The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) on Monday launched a case against the leader of Black First Land First (BLF)‚ Andile Mnxgitama‚ in the Equality Court for anti-Semitic remarks he allegedly made on social media.
On August 25‚ Mngxitama allegedly tweeted: “For those claiming the legacy of the holocaust is ONLY negative think about the lampshades and Jewish soap.” Later in the day he allegedly followed up with another tweet about “the aroma of the burning flesh from the furnace of the holocaust may wet (sic) the appetite of the SA cannibals”.
“The SAJBD is the representative body of the SA Jewish Community. Part of its mandate is to protect the civil liberties of South African Jews‚ and to counter anti-semitism. It also regularly speaks out against prejudice and discrimination against other sectors of the population‚ whether based on race‚ religion‚ sexual orientation or nationality‚ and is active in civil society initiatives combating this scourge.
“Mngxitama’s comments‚ in addition to the distress they have caused to the Jewish community‚ have been greeted with wide-spread outrage throughout South African society. They are clearly aimed at mocking the orchestrated murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust and dehumanise Jewish people in general by depicting not only their deaths but even the supposed desecration of their remains as an occasion for humour‚” the SAJBD said in a statement.
“The SAJBD has therefore decided to approach the Equality Court to vindicate the violation of our rights to dignity and to prevent comments such as these from being made in the future‚” it added.
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