South African Jews Hit By ‘Flurry Of Viciously Anti-Semitic’ Incidents
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Representatives of South Africa’s Jewish community said they are seeing an uptick in anti-Semitic rhetoric in real life and on social media.
The South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies, or SAJBD, said this in a statement, warning that, “Over the past 24 hours, a flurry of viciously antisemitic and threatening attacks have been made against South African Jews, both on social media and in direct face-to-face encounters.”
Passengers awaiting their suitcases from an El Al flight into South Africa were called “wicked Jews” at the airport by a man who ranted against them from across a luggage belt at O. R. Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg.
A mural with a German flag and a swastika inserted in it was painted this week on a wall in Hamilton Street in Johannesburg.
These incidents occurred amid a flood of hate speech online against South African Jews, SAJBD Chairman Shaun Zagnoev said in the statement.
“The posts show how easily radical anti-Israel sentiment can spill over into hateful slurs and threats against Jewish people in general. We are being told that we are ‘scum’, ‘rats’, ‘bastards’, ‘pigs’, ‘swine’ and ‘fat-nosed f***|ks. We are further being warned that ‘our time is coming’ and that ‘the Holocaust will be a picnic after we are done with you’,” the statement read.
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