Jewish groups slam S. Africa for ‘anti-Semitic’ bid to nix dual citizenship
Deputy minister pushing forward bill intended to keep Jews from joining Israeli army
South African Jewish leaders spoke out Monday against a proposed ban on dual citizenship, which they said was targeting nationals who serve in the Israeli army, accusing a senior government official of anti-Semitism.
A statement from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) and the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) accused Pretoria of abandoning democratic values and accused deputy minister Obed Bapela of discriminating against Jews.
“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,” read the statement.
Bapela, a senior official in the African National Congress ruling party who heads South Africa’s National Executive Committee, said recently that South Africa would reconsider its dual citizenship law to keep Jews from fighting in the Israeli army, the South African Times Live news website reported Monday.
The “model” of dual citizenship may not have “a place in the world,” he said according to the daily.
A statement from the Jewish groups said the proposed policy unfairly singles out Jews, adding that a decision to carry out the law could lead to discriminatory measures against other minority groups in the future.
“The implications of this change will affect every sector of society. However, the law is to be enacted simply to target one minority group, and this is unjust. Furthermore, his [Bapela’s] calls to target Jewish business and his questioning of Jewish South African’s loyalty to this country is classic anti-Semitism,” read the statement.
In July, an ANC party conference discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the issue of nationals serving in the IDF. Further discussion is slated to be taken up again in the party’s National General Council in October, the Times Live site reported.
Jewish groups also accused Bapela of being “motivated by his own narrow understanding of the Middle East conflict, which is based on religious fundamentalism and the BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] lobby within the ANC.”
The groups said they had requested a meeting with President Jacob Zuma over the issue.
The government in Pretoria has been among the most hostile to Israel in recent years. South Africa’s minister of higher education Blade Nzimande, a member of the Communist Party, has openly campaigned to boycott Israeli universities and other institutions, and was denied entry into the country for a working visit to Palestinian Authority areas in April.
No figures have been provided by the party for how many South Africans actually serve in the IDF. According to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the Jewish community in South Africa is estimated at 70,000-80,000.
With a population over 53 million and large immigrant populations from Asia and other parts of Africa, any change to the South African constitution to enable stripping South African migrants to Israel of their citizenship may end up affecting millions of other citizens.
In July, Bapela called for an investigation of politically active students who had visited Israel under the auspices of the South Africa Israel Forum, since the visit brought the African National Congress into “disrepute,” he said.
The director of the South Africa Israel Forum, Dan Brotman, told the Israeli daily Haaretz that “some of the participants, who will be future leaders in South Africa, were under enormous pressure not to come or received threats over being kicked out of their political parties.”
“The goal is not to make them pro-Israel, but to expose them to a narrative they really don’t hear in South Africa,” he said.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
