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Articles by Charisse Zeifert
Behind the scenes at Limmud
Every time I find myself on a Ben Yehuda street in Israel, I think of how Eliezer Ben-Yehuda recreated the Hebrew language, a story I first heard at Limmud, from his great-grandson Gil Hovav, a popular food critic and TV personality. It was also at Limmud that I met Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur, now a household name in the Jewish world, and spoken-word poet Vanessa Hidary, the “Hebrew Mamita” whose sharp wit and commentary on Jewish identity I still follow online.
Eurovision talent and enjoyment win the popular vote
I came to learn about the Eurovision Song Contest only as a student living in Amsterdam in the mid-1990s. Initially, it seemed rather “naff” that Europe took a singing competition so seriously. Yet soon, my Japanese friend Hiromi and I became obsessed. As outsiders, we were possibly more excited than our continental mates. I was particularly interested, then, to hear from Hiromi that later this year Bangkok will host the first Asian Eurovision contest. That feels significant.
When there were no Jews available, the protestors improvised some - SAJBD
When there were no Jews available, the protestors improvised some 12 May 2026 On 9 May, outside the Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre, anti-Israel activism crossed into political theatre. Unable to find an actual local branch of “South African Jews for a Free Palestine” in Durban, activists from the South African Palestine Movement simply put on SAJFP t-shirts themselves and protested outside a Jewish communal institution as “friends of” the organisation.
A natural on air and a lover of words
“Rhymes With Bruised”. This was Steven Gruzd’s byline, social media handle, and something he would often say. It captured him perfectly: funny, intelligent, descriptive, and reflective of his love for playing with words. These characteristics of Steven were present in whatever he did. And he did a great deal with them. I got to know Steven when he worked at the South African Jewish Board of Deputies between 2011 and 2013. He was a fantastic colleague.
CHARISSE ZEIFERT | Calling discrimination by its proper name
The decision by the Roedean School tennis team to boycott the Jewish tennis team from King David School was unashamedly and unambiguously anti-Jewish. Refusing to play a South African school because it is Jewish is not moral activism, nor does it advance peace or justice. It excludes children on the basis of identity. That is discrimination in its most recognisable form, regardless of the language used to justify it.
SA Jewish Board, King David, and University of Johannesburg help tiny rural village achieve educational excellence
Seven hours from Joburg, in the middle of a remote rural village in the Vhembe District of northern Limpopo, King David Pre-Primary School Linksfield, the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) are making a difference by donating boxes of goodies to an early child development (ECD) centre. In this village, baobabs outnumber houses and the main form of transport is a donkey cart.
Meshoe Washington a ‘true warrior’ who fought for unity
“Powerhouse”; “tenacious spirit”; “courageous visionary”; “leader”; “barrier-breaker” – these were just a few of the adjectives used to describe the late Olga Meshoe Washington at her memorial in Vosloorus on 26 January. Meshoe Washington passed away on 6 January, aged 43, following a month-long battle with lupus. The South African memorial service for Meshoe Washington was held just one week after her funeral at the Tel Regev Cemetery in Rekhasim in Haifa, Israel.
Debunking Leslie London’s misconceptions: Anti-Semitism and Zionism on campus
Apparently, if you believe Leslie London’s article in the Mail & Guardian, Jews lie. Jews use antisemitism as a tool to silence dissent. Only Jews who are anti-Zionist can be believed. Jews supposedly misrepresent peaceful protest as cloaked antisemitism and maliciously use this to influence international affairs. They do so to ensure that Israel is never challenged. The malicious portrayal of Jews is patronising, insulting and patently false.
Those who hold the values of humanity and the rule of law should reject the Hamas narrative
There are clearly different narratives on what is happening with the Hamas-Israel war. And while many celebrate Israel’s apparent increasing isolation, others are wondering how we arrived here. Nonobeko Hlela, in her opinion piece in the Mail & Guardian, “Israel’s war on Gaza shows the ‘civilised’ can be the biggest liars and killers”, uses factual gymnastics, half-truths and blatant unchecked lies as she tries to paint Israel as a barbaric war criminal.
Pine Street Shul positioned for the future
It sometimes seems as if everybody I meet either belongs to Pine Street Shul, once belonged to Pine Street Shul, or has a close family member who attends the synagogue. This probably isn’t surprising when you think that the origins of the North Eastern Hebrew Congregation, as it’s officially known, go back to 1948, and the current building was formally opened more than 60 years ago, on 11 June 1961.
Israeli hip-hop's 'Westside Gravy' meets South Africa's Tanaka Jura
“I am a proud part of the Diaspora. …. In my heart I hold Jerusalem and Africa,” says hip-hop artist Noah Shufutinsky (aka Westside Gravy) in his song “Diaspora.” As a black Russian Jew, born in America and living in Israel, he uses music to both reflect on and embrace his mixed heritage and multiple identities. Noah recently visited South Africa as part of a StandWithUs delegation to counter the BDS-driven Israel Apartheid Week on university campuses.
