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Mutual Talk
12Dec 2017

Trump’s emotive Jerusalem announcement

People from Israel and South Africa offer their views on the Trump announcement by Monessa Shapiro Trump’s announcement to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has been met with mixed emotions.  There has been much joy, especially amongst Jews, but overwhelming anger from both the media and world leaders.  His action has been seen as […]

Mutual Talk
05Nov 2017

EFF march on the Israeli Embassy – 02 Nov. 2017

Dear Friends On the 2nd of November 2017, the EFF (Economic Freedom Front) and several anti-Israel detractors marched on the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria to protest….. the 100th year since the Balfour Declaration, which paved the way for the creation of a modern Jewish state in our ancient homeland. The EFF claimed that they had […]

Mutual Talk
09Sep 2017

The Why and The What of Anti-Semitism

by Peter Bailey Any attempt to define antiSemitism must fail. The phrase itself derives from the German word Judenhass, translated to English means Jew Hatred, while the term anti-Semitism was introduced as a quasi scientific explanation of the dislike of Jews in 1879. And has stuck since that time. There are a number of truisms […]

Mutual Talk
09Aug 2017

Rejoicing the Loss of the Motion of No Confidence

by Howard Feldman President Jacob Zuma survived his 8th motion of no confidence in his 8th year of his Presidency. The debate and vote took place on the 8th day of the 8th month. A day after a spectacular lunar eclipse showered the country with brilliant radiance; an eclipse that some say heralds change and […]

Mutual Talk
31Jul 2017

THE SATURDAY STAR – Letter to the Editor

THE SATURDAY STAR Letter to the Editor 29 July 2017 Refers:     Fearless I have yet to see a more blatantly biased, misleading and unsubstantiated article about the Israel/Palestinian conflict than  that penned in the Saturday Star by Sameer Naik. This is no more than dishonest, anti-Israel propaganda at its worst. Hardly a day has passed […]

Mutual Talk
31Jul 2017

No lie shall prosper

Israel an Apartheid state? What a load of nonsense!!! You don’t have to believe us – but take some time to listen to these South Africans completely dispel any comparisons. You can watch right here on Israelink:         Video credit: Israel Collective

Mutual Talk
31Jul 2017

The Diversity I found in Israel

Making sweet music! Join musician,Elisee Akiwondo as he journeys from the Ivory Coast to Tel Aviv and explores the diverse culture of Israel’s city that never sleeps.When the music styles of West Africa meet the Middle East – anything can happen! Watch Elisee’s story here:

27Jun 2017

Summer of love

“Take me down to the Paradise city, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty, take me home” – sings Guns ‘n Roses front man, Axel Rose, who will be performing in Tel Aviv this summer. Well, the song could literally be about Israel because Tel Aviv is the paradise city where the […]

Book review
13Jun 2017

Back to Life – Book Review

“I never knew my grandfather,” writes Richelle Shem-Tov in the opening line to her ‘My Dear Papa – Letters From A Farm in Africa.’ In truth, her grandfather never knew her as he died in 1922, but it appears the writer knew him well! A retired physiotherapist living with her husband in Tel Aviv, Richelle, […]

02Jun 2017

What’s the Score?

A contemporaneous reflection on South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup from a former Israeli ambassador to Pretoria. Amongst the hundreds of thousands of visitors to South Africa during the 2010 Football World Cup was Israel’s former ambassador to that country, Dr. Alon Liel. The attraction was not so much the sport itself, but […]

Mutual Talk
30Apr 2017

Dream On

Thank you for reviewing on Israel Link our book, “Ideally Speaking”, which I am sure that former members of our Jewish youth movements in South Africa – now spread across the globe – will find most interesting. After all, who does not question the idealism of one’s youth and ask how we shaped-upped to our […]

27Apr 2017

Valley of Heaven and Earth

By Jonathan Zausmer Reviewed by Dave Bloom Jonathan Zausmer is a good story teller. Vividly capturing recollections from his childhood in the quant Western Cape coastal village of Hermanus in the fifties and sixties, the author’s style is both “whacky” and charming and will resonate with all South Africans with a special ‘close-to-home’ feeling for former […]

26Apr 2017

The Killer Within

Book Review Reading Solly Kaplinski’s ‘A WORLD OF PAINS’ on the Holocaust, two images of a personal nature came to mind. The first goes back to 2001, when I stood alongside Solly who was Director of the International Relations English Desk at Yad Vashem at the time and laid a wreath on behalf of the […]