SOUTH AFRICAN JEWS WORRIED

Violence, political future worry South African Jews (JTA)
CAPE TOWN (JTA) -- Violent crime, political change and an energy crisis are fueling a growing sense of panic among South African Jews.

Several weeks ago the Jewish community was shaken when a Jewish man in Johannesburg named Sheldon Cohen was shot to death while sitting in his car waiting for his son to finish soccer practice.

In the past few months at least two other Jews were murdered in the same city, including an elderly man on his way to synagogue on Shabbat morning who was shot for the contents of his tallit bag.

The violence comes amid growing concerns among South African Jews about threats to the rule of law in the country following the election last December of the controversial Jacob Zuma to the presidency of the ruling African National Congress....

The Jewish community is “very nervous -- the worst I’ve seen in the eight years I’ve been in leadership,” said Michael Bagraim, the president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the community’s umbrella group.

SOUTH AFRICAN UNION CALLS FOR ISRAEL BOYCOTT

South African Unions Seek Israel Boycott, Severing Ties - Cnaan Liphshiz (Ha'aretz)
South Africa's largest trade union federation will launch a campaign against "the Israeli occupation of Arab lands" this week, demanding that Pretoria impose a boycott on all Israeli goods and break diplomatic relations. South African Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, who is Jewish, said that he actively supported the initiative - which contradicts the policy of his own cabinet. The president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), Willy Madisha, announced the launching of the campaign last week in Johannesburg, calling on the government to cease all diplomatic relations with Israel.

SEE ALSO: Terrorists Take Refuge in South Africa - Jonathan Schanzer
In early May, South Africa's intelligence minister, Ronnie Kasrils, invited Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas member and prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, to lead a delegation to South Africa. In June 2003, South Africa's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Aziz Pahad, met with representatives of Hizbullah. Overtures to Hamas and Hizbullah are indicative of Pretoria's utter indifference to the threat of radical Islamic ideologies and violence. The worst consequence of this blindness may be the creation of a safe haven for terrorists in South Africa itself. According to one reported U.S. intelligence estimate, al-Qaeda leaders are operating throughout South Africa. Other reports indicate that terrorists are exploiting the country's banking system, and that South African passports are finding their way to al-Qaeda operatives worldwide. As a result, Washington must keep an eye on one more potential source of danger: South Afristan. (Weekly Standard)

SOUTH AFRICA WELCOMES HAMAS VISIT

South Africa invites Haniyeh (JTA)
South Africa invited the Palestinian Authority prime minister for what would be the Hamas member's first state visit to a non-Muslim country. The Associated Press reported that South African Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils extended the invitation to Ismail Haniyeh at a joint news conference Thursday in Gaza. Kasrils, a Jewish lawmaker who is a vehement critic of Israel and what he recently called its "fascist-style brutality," called on the international community to lift its embargo of the Palestinian Authority.

Western countries have stopped direct aid to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas, a terrorist group, took power last year, funneling the money instead to nongovernmental organizations and directly to P.A. employees.

No date was set for the visit but Haniyeh accepted the invitation, saying he hoped to meet former South African President Nelson Mandela while there.