Dear Sir/Madam
We wish to bring to your attention the contents of a sermon by Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein that took place at the South African Zionist Federation in Johannesburg on 7 October 2024. A recording of this incident is freely available on his YouTube channel. A link has been attached for your convenience.
We are writing to you as a volunteer organization called Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine, South Africa. We advocate for the recognition of human rights, especially within the realm of health care, for the Palestinian people as they endure the brutal and disproportionate military aggression and ever stricter apartheid policies being carried out by the State of Israel against them. Our organisation is regularly involved in many charitable endeavours that benefit our fellow citizens. We also write to you as concerned citizens in a post-apartheid South Africa about a particularly disturbing incident that we consider constitutes hate speech and incitement to violence.
By now, most of the world is aware of the latest brutal campaign against the Palestinian people as Israel escalates its illegal military occupation and expands its apartheid policies against Palestinians. As South African healthcare workers who support international humanitarian law, we are in full support of our government’s critical role in participating in the international legal system to recognize the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.
As South Africans we cherish our right to freedom of speech as we are very cognizant that in many countries these same rights are being eroded. Our history reminds us that words have consequences and we are sadly all too familiar with the fact that hate speech leads to dehumanization of a target group and that this is often followed by atrocities being committed against them. Freedom of speech therefore comes with the responsibility to ensure that speech is not uttered at the expense of a particular group of people based on factors such as nationality, religion, race, ethnicity or any other defining characteristics. Speech that leads to human rights of a particular group being jeopardized, encourages hatred and division in society and incites violence against a particular group is an egregious form of hate speech. This has no place in a society that respects equality, humanity and international law.
It is for these reasons that we wish to bring to your attention the sermon by Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein that took place at the South African Zionist Federation in Johannesburg on 7 October
A recording of this incident is freely available on his YouTube channel. Rabbi Goldstein’sopening remarks are a repetition of the now thoroughly debunked lies about October 7, 2023 propagated by Israel, regarding mass rape and beheaded children. The deliberate repetition of these now debunked lies might not constitute hate speech per se, but certainly qualify as the deliberate perpetuation of disinformation aimed at garnering public support for continued Israeli military aggression and the deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Goldstein urges his congregation that they make NO attempts to support a ceasefire, a peace deal or even a humanitarian pause to allow food, water and desperately needed medical aid to the civilian population in Gaza. It is clear from these statements that he supports Israel’s ongoing brutal assault and siege of Palestinian civilians including women, children, the elderly and the disabled who inevitably bear the brunt of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity.
At no point does Goldstein show any regard for United Nations documented evidence of Israeli war crimes against Palestinians, including sexual violence against detainees in Israeli detention and prison facilities, that are regarded by many human rights organizations as torture centers.
He makes no attempt to discourage the intentional starvation of Palestinians, nor does he express any sympathy for the thousands that are displaced and injured with no access to functioning health care facilities.
In fact, chillingly, in a statement eerily similar to other genocidal rhetoric, Goldstein encourages his congregation to provide any and all support to Israel to ‘finish the job’. It is frighteningly reminiscent of statements by Netanyahu and his war cabinet which have dehumanized the Palestinians, prior to their ethnic cleansing and the genocide-in-progress that most of the world is shocked to be witnessing. Rabbi Goldstein finishes his sermon by reminding his congregation that Israel is fighting against the ‘forces of darkness’ on behalf of the ‘free world’ and that President Cyril Ramaphosa should be thankful to them. He also expresses alarming enthusiasm for Israel escalating the conflict to the other countries in the region such as Jordan, Yemen, Syria and Iran. Such support for the invasion of multiple sovereign nations is a clear indication of his Islamophobia and disregard for both international law and the sanctity of human life.
It is tremendously concerning to hear Goldstein’s enthusiastic support for a country that is conducting a decades long illegal military occupation, breaking numerous international laws daily, and that most human rights organizations such as Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch consider to be committing the crime of apartheid. When Goldstein considers himself to be speaking on behalf of the ‘free world’ one has to wonder whether his notion of civilisation includes his tacit endorsement of apartheid and whether as Chief Rabbi of South Africa, his moral standing means that he is speaking on behalf of all South African Jews. Clearly he is not, as South African Jews for a Free Palestine certainly do not support his position.Goldstein conveniently does not mention the fact that an overwhelming majority of member states support a ceasefire and have voted for Israel to halt its aggression in Gaza and the Middle East.
As an influential religious leader, Goldstein should be supporting and encouraging respect for human dignity, morality and international law and not calling for the inevitable ethnic cleansing and eradication of an indigenous people that will come with ‘ finishing the job’ as Israeli politicians describe their plan to annex more land by brute force thus causing incalculable human misery. One does not need much imagination to see how sermons like these can lead to members of his congregation being encouraged to break South African law in order to serve in the Israeli Defence Force thus providing assistance to Israel with ‘finishing the job’ as Goldstein persuades them is a task of immense importance.
We urge the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate this matter. We are all too familiar with the devastating consequences of hate speech and we firmly believe that influential individuals have an even greater duty to uphold the principles we all consider sacred: human rights, dignity,peace and equality for all human beings. At a time when an unbearable amount of human lives hang in the balance, influential leaders who enjoy the privilege of a public platform should be using their position to encourage mutual respect, useful dialogue and promote peace, not the opposite as Rabbi Goldstein is publically doing. The ‘free world’ and those who are being denied their basic freedoms through no fault of their own in some parts of the world will both be better off for it.
Enquiries:
Dr Farzana Araie Sterne
Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine – South Africa
info@hcw4palestine.org.za
- “Unleashed”: Report Details How Israeli Soldiers Brutalize West Bank Palestinians in Hebron - December 11, 2024
- The covert front: Is Israel engineering violence in the West? - December 11, 2024
- Miraculously, therapeutic care for Gaza’s deeply traumatised people is happening - December 11, 2024