As a young child growing up in Apartheid South Africa I witnessed the daily humiliation and persecution of my fellow citizens who were denied their basic human rights. I cannot forget the ominous visuals of armoured vehicles or “Caspirs” as they patrolled through the city streets enforcing “law and order” during the state of emergency years. Neither can I forget asking my mother why “nannies” (as we called our domestic workers) liked to sit on the grass, never park benches. I often wondered if they just didn’t like benches. My mother’s uncomfortable response was that they were not allowed by law to sit on park benches. My child-like brain just couldn’t comprehend this.
I grew up in blissful ignorance of the reality that surrounded me. Black children were a fascination as they never attended my school or ballet classes or played in the park with me. Yes, childhood in South Africa was seemingly idyllic until I grew into a curious teenager and my Zionist youth movement, along with many other organisations both Jewish and non-Jewish started to question and rebel against the system of law in our country. Many of South Africa’s Jews left the country in protest.
Read the complete article as it appears in The Times of Israel:
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/gideon-levy-and-the-dangers-of-the-apartheid-canard/
Roro's Rantings 