The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), a World Jewish Congress affiliate, has approached the President of the African Union Summit, Dr. Dlamini Zuma, to protest the bigoted treatment of a Jewish delegation at the African Union Summit last week.
“The SAJBD, which represents Africa’s largest Jewish community, is outraged over this blatant display of anti-Jewish bigotry at this important gathering of African leaders,” the SAJBD said in a communique. “By and large, the greater part of the African continent has been mercifully free of anti-Semitism. It is therefore deeply regrettable that certain countries were allowed to introduce their prejudiced and grossly intolerant attitudes at a gathering whose purpose was to bring Africa’s diverse communities together.”
The delegation, comprising representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organisations, an American non-profit, was invited to observe the summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. But at the opening ceremony of the summit on Thursday, members of the Egyptian and South African delegations objected to the presence of this group, having been alerted to the fact that its members were Jewish by the fact that some wore kippot. Following protracted negotiations on whether the Jewish delegation could remain in the forum, the delegation leadership decided to leave early, according to press reports.
The SAJBD wrote President Zuma requesting clarification of the reports that South African delegates were among those objecting to the presence of a Jewish delegation. “The banning of people from public forums by virtue of their race, religion, ethnicity or any other grounds of identity runs completely contrary to the South African ethos of tolerance, acceptance of diversity and commitment to fight racism and bigotry,” the SAJBD said.
