This article is in the SA Jewish Report: https://www.sajr.co.za/from-the-eye-of-the-storm/

I knew something was up on Saturday morning. It wasn’t the warnings from US Ambassador Mike Huckabee for non-essential staff to fly out of Israel while they still could, or the US military parked on Iran’s doorstep. It was that familiar low roar. The sound made only by fighter jets. Racing to my balcony, I saw the magnificent flying beasts, the air alive, crackling with the roar of engines, and I knew. Within a short while that other sound we are now too familiar with. The blare of air-raid sirens, coupled with the squawking messages telling us to get to shelter. Israel had launched a pre-emptive strike on the Iranian regime. Operation Roaring Lion had begun in tandem with our US allies. The US has called its operation Epic Fury. Furious it has been. 

Israelis were ready for it. For weeks we have been anticipating this – now it is here, with all the stresses and travails that come with living in a war situation. 

On Saturday, I lost count of how many sirens we had. Israelis decamped to shelters, stoic and resilient, but always with that slight fear that we are not 100% protected. At the time of writing this, 10 have died as a result of direct strikes and one from a medical incident in a shelter. Hundreds have been wounded. 

We knew we would bear the brunt of Iranian aggression and while Gulf states are also enduring attack after attack, we know that we are in the eye of the storm. 

We know that for our brothers and sisters in Iran, who have shown the world what it means to stand up bravely to tyranny, this is our part in the fight for their freedom. 

Israel is now on an emergency war footing and this means that gatherings, educational activities, and workplace operations are prohibited, with the exception of essential sectors. 

The routine is the same. From the minute we get that ominous early warning drone that missiles are headed in our direction with the intent to kill as many of us as possible, to the booms, we know exactly what to do. Make sure all family members, including pets, are in the shelter, wherever it may be. Not all Israelis have shelters as part of their homes – many have to go to communal shelters. Keep everyone calm – the booms can be really frightening for many, especially children. Try and keep busy – and make sure whenever you can to do a loo dash or fuel up on coffee. 

Israelis are living our lives in increments, in between warnings of incoming missiles. We know it must be done so are drawing on our secret sauce – our indomitable spirit. It is at times like this that we suspend all that divides us, to stand behind our government and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The time for kibitzing will come later. 

Something has fundamentally changed in the Israeli DNA in the past two and a half years. The atrocities of 7 October were a devastating blow. We have internalised the lesson and live with the pain, but we have also rediscovered how much we revere life, freedom, and our values. We have developed a strength and resolve of steel to win. We are fighting for our survival and that entails removing the regime that has sworn itself to our extermination. If you thought we were a tough people before, we are now even tougher. That is not to say we don’t feel grief and trauma. We do, which is why we will fight like hell to prevent that happening again to us, and to the noble Iranian people who have stood with us in our darkest hours. It is our time to fight for them. 

While writing this, we have had three sirens in Modi’in. This is something that you never get used to, no matter how many times it happens. 

For now we will follow the safety guidelines, we will do whatever it takes to weather the storm. We are indebted to the service men and women of the IDF, Israeli Air Force, US, Home Front Command, Israel Police, and first responders. The storm will pass. The region will look different. The only question that will remain is will this be the end of storms? 

This article appears in the SA Jewish Report: https://www.sajr.co.za/hurry-up-and-wait/

Next week, Jews around the world will celebrate Purim. We’re all familiar with the timeless story of Mordechai and Esther, and how they saved the lives of Persian Jews from the evil Haman who wanted to exterminate them. For Jews, the resurgence in every generation of those sworn to our destruction isn’t just folklore or accounts from biblical history. It’s stark reality. 

For Mordechai and Esther, it was the evil Haman. For us today, it’s the nefarious Khameini and his nihilistic regime that’s dedicated to the elimination of the Jewish state. History doesn’t just repeat, it almost rhymes! 

Now we wait with bated breath to see if another historical event will repeat. Will Israel and Iran trade blows like we did in June 2025, when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, aimed at neutralising the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threat? A United States-led military offensive targeting assets that belong to the tyrannical Iranian regime seems almost guaranteed. It is believed that the US will attack targets in partnership with Israel. 

