Marcelle Talia, 65, who was in Israel to visit her daughter who has just given birth, is one of two South Africans confirmed to have been killed in the Hamas attack on Israel last weekend.
South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) national director Wendy Kahn said Talia was visiting the country to be with her daughter when she was shot dead on Saturday by the Hamas group in Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha near the Gaza border.
Another person killed was Sa’ar Margolis. No further details were available for Margolis.
The SAJBD said the South African government showed no sympathy when it confirmed earlier two citizens were victims.
International relations and co-operation department (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela said they were aware of the development.
He said their missions in Ramallah in Palestine and Tel Aviv in Israel are co-ordinating efforts and rendering consular assistance and services.
“Today [Friday] Dirco announced 'two South African nationals have died in this ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel'. Not unarmed civilians were gunned down in cold blood by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. Not deliberately murdered in the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Simply ‘died’ in a ‘conflict’,” said Kahn.
"Dirco has deliberately chosen to obscure and play down the atrocities that occurred and to conceal the guilt of those who perpetrated them.”
She said the South African government has betrayed its Jewish citizens and failed to display the slightest empathy at this time of grief and trauma in the community.
“Instead, it has chosen to turn a blind eye to their pain while doing all it can to minimise and even justify the barbarism of those responsible.
“The moral cowardice and callous indifference of the South African government to its Jewish citizens will resonate and be remembered long after the guns have fallen silent,” said Kahn.
According to the South African Jewish Report, Talia was born and raised in the Free State and met her late husband Yaakov, originally from Randfontein, in Israel after both had made aliyah (immigration to Israel) many years ago.
TimesLIVE
A 65-year-old woman is one of two South Africans killed in Israel-Hamas war
Image: Supplied
Marcelle Talia, 65, who was in Israel to visit her daughter who has just given birth, is one of two South Africans confirmed to have been killed in the Hamas attack on Israel last weekend.
South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) national director Wendy Kahn said Talia was visiting the country to be with her daughter when she was shot dead on Saturday by the Hamas group in Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha near the Gaza border.
Another person killed was Sa’ar Margolis. No further details were available for Margolis.
The SAJBD said the South African government showed no sympathy when it confirmed earlier two citizens were victims.
International relations and co-operation department (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela said they were aware of the development.
He said their missions in Ramallah in Palestine and Tel Aviv in Israel are co-ordinating efforts and rendering consular assistance and services.
“Today [Friday] Dirco announced 'two South African nationals have died in this ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel'. Not unarmed civilians were gunned down in cold blood by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. Not deliberately murdered in the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Simply ‘died’ in a ‘conflict’,” said Kahn.
"Dirco has deliberately chosen to obscure and play down the atrocities that occurred and to conceal the guilt of those who perpetrated them.”
She said the South African government has betrayed its Jewish citizens and failed to display the slightest empathy at this time of grief and trauma in the community.
“Instead, it has chosen to turn a blind eye to their pain while doing all it can to minimise and even justify the barbarism of those responsible.
“The moral cowardice and callous indifference of the South African government to its Jewish citizens will resonate and be remembered long after the guns have fallen silent,” said Kahn.
According to the South African Jewish Report, Talia was born and raised in the Free State and met her late husband Yaakov, originally from Randfontein, in Israel after both had made aliyah (immigration to Israel) many years ago.
TimesLIVE
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