Each August, as we commemorate Women’s Month, we focus on the need for water across Africa and Asia. When clean water is not available, it becomes the job of the women and girls in the household to find and collect water.  This results in girls not attending school, thereby disrupting learning.

A well or borehole located in a village or on a mountain means that girls can safely and quickly collect water in the morning, and then attend school. Their education, combined with the water, allows for economic activities such as farming, sewing and basic trade to occur.  Access to clean water means that the standard of living for everyone in the area is automatically improved, which sets communities on an upward trajectory.  All made possible with water.

Our teams are often asked about the difference between wells and boreholes. 

Wells are shallower, dug to a depth of about 15m, and water is collected with a manual bucket system.  In Africa, our boreholes include a manual hand pump, but are dug much deeper than wells, and serve larger villages as well as their surrounding communities.

In Afghanistan, boreholes have electric taps, mainly powered by solar energy, to ensure that communities are not dependent on the unreliable electricity in the country.

The benefits of water go deeper…because girls can now attend school, they are less likely to become victims of child labour or child marriage.

 Throughout the month of August, AMA hosts events across the country, asking our communities to give towards the best of charities…the one that brings the greatest benefit for beneficiaries, while simultaneously bringing the greatest reward for the donor. Because behind every statistic is a story…a mother, a sister, a daughter…a life put on hold in order to find water. 

 Join our events and follow our social media pages for updates on the impact that your donations make, and contribute any amount, at any time, towards our water projects.

The post Advertorial: In Asia and Africa, AMA’s focus on water supply to end cycle of poverty appeared first on Al-Qalam.

This year, as the Islamic world marks 1500 years since the birth of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) – and welcomes the blessed lunar month of Rabiʿ al-Awwal – Muslims must continue to follow examples he set in defending the persecuted, sheltering the displaced and honouring justice wherever it is found, says scholar Imam Dr A. Rashied Omar.

“I renew a call we have made for many years: that each Rabiʿ al-Awwal we read a new biography of the Prophet (pbuh). Allah, the Lord of Guidance, describes the Prophet’s character in Surah al-Ahzab (33:21) as uswatun hasanah, a beautiful and excellent example to inspire and guide us. Yet to emulate that example, we must first know his life more deeply, understand his moral choices, and reflect on how they might guide us in confronting the challenges of our own time.

“This year, as the global community marks 1500 years since the Prophet’s birth, I warmly recommend a newly published volume edited by Professor Aslam Fataar, Prophet Muhammad at 1500: His Prophetic Legacy, Ethical Vision and Contemporary Resonance, produced by the Prophetic Legacy Commission and Awqaf-SA. It is a fitting local contribution to a worldwide commemoration that began, significantly, in our own city, a place shaped by colonialism, slavery and exile, and thus a living archive of how the Prophetic legacy has been sustained and reimagined under hardship”.

“What distinguishes this volume is that it does not merely recount the life of the Prophet (pbuh). Gathering chapters by some of our foremost local Muslim scholars and public intellectuals, it asks a more searching question: how can his ethical legacy inspire us to confront the inequality, violence, intolerance and fragmentation of our world today? In this, it reflects the wider spirit of the 1500 commemoration, which foregrounds mercy, social justice, environmental consciousness and interfaith dialogue, rather than nostalgia alone.

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Comprising an introduction and 20 essays by 23 contributors, the collection is deliberately interdisciplinary. Its chapters move across spirituality and personhood, race and coexistence, justice and statecraft, education and pedagogy, journalism and the arts, economics, environmental responsibility and artificial intelligence.

He added: “These diverse inquiries are held together by iḥsan: the Prophetic ethic of beauty, excellence, moral attentiveness and responsibility. The book therefore presents the Sunnah not as a static archive to be admired from a distance, but as an ethical grammar through which Muslims can discern how to live faithfully and act responsibly amid the complexities of the present.

“The volume is rich and varied. My own chapter, “Hijrah from Makkah to Ḥabasha: A Template for Interfaith Coexistence Today,” revisits an episode of the Sirah that is profoundly relevant yet little known. When persecution in Makkah grew unbearable, the Prophet (pbuh) instructed a small group of his followers to cross the Red Sea and seek refuge in Habasha, ancient Abyssinia, in present-day Ethiopia. There, he assured them, ruled a king under whom no one suffers injustice. That ruler was the Negus, a Christian king. The quality the Prophet (pbuh) recognised in him was neither religion nor ethnicity, but justice. This is the abiding lesson of the Abyssinian Hijrah: justice must be honoured and upheld wherever it is found, and through whomever Allah chooses to manifest it, as the Qur’an commands in Surah al-Nisa (4:135) and Surah al-Ma’idah (5:8).