Since 28 December 2025, hundreds of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in mass protests, first against rising inflation and then, with the strength of momentum, against the regime itself. Thuggish security forces responded by slaughtering an estimated 32 000 people, but there is growing speculation that the number of dead could be much, much higher. 

Despite an internet blackout, the accounts of atrocities committed against Iranians have made their way onto social media, and the scenes are horrific. For the Jewish state, it’s not just a reminder of the horrors inflicted on us on 7 October 2023, it is deeply personal. Iran has sponsored the demonisation of and terror attacks on our country. Iranians and Israelis hope that the US will act by striking regime targets. Israelis know that we will feel the wrath of the regime, which will target us with ballistic missile barrages like it did last June, but we are prepared to deal with it if it means an end to the heinous regime that holds us all hostage to terror. 

As the US increases its military build-up in the region and Israel remains on high alert, the question all Israelis have is not if, but when. 

We feel an ominous sense of déjà vu, except this time, we know what to expect and how to prepare. It cannot be stressed enough that ballistic missiles fired from Iran are not the same as the rockets and missiles fired by Hamas or Hezbollah. The former are deadly. During last year’s Operation Rising Lion which lasted 12 days, 32 people were killed and 45 730 compensation claims were filed for damage caused. 

Israelis are preparing. In our stoic and resilient manner, we have prepared our shelters, our hospitals are on alert, and some have established underground wards. We know how to mobilise into a war footing at a moment’s notice. We have our Home Front Command apps downloaded, and check them every now and then for changing guidelines. We have made sure that we have food in the shelters – we are a Jewish country after all! Every day, I cast a cursory eye at the Iron Dome battery standing sentinel on a hill, protecting my city and surroundings. Its presence is reassuring. Our multilayer air defence array, of which the Iron Dome forms one layer, is tested and ready. 

Speculation about when we think US President Donald Trump will give the green light for attack dominates conversation. First responders are on high alert. The tension is palpable. Despite all of this, life carries on. We are a nation of lions. 

Some believe that a military operation could happen in a matter of days. Will we spend Purim in shelters instead of in costumes? Quite the Purim shpiel! 

Israelis are prepared to bear the brunt of this attack. Something has hardened in our DNA since 7 October. We are a nation that stares the threat of annihilation in the face every single day. It has made us tough, and determined to win and survive. We also have a tremendous sense of love, solidarity, and empathy for the people of Iran. They have stood with us during our darkest days, now it is our turn to stand with them. We, the descendants of Abraham and King Cyrus, hold the dream of a resurgence of our sacred and ancient bonds through the Cyrus Accords, which will result in our two nations flourishing and renewing relations. We are prepared to fight for that. 

But for now, all we can do is hurry up and wait. 

I chatted to Rob Schilling on WINA The Schilling Show about a possible Iranian attack, the situation in Iran and more:

Diplomatic ties hit all-time low between Jerusalem and Pretoria

This article appears in Lay of the Land: https://layoftheland.online/2026/02/17/crying-for-the-beloved-country-again/

When the dark years of Apartheid came to an end, South Africa brimmed with promise. Humanitarian icon, Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black President, resigning the previous racist regimes to the garbage bin of history. Investment poured into the country. Sports teams like the national soccer and rugby teams, blessed with that “Madiba Magic” won the African Cup of Nations and Rugby World Cup respectively. The “Rainbow Nation” had been born and the future could not be brighter.

I can’t help but think if Madiba and the other icons of the struggle against Apartheid, saw what has happened to the country they fought so hard to bring a true democracy to, where everyone is equal, they would feel not only betrayed, they would be heartbroken. The dignified examples set by these stalwarts of the struggle to pursue reconciliation and dialogue – especially with those you disagree with, have been dashed by their successors who prefer capture over cohesion and ideology over ideas.

Nothing is more emblematic of this than the recent expulsion of Israel’s highest ranking diplomat in the African state. The story is quite mind boggling.

