TONY Ehrenreich, leader of the African National Congress in the Western Cape, recently had this to say: "The time has come to say very clearly that if a woman or child is killed in Gaza, then the Jewish Board of Deputies, who are complicit, will feel the wrath of the people of South Africa with the age-old biblical teaching of an eye for an eye.
"The time has come for the conflict to be waged everywhere the Zionist supporters fund and condone the war killing machine of Israel."
His virulent anti-Semitism and hate speech is hardly surprising as it is driven by a hate and frustration that he cannot contain.
First, he sees Israel as white, although this is far from true, and therefore treats Israel (and/or Jews interchangeably) as a proxy for whites. He feels free to call for the eye-for-an-eye death of Jews only because he thinks he can get away with it, whereas he can’t (yet) get away with calling for death to whites.
Second, he, as a communist (together with leftists, "progressives", nongovernmental organisations and academia), finds it unpalatable that Israel has become one of the most successful countries in the world because of its market-driven economy and individual freedoms associated with western democracy.
If his emotional concerns had been extended to other unfortunate groups ( the Sudanese under the Omar al-Bashir or Palestinians in Syria under Bashar al-Assad, perhaps), this analysis would not stand but, as it is, his concern for the Palestinians in Gaza is (in addition to an opportunist vote-catching tactic) a fraudulent smoke screen for his white and western hate, which manifests in anti-Semitism.
Sydney Kaye
Cape Town
Congress of South African Trade Unions Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich. Picture: TREVOR SAMSON
TONY Ehrenreich, leader of the African National Congress in the Western Cape, recently had this to say: "The time has come to say very clearly that if a woman or child is killed in Gaza, then the Jewish Board of Deputies, who are complicit, will feel the wrath of the people of South Africa with the age-old biblical teaching of an eye for an eye.
"The time has come for the conflict to be waged everywhere the Zionist supporters fund and condone the war killing machine of Israel."
His virulent anti-Semitism and hate speech is hardly surprising as it is driven by a hate and frustration that he cannot contain.
First, he sees Israel as white, although this is far from true, and therefore treats Israel (and/or Jews interchangeably) as a proxy for whites. He feels free to call for the eye-for-an-eye death of Jews only because he thinks he can get away with it, whereas he can’t (yet) get away with calling for death to whites.
Second, he, as a communist (together with leftists, "progressives", nongovernmental organisations and academia), finds it unpalatable that Israel has become one of the most successful countries in the world because of its market-driven economy and individual freedoms associated with western democracy.
If his emotional concerns had been extended to other unfortunate groups ( the Sudanese under the Omar al-Bashir or Palestinians in Syria under Bashar al-Assad, perhaps), this analysis would not stand but, as it is, his concern for the Palestinians in Gaza is (in addition to an opportunist vote-catching tactic) a fraudulent smoke screen for his white and western hate, which manifests in anti-Semitism.
Sydney Kaye
Cape Town
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