By Dave Bloom: During my recent visit to Harare in April this year, I witnessed the shocking regression in all spheres of life in Zimbabwe, and the government under Robert Mugabe appeared well entrenched and not about to go anywhere. At the venerable age of 93, Mugabe had declared that he was planning to run […]
Warning sounds of the shattering of European Jewry Today, on the 9th of November 2017, we recall the horrendous pogrom Kristallnacht against Jews throughout Nazi Germany (9-10th November 1938), carried out by SA (Sturmabeteilung) paramilitary forces and German civilians. The German authorities looked on without intervening! The name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after […]
The history of the Jewish people and that of many African countries is more similar than it is different. There are some striking parallels – tribal allegiances, love of the indigenous land and a shared history of persecution and colonialism. In the fledgling days before the founding of the modern State of Israel, Jews fought […]
Throughout the days of Mandela’s passing in 2013 it rained incessantly. So too in Israel! During the memorial service at the residence of South Africa’s Ambassador,Mr Sisa Ngombane in Tel Aviv, the heavens opened. South Africans from all over Israel attended the ceremony held under a giant tarpaulin, with rain beating down on the canvas. […]
A recent reread of Charles Dickens’ enduring opening in his immortal classic ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ – “It was the best of times it was the worst of times” made me think about growing up during those “worst of times” in South Africa. Now living in Israel – a country that is fiendishly and […]