More AU countries are choosing closer ties with Israel, to their benefit
SA's grandstanding about Palestine and the world's sole Jewish state is leaving it increasingly irrelevant 06 March 2022 - 00:00 By CHARISSE ZEIFERT SA got a huge wake-up call at the AU Heads of State summit in Ethiopia on January 6. Together with Algeria, it had spearheaded a campaign to rescind last year’s decision by the AU to grant Israel observer status.
OPINION | Charisse Zeifert: Growing antisemitism is alarming | News24
A recent incident on a Johannesburg radio station has raised for Charisse Zeifert, who writes that antisemitism and conspiracy theories contained in the banned book 'the Protocols' need to be condemned. This month marks 20 years since the first UN World Conference Against Racism was held in Durban (WCAR). As a political researcher at a foreign Embassy in South Africa, I was tasked with monitoring the events around the conference.
Media’s version of truth as strange as Japanese fiction
Home | Media’s version of truth as strange as Japanese fiction OP-EDS Rashomon, the Japanese movie by Akira Kurosawa, relates the story of a murder whereby four different characters give their version of what happened. Three of them claim to be the killer, placing themselves in the centre of the story and provide first-person eyewitness accounts of the event. Told in the form of flashbacks, their stories seem to have no bearing on reality.
OPINION | David Unterhalter and BDS: Not the first campaign against Jews being judges
David Hirsh and Charisse Zeifert ask why would an association with the representative body of a person’s community disqualify them from sitting on the Constitutional Court following BDS's statement on David Unterhalter? South Africa is both a community of communities and a republic of individual citizens. One of the core common values that unites it as a nation is a shared respect for diversity of beliefs, histories and cultures.
Singling out minorities for special opprobrium is unacceptable
Have you heard the joke where a Jew, an Afrikaner and an Indian walk into a shebeen? It sounds like the kind of “witty” yarn that EFF leader Julius Malema would spin. Oh, wait, actually, he has already told tales about different minorities – singling them out for abuse.
Religious tolerance and the Middle East conflict
In light of all the brouhaha around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the question arises whether it is possible to report on events surrounding it in a fair and balanced manner. If every reporter brings his or her own bias to reporting on any event, would this be compounded by the religious observance of the said journalist?
OPINION: Religious tolerance and the Middle East conflict
In light of all the brouhaha around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the question arises whether it is possible to report on events surrounding it in a fair and balanced manner. If every reporter brings his or her own bias to reporting on any event, would this be compounded by the religious observance of the said journalist?
No room for nuance in Israel-Palestine debate - just ask Shashi Naidoo
There is a new war that seems to be erupting from beneath the surface in this country. It is not one that is based on race, religion or ethnicity, nor is it based on our own long and conflict-ridden past. It is an imported conflict, yet the lines in the ground are clearly drawn. And the lines are as follows: You are either for Israel or against it. No longer is there an opportunity for a nuanced approach. Once, you could support Israel’s right to exist, but not each and every policy.
Slandering Black Coffee for visiting Israel is hypocritical. Here's why
Black Coffee is hot. He is sizzling. And he has joined the ranks of world-class international artists who have braved intimidation and bullying, and performed in Israel. The reaction in some quarters has been vicious. Fellow musicians, political parties and the BDS have been particularly vitriolic, even more so than usual.
SA embassy downgrade hurtful to Jews, SA citizens | IOL News
An Orthodox Jew walks past the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem. Picture: Natalie Behring/Reuters When the issue of a possible downgrade of the South African Embassy in Tel Aviv was first mooted, there was an understanding that research into the implications would be conducted. With this in mind, the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) held a number of symposia. The findings were revealing.
Comment: Trump comes to town
WHAT DEAL will President Donald Trump try to push when he gets to Israel later this month?. (photo credit:REUTERS) It’s a visit that probably could have waited a while, as far as the policy planners in the Prime Minister’s Office are concerned.US President Donald Trump touches down in Israel on Monday, and nobody knows what’s going to happen. Sure, every step of the way has been choreographed and coordinated between the Trump team and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The Goldene Medina
‘IT TELLS the story of how, in the years 1841-2016, early Anglo/German Jewish settlers, impecunious Yiddish-speaking Litvaks, refugees from Nazi Germany and the dispossessed Sephardim of Rhodes Island in the southern Mediterranean came together and shaped a shared identity – the South African Jew.’.
Edelstein in Moscow
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein.
Turkey’s record on terrorism
Supporters listen to the speech by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a rally for the upcoming referendum in Istanbul, Turkey.
Racism will consume us until we start tolerating one another
It began with a now notorious Facebook comment by Penny Sparrow likening black beach-goers to monkeys, and most recently surfaced in the form of "kill a Jew" graffiti at Wits University during the #FeesMustFall protest. It would seem that for many, the best way to respond to any form of racism is by answering in kind. Such tit-for-tat abuse has merely seen the anger in our country being fuelled further, with the South African Hate Crimes Commission cautioning us not to "fight racism with racism".
Blaming Jews won’t solve SA’s ills
When Wits SRC president Mcebo Dlamini was found guilty of misconduct earlier this year, his reaction (echoed by his supporters) was revealing, says Charisse Zeifert. He was, he wrote, being removed as a result of vice-chancellor Adam Habib having used “the racist Zionist-controlled” Wits legal office to find him guilty. The notion that Jews control the world is a classic anti-Semitic canard.
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