For decades, South Africans have experienced a lack of basic services due to government incompetence. Some report having no access to water for days on end or no electricity. Many public hospitals are in disarray and in parts of the country that are poverty stricken, there is barely any access to clean water or adequate healthcare. On the contrary, the State of Israel, a leader in so many fields including Agritech, water technology, medical technology and other industries, is perfectly poised to provide solutions. Israel faces some of the same challenges that many African countries do and over the years more and more countries have sought solutions from the Jewish state. Their foreign policy stances have been resolute – why do we have to choose sides between Israelis and Palestinians when we could make decisions that benefit our people?

It is a great pity and loss to the people of South Africa that their government’s foreign policy has been so firmly captured by the tyrannical Iranian regime that has and continues to slaughter tens of thousands of its own citizens. I do want to stress not all parties support the fanatics in Tehran whose “empire of evil” has traversed the region and beyond, leaving a trail of murderous terror attacks in their wake.

Which brings me back to Seidman. It beggars belief that in a country beset with so many challenges, the government would rather place ideological allegiances above the well-being of their citizens.

The crime that Seideman stands accused of is “a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice” that DIRCO said amounted to a direct violation of the country’s sovereignty. The reality? The embassy’s social media had criticized South Africa’s allegiance with internationally recognised terror organization Hamas. We know this was just the cover up so what was the real “crime” that had the South African authorities in a snit?

In recent weeks, Israel’s Foreign Ministry dispatched diplomat David Saranga to serve as a “visiting ambassador.” South African officials viewed the move as an attempt to impose a de facto ambassador without their approval. Declaring Seideman, the highest-ranking Israeli diplomat in the African country as persona non grata is largely seen by Israeli officials as a response to that.  

Israeli officials said that under an agreement between the two countries, holders of diplomatic passports are exempt from visa requirements. This allows Israeli diplomats to enter South Africa without prior approval. They said South Africa’s objections centered on what they described as the diplomatic profile Saranga maintained during his visits.

During his trips, Saranga had visited the province of the Eastern Cape, a part of the country beset with many challenges – one being access to clean drinking water.  Saranga met with the Xhosa king, a strong supporter of Israel who recently visited the Jewish state. Saranga offered Israeli solutions in the field of water management, citing shortages of running water and drinking water in parts of the country. Help was also offered for the repair of hospitals in the Eastern Cape that would give many better access to much-needed healthcare. Israeli officials said those initiatives embarrassed the South African government by highlighting deficiencies.

Israel’s response was swift. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on X that it was expelling a senior South African diplomat, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, in response and ordered him to leave Israel within 72 hours.

Seidman was not officially informed by DIRCO (Department of International Relations and Cooperation) – instead he found out when he was door-stopped by the media after he returned to the embassy following an event that day.

Relations between Israel and South Africa at a diplomatic level have reached an all-time low. Israel’s solution is to engage people to people. That is how we move forward.

Foreign policy does not just affect bilateral relations – it is also filtering down on a micro scale. One example is the recent refusal of elite girl’s high school, Roedean, to play tennis against King David High School. The incident attracted international headlines. Roedean denied the charge that discrimination was at play when it didn’t show up for its February 3 meeting with the King David High School girls’ team. South Africa’s Constitution protects the rights to religious freedom and the freedom of association.

A leaked recording of a conversation days later between representatives from both schools seemed to show that Roedean was under significant pressure from parents to withdraw from playing against a Jewish school. “We’re facing a bit of pressure from our community and our constituents regarding just not playing against King David,” a teacher is heard saying with a tone of regret in the recording, which was leaked a few days later. “Parents are basically saying, because of the stance that the government took, we’re supposed to support that.” The remark was a reference to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s anti-Israel stance.

Following a week of intense media scrutiny, the headmistress of Roedean, Phuti Mogale, resigned and the school has apologized to King David. One hopes that lessons in tolerance have been drawn from this.

