagration in the region. Haniyeh’s assassination is the clearest sign that Israel is not interested in a ceasefire. Instead, we are now facing the serious prospect of a regional war and, as such, more civilian loss and suffering in Palestine and beyond.

This heinous act invokes the memory of Chris Hani and his tragic assassination on 10 April 1993. He posed a threat to the apartheid regime precisely because of his important role in negotiations, and that his contributions might actually foster a future of peace and justice in the country. Today we mourn the loss of a person who has played a similar, key role in pushing for peace.

As Nelson Mandela said, ‘We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians’. The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh is a harsh blow to Mandela’s reminder, the spirit of which is the guiding principle of SAJFP’s stand on the matter of Apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing underway in Occupied Palestine.

SAJFP stands for Peace, a dispensation to the benefit of all who live in historic Palestine. We regard the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh as a tragedy, a blatant act of terrorism and a heinous travesty of justice.

We condemn Israel’s action in the strongest terms and offer our most heartfelt condolences to all who are in mourning.

To a free Palestine, from the river to the sea!

For media queries, please contact us at media@sajfp.org.za

SAJFP stands with the @sa_bdscoalition in calling

SAJFP stands with the @sa_bdscoalition in calling for a ban on Israel from further competing in the 2024 Olympics. It is outrageous that the country is allowed to participate while its army continues to commit warcrimes against a civilian population.

In this week's Shabbat Spotlight, Linzi Lewis @lil

In this week's Shabbat Spotlight, Linzi Lewis @liliana_transplanter shares their thoughts on Palestinian Walks by Raja Shehadeh.

This masterful work vividly explores the Palestinian connection to the land of Palestine. Shehadeh will take you on a journey through its beloved hills and history.

Art: @gavi_levin.art

Get your copy at the link in our bio!

#palestine🇵🇸

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