RSS
South African Jews Are Not Their Government
Protestors demonstrating in support of Jewish cricketer David Teeger outside the headquarters of Cricket South Africa. Photo: Ilan Ossendryver
It is not an easy time to be a South African Jew. The community of around 50,000 is feeling increasingly isolated by a government that is moving closer to the likes of Iran, China, and Russia, and is expressing a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In fact, South Africa’s leading party, the African National Congress, has led the charge against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
My government rolled out the red carpet and allowed Hamas leaders to visit the country after October 7, and has a warm relationship with Iran. But most of the Jewish community here has always been, and remains, staunchly Zionistic.
Despite this, some South African Jews are experiencing negativity from Israel and its supporters due to the actions of our government.
For this reason, I recently joined a group of South African Jews on a solidarity mission to Israel. My feelings about these missions are mixed. While they are definitely well-intentioned, I wondered if they are also a little self-indulgent. Is it fair to ask a country dealing with its own horror to host people from outside the country? Is it just voyeurism that motivates these missions?
I could not have been more wrong.
This trip was organized by Jewish National Fund of South Africa (JNF), The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF), and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL), and had a dual purpose — to show support to Jews and citizens of Israel, but also to send a message that the South African people are not their government. It needed to be understood that literally millions of South Africans stand alongside Israel, a country facing a war that it did not start.
The mission met with members of the media, with government spokesperson Eylon Levy, and with senior officers running the war campaign. We visited three different army bases and did the South African thing of braaing (barbecue) for the soldiers.
But it was the day spent in the Gaza envelope that gave me some of the perspective that I had been lacking about the events of October 7.
That day was not a terror attack. It was a full-scale invasion. It was meticulously planned and executed. Sixty sites were hit simultaneously, including army bases and police stations. In some cases, the kibbutzim were cut off, making it enormously difficult to reach them. Three thousand Hamas operatives descended on a sleepy area, where rifles were locked in the armories. The brutality and scale of the murders at the Nova Musical Festival added to the chaos and the catastrophe.
From the most senior officer to the person in the street, there is widespread recognition that there was a massive systems failure that resulted in this invasion. Person after person recounted to us their experiences of that day, and the horrors that unfolded.
I asked Keith Isaacson, the man who heads security for the Eshkol region, “What can you do to make residents of the South feel secure, so that they will be able and confident to return and to rebuild?” His answer was not one that I was expecting. He said, “Take away the word ‘feel.’ It is not about feeling secure. It is about being secure. The residents felt secure before October 7. It didn’t help them.” And when I asked about what went wrong, his emotions and language expressed a heaviness that I know will never leave him. A responsibility that he will feel forever.
All of this was made more real by a JNF, SAZF, and KKL memorial service for South Africans who lost their lives on October 7, which brought us closer to Israeli suffering. Set in the beautiful JNF memorial forest, we heard from parents who had lost children and from Aviva Siegel, a South African, who along with her husband were taken hostage. He remains a captive of Hamas.
The horror is overwhelming. But so too is the strength, warmth, and resilience of the Israeli people. In many ways, on the surface, the country appears to be getting on with life — but a few seconds into any conversation, it becomes clear that this is a people who are hurting more than they can express.
Still, from what I saw, it would be a mistake to confuse pain with weakness. There is little doubt that the power of the people will ultimately prevail.
Some people in Israel treated us skeptically because we were South African. But our concerns — and theirs — faded instantly when it was understood that we were there to show support and deliver a message of unity.
I came to Israel to show solidarity with the Jewish people there. But I left knowing that supporters of Israel and Jews around the world are connected and bound, no matter where they live, or what their government believes.
Howard Feldman is a South African media personality, author, columnist, and radio talk show host.
The post South African Jews Are Not Their Government first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.