Southern hatred

A short tour of the southern hemisphere confirms that opposition to Israel that is also blatantly anti-Semitic can appear at any latitude. In South Africa:

South Africa's Jewish community on Wednesday lodged a complaint of hate speech against the country's deputy foreign minister, who earlier this month said that "Jewish money controls America and most Western countries."

Stressing that the South African Jewish Board of Deputies "usually prefers dialogue," the Board's national director, Wendy Kahn, told Haaretz: "Deputy Minister Fatima Hajaig had crossed all limits."

Kahn, who is in Israel to attend the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem, called Hajaig's comments "a demonstration of anti-Semitism of the oldest and most classical kind." The Board filed the complaint against Hajaig to the country's Human Rights Commission - a national institution with some investigative and executive powers, which derives its powers from the post-apartheid constitution.

In the complaint, the Board quotes what Hajaig said at a pro-Palestinian rally in Lenasia on January 14. "They in fact control [America], no matter which government comes in to power, whether Republican or Democratic, whether Barack Obama or George Bush," Hajaig was heard saying.

She also said: "The control of America, just like the control of most Western countries, is in the hands of Jewish money and if Jewish money controls their country then you cannot expect anything else."

See also this report:

"We haven't seen such brazen Jew-baiting from a senior government representative in South Africa for at least 50 years," David Saks, the associate director of the South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies, told JTA. "What was especially troubling about it was the raucously enthusiastic response from the large audience."

And here and here.

In Australia:

The convener of a conference on justice for Palestine, to be held at State Parliament tomorrow, has apologised for making anti-Jewish comments despite having earlier defended them as "private conversation".

Maqsood Alshams, who formed a lobby group called the Asia Pacific Human Rights Institute, organised the conference with three universities to discuss the possibility of Israel being prosecuted by the International Court of Justice.

The Bangladesh-born asylum seeker, who was once nominated for the National Human Rights Award, wrote in private emails obtained by the Herald that Israel had overshadowed the Holocaust in its treatment of Palestine and that God hated Jews.

"The simple answer is that you the Jews are real motherf----- bastards," he wrote in an email to Richard Benkin, a human rights activist based in Chicago.

"You guys are simply assholes... Stop playing the bloody victim games."

In another email, to a Sydney management consultant, Anna Berger, Mr Maqsood said Israel's actions in Gaza were more serious than the Holocaust, comparing the conflict with Hitler's treatment of Jews.

Asked about the emails, Mr Maqsood initially defended his right to a private argument. "Is it anything wrong to have a private conversation? That is not my public view... I am not an anti-Semite at all. I have many Jewish friends."

But late yesterday Mr Maqsood apologised and withdrew the remarks. "I am ashamed to say they were made at a time when I was intoxicated and angry," he said. "Of course, there is no excuse for such remarks."

The universities participating in Mr Maqsood's conference have refused to withdraw support, despite calls from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

He's not an anti-Semite and these universities aren't sullying their reputations. Tim Blair suggests a possible contrast.