It is no great secret that South Africa’s foreign policy has been duly captured by Iran with their pathological hatred of the Jewish state. In post-Apartheid South Africa, one of the tenets that South Africans have been so proud of is the spirit of Ubuntu. The word “Ubuntu” is often translated as “I am because we are” or “humanity towards others“. It reflects the belief that a person’s humanity is affirmed through their relationships with others and their contributions to the community. South Africa’s Jewish community is as an integral part of the country’s mosaic of people – as is Israel in the family of nations. One hopes that the spirit of Ubuntu extends to the Jewish community who are proudly Zionist as well as Israel’s envoys who seek to find the best possible solutions to deal with the challenges so many in the rainbow nation face. Recent events have eerie echoes of a past where discrimination was the order of the day. I can’t help but cry for the beloved country.  I think the founders of the post-Apartheid South Africa are crying too.

A fulfillment of a sacred vow – to bring them all home

This article appears in Lay of the Land: https://layoftheland.online/2026/02/03/brave-heart/

“Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.”

There were times when we wondered if it would ever happen. Would they all be returned home? For 843 days, we all hoped, prayed, shook the heavens, and bargained with the Almighty and anyone in power. We were brought to our knees, pleading and breathed the fire of our relentless fight for our brothers and sisters. On 7 October, 251 men, women and children including whole families were taken hostage when Hamas infiltrated southern Israel, leaving a trail of atrocities in their wake. Since 2014, Hamas had held the remains of two soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul who fell during Operation Protective Edge. Two civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al Sayed, were also still captive. Hisham and Avera would be returned to the grateful embrace of their families during the ceasefire deal of January 2025 and the remains of Goldin and Shaul would be returned, months apart, for a dignified burial.

After 843 days, only one remained – Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili.  He was as his superhero mother Talik said, the first one in and the last one out. For 843 days, Talik, Itzik, Shira and Omer fought for their son and brother Ran like the Maccabees themselves. With superhuman strength and a tenacity that is awe inspiring, they persevered with all their might until their beloved son, a hero of Israel was returned.

It is almost impossible to describe what we are feeling in Israel. In the last two years we have learnt that it is possible to walk alongside our grief, it is possible to carry both resilience and heartbreak and yesterday we discovered that our hearts can be both full and broken at the same time. We have learnt what it is to carry a profound love for people who we have never met and yet are our family, a part of our souls.

Our hearts are full that our brother, Ran, “the defender of Alumim” has returned to us – but broken that we are laying him to rest. The return of the last hostage may close a painful circle for us – but for their families, there is an aching wound that will never heal, a chasm that can never be filled and a longing that will never end. For the families of the hostages who are deceased, murdered by their captors, the loss will never lessen.

Several days ago, the IDF launched “Operation Brave Heart” to search for the remains of Ran (or Rani as he has become known in Israel) and bring him home. The search took them to a cemetery in northern Gaza and after searching through 250 graves, Ran was found. Speaking at his son’s funeral, Itzik Gvili revealed that not only was Rani whole – but that he had been found in the 250^th grave our warriors searched. In Hebrew, each letter is assigned a numerical value and Ran’s name was the equivalent of 250. It is impossible to not see that as a message from the Divine.

Hiding the bodies of hostages in graves demonstrates another level of Hamas’s depravity. Not content to use their civilian populations as human shields, the terror organization defiles their dead as well.

The soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade were joined by 20 forensic dentists who meticulously searched through the remains until they found Ran. Gvili was identified through his fingerprints and was found still in the clothes he fought in on 7 October.

Operation Brave Heart was the most fitting name for the mission to recover this hero of Israel. In a tribute written by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Ran was described: 

“Staff Sergeant Ran (Rani) Gvili from Meitar was a YASSAM Negev fighter in the Southern District of the Israel Police. Ran took great pride in being a police officer and wearing the blue uniform.

On the morning of the Black Saturday, Ran was at home recovering from a motorcycle accident and suffering from a fractured shoulder. Upon learning of the terrorist infiltration, he immediately put on his uniform and went out to assist his fellow unit members in the fighting. On his way, he encountered terrorists and fought with courage and determination on the front line at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim. Members of the kibbutz community later gave him the name “Ran, the Defender of Alumim.”