“The precedent teaches more still. Some refugees remained in Africa for years, even for good, living in peace under a just Christian ruler rather than being summoned at once to Madinah. Muslims, then, can practise their faith and flourish in a religiously diverse society wherever justice, safety, dignity and religious freedom are secured. And Allah’s mercy protected the earliest Muslims through a Christian community, a reminder that we should never imagine we hold a monopoly on goodness.

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“These lessons speak directly to our present. We live in a world where millions have been displaced by war, persecution, poverty and ecological devastation, while xenophobia and Afrophobia continue to disfigure our own society. The Abyssinian Hijrah asks whether our homes, our masajid and our communities are truly places of refuge for the vulnerable.”

Imam Rashied pointed out that reading a biography this Rabiʿ al-Awwal is therefore not a scholarly indulgence but an act of love. Genuine love for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cannot be reduced to songs, speeches and sentimental praise; it requires that we embody his example, defending the persecuted, sheltering the displaced, honouring justice wherever it is found, and building bridges of trust across religious boundaries”.

“Professor Fataar’s volume is an excellent place to begin. I encourage every reader to acquire it, study it, and let it move us from remembrance to action,” he concluded.

The post Rabi’ al-Awwal: Know the Sirah, follow the Prophet (Pbuh) appeared first on Al-Qalam.

Ingredients

500g chicken mince

2 medium tomatoes, grated

1 onion, chopped

½ cup oil

1 badia/star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp Mother-in-Law Masala

2 potatoes, cubed

2 tbsp garlic & ginger

2 elaichi/cardamom pods

Fresh coriander

125g frozen peas

Salt to taste

Water, as needed

Method

• Marinate the chicken mince with garlic and ginger.

• Sauté the onions in oil until golden brown.

• Add the whole spices and Mother-in-Law Masala.

• Add the chicken mince and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

• Add water, grated tomatoes, peas, potatoes and salt to taste.

• Cook until the potatoes are soft and the water has been absorbed.

• Garnish with fresh coriander.

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with roti

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Cape Town could run out of Muslim burial space within a year, Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) president Shaykh Riad Fataar has warned.

Fataar said the shortage extended across both private Muslim cemeteries and Muslim sections in municipal cemeteries. The burden fell hardest on poorer families, who increasingly have to travel long distances to bury their loved ones as affordable graves closer to their communities become harder to find.

Fataar, who chaired the MJC’s Burial Administration from 2007, said the crisis had been anticipated for more than two decades.

A Metropolitan Cemetery Study undertaken by the City of Cape Town in 2003 identified mounting pressure on burial space across the metro. In the years that followed, the City made space available for Muslim burials at Klip Road and within several municipal cemeteries, including Delft, Welmoed, Maitland, Modderdam Road and Khayelitsha. Klip Road North was developed with space for approximately 3,600 Muslim graves.

Those allocations delayed the crisis. They did not resolve it.

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In 2021, the City said its cemeteries were accommodating approximately 150 Muslim burials a month. With COVID-19 having increased demand and the Muslim allotment at Klip Road exhausted, the City created a Muslim burial block at Maitland with capacity for a further 837 graves.

By August 2025, the Muslim allotments at Delft and Muizenberg had also reached capacity, while Constantia had closed to new burials. Families could apply to reopen existing graves at Klip Road, Delft and Muizenberg. The City was considering the same option at Constantia. Space for new graves remained available at several other municipal cemeteries, including Maitland, Welmoed, Rusthof, Modderdam and Ocean View.

According to Fataar, an MJC fatwa allows an existing grave to be reopened after 15 years, subject to strict conditions. The remains of the person already buried there must be protected and the required separation maintained. The family must agree to the reopening, while the City must confirm that the grave can accommodate another burial.

Reopening older graves has extended the life of existing cemeteries. However, it has not replaced the need for new land.

“Not all families want to reopen a grave,” Fataar added.

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The MJC has also explored land offered by the private sector. Fataar said some sites proved unsuitable because of the high-water table, while others could not proceed without costly environmental studies that community organisations could not afford.

