Assuming the brace position
April 27, 2015 – Howard Feldman posting in The Times of Israel
On Thursday afternoon South African Jewry assumed the “Brace position.” Israel had denied Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, a visa to visit “Palestine.” The crash was inevitable and I for one put my head in my hands and waited for the impact.
As predicted, most South African news agencies led with the story. As predicted, Nzimande called the refusal “an attack on the South African Government” and as predicted the refusal has shown signs of cementing his obsessive focus on Israel and his ‘boycott protocol” that he has extolled for as long as we can remember.
What was not predicted was the response from government weary and disillusioned South Africans. I opened the comments on each article and waited for the deluge of hatred to wash over me. I hesitantly read comment by comment and to my shock could not find one that expressed sympathy for the honoured (or not so) Minister. Not one. Instead the support for Israel’s decision was overwhelming and positive, and although it says less about Israel and more about the state of this sorry nation, it was nonetheless amazing to see.







