The world needs peace, stability and security

A few weeks ago, when the world focused on South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to his counterpart, Donald Trump, in the Oval Office, two staffers from the Israeli embassy in the US lost their lives most brutally.

Some happy-trigger Elias Rodriguez shot dead Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky as they were leaving the event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington, DC. It is reported that the couple were to be engaged, tragic ending for the lovely young couple.

This past Sunday, another tragic shooting targeting Jews took place in America. This time in Colorado, where a suspect made it clear that he was shooting as a sign of solidarity with the people of Gaza, the Palestinian Territories. Mohamed Sabry Soliman was charged this week with one hate crime charge by the federal prosecutors.

Rodriguez was not showing any remorse from the beginning as he was being arrested by the FBI, as he kept on shouting ''Free, Free Palestine'', and he made it clear that he killed the duo as a means of advancing the struggle for the Palestinians by killing two innocent staffers. The offence constitutes a hate crime against the Jewish community and acts of terrorism. He told the authorities, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza”.

What is clear is that Rodriguez did not know whether his victims were Jews or not, but what he fully understood was that they were from a Jewish event, and that was his target. This horrific incident, which took place some 6000 miles away from the actual war zone in Gaza, sent shockwaves throughout the world, especially to the Jewish communities whose safety and security are of priority to them at the moment.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) National Director, Wendy Kahn, stated that this attack underscored the ongoing vulnerability of Jewish communities around the world. “Antisemitism across the world has increased, including in South Africa, where we are seeing more attacks on our community members, including physical assault. It is for this reason that the SAJBD takes seriously all acts of incitement, and we call out every politician and thought-leader that has used the tragic war between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to demonise the Jewish community,” Kahn said.

Political and thought leaders must avoid any verbal provocation or instigation of violence against the Jewish community or any other community, for that matter. We have seen some incidents where prominent politicians would instigate violence against the Jewish community for example, more recently on May 14, 2025, the Economic Freedom FIghter (EFF) member of parliament, Nazier Paulsen, posten on X (formerly Twitter), “Shoot the Zionists!”.

Again on the same day, May 14, 2025, the City of Joburg MMC for community development, a councillor from the Pan Africanist Congress, Tebogo Nkokou, threatened during the heated council meeting to wear a Hitler T-shirt in protest against the pro-Israel DA councillor.

For those who understand the world history, Adolf Hitler became the German chancellor in 1933 and started to enact laws targeting Jews (stripping them off their properties) and eliminating them in what would be known today as Holocaust where a total of more than 6 million people were killed, mostly Jews and other minority groups.

All countries should be careful of these kind of incidents as they may spread due to intention of others to “globalize intifada”, that is to millitarise people across the world on the notion that by hating or carrying out violence against the Jewish people it will be a symbol of support to the Palestinians and attack against Israel. 

The world needs peace, stability and security to address socio-economic challenges such as hunger, energy poverty, unemployment, environmental crisis, crime and corruption, HIV/AIDS and many others. It is impossible to address all these challenges when a country is in the middle of a war or conflict. Governments throughout the world should call for peace and help to restore it, and not become part of the conflict which has affected the livelihoods of the people.

Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe Joburg