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 […]
by Jonathan Danilowitz It was 1976. David Goland was a career soldier, an officer in the IDF (Israel Defense Force). A university graduate, he worked as an engineer, designing parts for the Airforce Maintenance Department. Successful, well-liked, with a high security clearance, 24-year old David was a just starting out in his military career. Only […]
The BDS (Boycott, Divestment and sanctions) movement sure is noisy. While lacking cerebral substance, they understand the veracity of symbolism and language that is provocative, emotive and emotional. They understand that gratuitous use of the word Apartheid is guaranteed to get an emotional reaction from people. I use the word gratuitous intentionally because BDS have […]
One of the questions I am frequently asked in lectures or interviews is where is the Palestinian and Israeli De Klerk and Mandela when it comes to ending the nearly 70-year conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Where is that equivalent of brave leaders willing to make the tough sacrifices to forge peace under circumstances that finds […]
South Africans love their beer as do Israelis. While ancient Israel may well have been known as “The land of Milk and Honey”, modern Israel could well be on the way to becoming “the land of hops and barley”. Israel’s bludgeoning boutique beer industry is foaming at the brim. “Our goal”, says brewmaster David Cohen, founder of Dancing […]
South Africa vs Israel South Africa evokes in many of us the visuals of sunshine, big five species animals, rugby and of course, braaivleis! South Africans love to braai. Give us a pair of tongs, some delicious boerewors, a chop or two and a Castle lager (or insert preferred brand of beer here) and we […]
By Peter Bailey The world is a depressing place when children are used as the spear-point to achieve military or political objectives. Whatever the objective, however noble the cause might seem in certain eyes, nothing can ever justify parents allowing and even encouraging the brainwashing, and filling their children with hatred. The glory of death […]
Sandwiched timeously between the festivity of Passover – where Jews celebrate their flight to freedom from African bondage, to Israel’s Independence Day, where Jews rejoice in their return to sovereignty in their ancestral homeland of Israel, South Africans on the 27th April, too celebrate liberation – Freedom Day. In Israel, this momentous milestone is celebrated […]
The issue of human rights is alluring. It appeals to our conscience and sense of altruism and who does not want to be on the right side of supporting human rights? But what happens when organizations and individuals who claim to be concerned with the cause of human rights discriminate against the rights of another? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Over four decades later, his legacy lives on There are few Southern African Jews that have not heard of Chief Rabbi Israel Abrahams – even if they were not from Cape Town. So, it was not surprising that members of the SA community in Israel congregated one night in 2014 to honour his memory on […]
South African in Israel explores the complex interactions between man and water. With many regions in South Africa experiencing severe drought, it is intellectually ‘quenching’ to come across such an illuminating perspective on the issue of water, particularly by someone who has such an enriching connection to South Africa. Nina Selbts of Savvyon – a city […]