The bravest heart is now home. He will be laid to rest with the dignity he so richly deserves. Kissing his son’s coffin, his father Itzik told him:

 “We are proud of you, my son”.

Israelis lined the route of Ran’s final journey as the police escorted him with an honour guard that bore testimony to the love and brotherhood that Israel’s protectors and defenders have for each other. Laid to rest in Meitar, Ran can now have the peace he deserves. He is home.

Israelis have cried rivers of tears in the last 2 + years. We have had days that are more sorrowful than others, and some days that epitomize how we live with ha’dvash veha’oketz – the honey and the sting. The return of Rani was exactly that. It closes a painful circle. For the first time since 2014, there are no more hostages in Gaza. For the first time in 843 days, perhaps we can think about a day after 7 October. Israel has fulfilled a sacred vow – we leave no one behind.

The stop watch at Hostages Square that counted down the days, minutes and seconds has been switched off. The yellow pins, dog-tags and posters put away. Perhaps we can start to heal our broken hearts. I have a feeling they will never totally heal. How could they? October 7 was a seismic event that has changed Israel and the Jewish people forever – but we are a stubborn nation. We face forward and look at what we have learnt, how we will grow and what we can do to ensure another generation does not feel this pain again.

Ran Gvili is home. Alumim’s defender is home. The bravest heart can now rest in peace. They are all home. May the living hostages start to heal. May Ran’s and all the deceased hostages’ memories be an eternal blessing.

This article appears in the SA Jewish Report: https://www.sajr.co.za/rans-return-closes-a-painful-circle/

“Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, king of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.” 

There were times when we wondered if it would ever happen. Would they all be returned home? For 843 days, we all hoped, prayed, shook the heavens, and bargained with the Almighty and anyone in power. We were brought to our knees, pleading, and breathed the fire of our relentless fight for our brothers and sisters. 

After 843 days, only one remained – Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili. He was, as his superhero mother, Talik, said, the first one in and the last one out. For 843 days, Talik, Itzik, Shira, and Omer fought for their son and brother, Ran, like the Maccabees themselves. With superhuman strength and a tenacity that is awe inspiring, they persevered with all their might until their beloved son, a hero of Israel, was returned. 

It is almost impossible to describe what we are feeling in Israel. Over the past two years, we have learnt that it is possible to walk alongside our grief, it is possible to carry both resilience and heartbreak, and yesterday, we discovered that our hearts can be both full and broken at the same time. Our hearts are full that our brother, Ran, “the Defender of Alumim” has returned to us, but broken that we are laying him to rest. 

Several days ago, the Israel Defense Forces launched “Operation Brave Heart” to search for the remains of Ran – or Rani as he has become known in Israel – and bring him home. The search took them to a cemetery in northern Gaza, and after searching through 250 graves which they are now in the process of returning to their respectful rest, Ran was found. 

Hiding the bodies of hostages in graves demonstrates another level of Hamas’s depravity. Not content to use their civilian populations as human shields, the terror organisation defiles their dead as well. 

The soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade were joined by 20 forensic dentists who meticulously searched through the remains until they found Ran. He was identified through his fingerprints, and was found still in the clothes he fought in on 7 October. 

Operation Brave Heart was the most fitting name for the mission to recover this hero of Israel. In a tribute written by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Ran was described as follows: “Staff Sergeant Ran [Rani] Gvili from Meitar was a Yassam Negev fighter in the Southern District of the Israel Police. Ran took great pride in being a police officer and wearing the blue uniform.” 

On the morning of the Black Saturday, Ran was at home recovering from a motorcycle accident, suffering from a fractured shoulder. Upon learning of the terrorist infiltration, he immediately put on his uniform, and went out to assist his fellow unit members in the fighting. On his way, he encountered terrorists and fought with courage and determination on the front line at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim. Members of the kibbutz community later gave him the name “Ran, the Defender of Alumim”. 

The bravest heart is now home. He will be laid to rest with the dignity he so richly deserves. Kissing his son’s coffin, his father, Itzik, told him, “We are proud of you, my son.” 

