A few weeks ago, when the world focused on South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to his counterpart, Donald Trump, in the Oval Office, two staffers from the Israeli embassy in the US lost their lives most brutally.
The trigger-happy Elias Rodriguez shot dead Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky as they were leaving the event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington, D.C. It is reported that the couple were to be engaged: a tragic ending for the lovely young couple.
More recently, another tragic targeting of Jews took place in America, this time in Colorado, where a suspect made it clear that his throwing Molotov cocktails was a sign of solidarity with the people of Gaza, Palestinian Territories. Mohamed Sabry Soliman was charged with a hate crime by the federal prosecutors.
Rodriguez was not showing any remorse from the beginning. As he was being arrested by the FBI, he kept on shouting ‘Free, Free Palestine’. He has made it clear that he killed the duo as a means of advancing the struggle for the Palestinians by killing two innocent staffers. The offence constitutes a hate crime against the Jewish community and an act of terrorism. He told the authorities, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza”.
Clear
What is clear is that Rodriguez did not know whether his victims were Jews or not, but what he fully understood was that they were coming from a Jewish event, and that was his target. This horrific incident, which took place some 6000 miles away from the actual war zone in Gaza, sent shockwaves throughout the world, especially to the Jewish communities whose safety and security is a priority for them at present.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies’ (SAJBD) National Director, Wendy Kahn, stated that this attack underscored the ongoing vulnerability of Jewish communities around the world. “Antisemitism across the world has increased, including in South Africa, where we are seeing more attacks on our community members, including physical assault. It is for this reason that the SAJBD takes seriously all acts of incitement, and we call out every politician and thought-leader that has used the tragic war between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to demonise the Jewish community,” Kahn said.
Political and thought leaders must avoid any verbal provocation or instigation of violence against the Jewish community or any other community, for that matter. We have seen some incidents where prominent politicians instigate violence against the Jewish community. For example, more recently on May 14, 2025, the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) Member of Parliament, Nazier Paulsen, posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Shoot the Zionists!”.
Threatened
On the same day, May 14, 2025, the City of Joburg MMC for community development, a councillor from the Pan Africanist Congress, Tebogo Nkokou, threatened during the heated council meeting to wear a Hitler T-shirt in protest against the pro-Israel DA councillor. For those who understand world history, Adolf Hitler became the German chancellor in 1933 and started to enact laws targeting Jews (stripping them of their property) and eliminating them in what is known today as ‘The Holocaust’. where a total of more than six million people were killed, mostly Jews and other minority groups.
All countries should be wary of such incidents as they may spread due to the intention of others to “globalise intifada”. That is to militarise people across the world by a claim that hating or carrying out violence against the Jewish people will be a symbol of support to the Palestinians and an attack against Israel.
The world needs peace, stability and security to address socio-economic challenges such as hunger, energy poverty, unemployment, environmental crises, crime and corruption, HIV/AIDS and many other problems. It is impossible to address all these challenges when a country is in the middle of a war or conflict. Governments throughout the world should call for peace and help to restore it. They should not become part of the conflict which has affected the livelihoods of the people.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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