Israelis have cried rivers of tears in the past more than two years. We have had days that are more sorrowful than others, and some days that epitomise how we live with ha’dvash v’oketz (the honey and the sting). The return of Rani was exactly that. It closes a painful circle. For the first time since 2014, there are no more hostages in Gaza. For the first time in 844 days, perhaps we can think about a day after 7 October. Israel has fulfilled a sacred vow – we leave no-one behind. 

Ran Gvili is home. Alumim’s defender is home. The bravest heart can now rest in peace. They are all home. May the living hostages start to heal. May Ran’s, and all the deceased hostages’, memories be an eternal blessing. 

An Open Letter to the Entertainment Industry : https://layoftheland.online/2026/01/12/to-those-who-have-taken-to-stage-screen-and-petition-facts-matter/

Throughout the decades, many of you from stage, screen and the recording arts have been voices for what you believe in. You have united against Apartheid South Africa, marched for the #MeToo movement, advocated for gender parity and told the world that Black Lives Matter.

There is one area where you have been conspicuous – not just by your silence – but by your inversion of human rights. We are speaking about the human rights of Israelis and the Jewish people. While it is important to advocate for the rights of Palestinian civilians who are as trapped by Hamas as we in Israel are, there is a propensity for many of you to take the carefully crafted propaganda from Hamas, sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood as absolute fact.

Facts have become the first casualty of this war that Hamas forced upon both Israelis and Palestinians. Facts are important. Lives are at stake. Antisemitism has risen to levels not seen since before the Holocaust and while many of you have taken to stage, screen and petition, no doubt with honorable intentions, it is important that you understand the facts.

• Thousands of entertainment industry professionals signed a letter stating they would boycott members of the Israeli film industry “they believe are connected to genocide.” It has been proven (see links and definition below) that there has been no genocide committed in the Gaza strip during this war rather this slur is designed to demonize the Jewish state. To exclude fellow artists from your industry because of their ethnicity is racist. The Israeli film industry represents a myriad of views and opinions and provides employment, including to Palestinians. Boycotting Israeli filmmakers not only silences Palestinians; but also robs them of employment opportunities.
• Two hundred industry celebrities signed a petition to release Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti is serving five consecutive life sentences for the murders of Israelis. He is also serving time for 20 charges of attempted murder. He is not the Palestinian equivalent of Nelson Mandela. Any attempts to draw comparisons is an appalling insult to his victims, including Father (Priest) Tsibouktzakis. The second intifada, which saw the murders of over 1000 Israelis, was not a romantic uprising of “freedom fighters”. It was deliberate, targeted murder. Signing a petition calling for his release endorses the murder of Israelis.
• Removal of music from Israeli sources – while many disagree with how Israel has prosecuted this war (without offering their expert military opinions about how to fight a war with an unprecedented battlefield scenario), removing access to music for Israelis, many who have experienced unbearable loss is not in the interest of peace or the Palestinians, it is discriminatory and racist. Have any of the artists who have done this removed their music from British, French, and American etc. streamers because civilians have been tragically killed in war?
• Exclusion of Jews who support Israel, i.e. Zionists from artistic spaces. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and the belief in the right of Israel to exist as the only nation state of the Jewish people in our ancestral homeland. Zionism, despite the many attempts by Israel’s detractors to use it as a slur, is not about dispossessing anyone. There has never been a state of Palestine and Jews have maintained a continuous presence in the land that carries the story of the Jewish people, amply proven through antiquity. Excluding Jewish artists for a fundamental religious belief or saying that every nation has the right to determine its own future except for the Jewish people is racist.
• The demonization of Israelis on stage and screen. Israel is the Jewish state – when you demonize Israelis, you effectively enable hate speech against Jews.

The slurs that are employed against Israel and the Jewish people are not just catchy phrases. They have specific and legal definitions. On 14 December, 15 people, nearly all Jewish, were murdered at a candle-lighting event to celebrate the first night of Chanukah. Nobody in the shattered Jewish community of Sydney where the terror attack took place was surprised. Routine demonization of the Jewish state, including by many in the entertainment industry who have parroted Hamas propaganda, including the blood libel that 14 000 Palestinian children would die in a matter of hours from starvation to your millions of followers has helped foster a climate of hate which led to the inevitable.  Not only did 14 000 children not die, many did not remove it from their social media – or apologise. While some of you expressed your sorrow at the murder of Jewish men, women and children in Bondi – many also neglected to mention that they were of the Jewish faith. Words have weight and it important we understand what they mean. Lives are at stake. 

Apartheid – from the Afrikaans, to “separateness”, lit. ’aparthood’) was a system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s.[note 1] It was characterized by an authoritarian political culture which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation’s minority white population. The rights of all citizens in Israel are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. All citizens of Israel are fully enfranchised. To call Israel an Apartheid state, makes a mockery of the true victims of the racist system and is inherently factually incorrect. Palestinians fall under the remit of Hamas (presently) in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the territories they control in Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Genocide –  The word “Genocide”, first coined by Polish-Jewish lawyer, Raphael Lemkin, has a specific legal definition and refers to certain acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. It does not pertain to civilian deaths in times of war and Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza. This is evidenced by the lack of intent, low civilian vs combatant ratio as demonstrated in the links below, forming of humanitarian corridors, humanitarian aid entry, vaccinations against disease like polio, evacuation of medically vulnerable to other countries for treatment, early warning of impending strikes and more. Hamas and other terror organizations committed genocide and acts of mass sexual violence during their invasion into Israel on 7 October 2023.

Colonization – the establishing of a colony subjugation of a people or area especially as an extension of state power. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and has sued for peace on many occasions – and each offer refused. Zionism is the opposite of colonization; it is the returning of the Jewish people to their ancient home, a modern-day miracle.

Sadly, when your voices were needed the most, many of you were silent. Many of you wore pins on your clothes to awards ceremonies. You claimed they were in support of a ceasefire – but the reality is that they were the symbol of the lynching of two IDF soldiers. How many of you were aware of that? None of you wore yellow ribbons to call for the immediate release of the over 250 hostages that were taken on 7 October including babies, Holocaust survivors and whole families.

You marched for gender parity and for the #MeToo movement – but were silent or derisive when our women and girls were raped on 7 October and silent when our hostages, including the males were sexually violated by their terrorist captor.

You were silent when Hamas paraded our emaciated released hostages or our babies in coffins in grotesque ceremonies that were carnivals of the grotesque.

You were silent as millions of Israelis were attacked from seven fronts, including the hundreds of ballistic missiles that rained down on our cities from Iran, destroying city blocks.

You were silent when nearly 400 young festivalgoers who danced for peace were hunted down and slaughtered.

You are unusually silent about the ceasefire in place. A ceasefire that has exposed Hamas’s inhumane treatment of Palestinians as they attempt to rebuild. Is it because you know that countries who “commit genocide” do not offer peace plans? You marched for civil rights for BLM but remain silent about the astronomic rise of antisemitism. Why?

Facts matter. For many, Israel-Palestine is the cause du jour. For the people of Israel and Gaza – this is our lives. Please review the following links compiled by historians and researchers for important facts:

 The Henry Jackson Society presents research on civilian casualty figures in Gaza: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/questionable-counting/

War scholar and Chair of Urban Warfare studies at WestPoint Academy, Maj (ret) John Spencer examines claims of genocide:
https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/im-a-war-scholar-there-is-no-genocide-in-gaza-john-spencer-on-x/

COGAT the IDF Unit for the coordination of humanitarian aid dashboard:
https://gaza-aid-data.gov.il/mainhome/

The UK All Parties Parliamentary Commission in depth report into the atrocities of 7 October:
https://www.7octparliamentarycommission.co.uk

Dinah Project Report into crimes of sexual violence committed on 7 October: https://thedinahproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/The-Dinah-Project-full-report-A4-pages_web-2.pdf

We ask you to consider the facts. We invite you to visit Israel to see and hear the reality for yourself. We implore you to be bridge builders and not create division. We ask you to speak of peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.