According to Fataar, the City last provided land for a dedicated Muslim cemetery about a century ago. Since then, it has made burial space available only through Muslim sections in general municipal cemeteries.

Under the Constitution, responsibility for cemeteries rests with local government. In carrying out that responsibility, the Municipal Systems Act requires municipal services to be accessible and sustainable, and regularly reviewed for expansion or improvement. Cape Town’s Cemeteries, Crematoria and Funeral Undertakers By-law allow the City to reserve sections for specific faith communities and require religious burial practices to be considered. It does not, however, require the City to provide a stand-alone Muslim cemetery.

The City’s 2026/27 budget allocates R73.1 million to cemetery upgrades across Cape Town. It is also seeking approval for new or expanded cemeteries in Strand, Kuils River, Mitchells Plain and parts of the southern suburbs. It has not said how much of the proposed new capacity would be set aside for Muslim burials or when it would become available.

Fataar said further municipal sections might provide short-term relief, but would not settle the larger question.

“What we are looking for is something permanent,” he added.

The City’s earlier interventions bought the community time. Fataar’s warning is that time is now running out.

The post Cape Town could run out of Muslim burial space – MJC appeared first on Al-Qalam.

The Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (MYMSA) hosted its annual Women’s Day programme on Saturday, August 8, bringing together 102 women and girls at the AM Moola Memorial Hall in Sydenham.

Held under the theme “Women Light Up the Sky”, the programme featured discussions on women’s health, financial wellbeing and women’s history, as well as health screenings, self-defence and performances.

For MYMSA, the programme was also about connecting the present with the legacy of the women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956.

Arun Naicker, a member of the MYMSA task team organising events, told Al-Qalam that the organisation aimed to keep the legacy of 1956 alive throughout the year, rather than limiting its significance to Women’s Month.

The programme was open to women’s groups and MYMSA’s Ambassadors for Change, with the day designed as an opportunity for women to network, exchange ideas, relax and learn new skills.

“The theme reflected the resilience of women and the many ways in which they continue to bring positivity to those around them, even during difficult circumstances and times of extreme challenge,” said Naicker.

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The programme gave women from different walks of life an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and develop new skills.

The programme combined discussions on women’s health, financial wellbeing, personal safety and the history of Women’s Day with more creative and social activities.

Medical Orthotist Prosthetist Tasneem Mohamed spoke about breast cancer and rehabilitation, drawing on her experience in post-mastectomy care and breast prosthetics. The Islamic Medical Association of South Africa (IMASA) also provided basic wellness screenings, including blood pressure and blood glucose checks.

Personal safety was also addressed through a self-defence session led by Coach Mahomed Ameen Yunnoos of Slimz187 Dojo, who demonstrated practical techniques aimed at improving awareness, confidence and preparedness.

The programme also featured motivational speaker and Radio Al Ansaar presenter Kelly Ramazani, who spoke about how women can make a positive impact in their families, communities and wider society. Financial advisor Shubnam Bux addressed financial well being, while MYMSA Ambassador Ayesha Mahomed reflected on the history of Women’s Day and why its significance remains relevant today.

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The young Ambassadors, who graduated from MYMSA’s Ambassadors for Change workshop, played an active role in organising and running the event. They coordinated various parts of the programme, introduced speakers, served as programme directors, performed poetry and roleplays, helped set up the venue and served the meal. They also created a Palestine awareness display wall.

The young women involved included Ambassadors from Al Falaah College, Orient Islamic School and Ihsan Girls, while Crescent Girls High School was also represented.

For Hasina Lockhat, an Ambassador who volunteered at the event and delivered the welcome speech, the programme provided an important opportunity for women to celebrate their individuality and strengths.

The post MYMSA celebrates women, keeps 1956 legacy alive appeared first on Al-Qalam.

When does condemnation of Israel – a state accused of genocide and apartheid – remain protected political speech, and when does it become hatred of Jewish people?

That question lies at the centre of an Equality Court case in Cape Town involving Nabeweya Lukie, an employee of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa.

Lukie received an Equality Court summons on 26 May 2026 arising from Facebook posts published between 2023 and 2025. The Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies alleges that her statements concerning Jews, Zionists and Israel constitute unlawful hate speech.

Although Lukie works for the MJC, the proceedings relate to statements published on her personal Facebook account. The organisation is not a respondent in the case.

The Cape SAJBD cites an August 2024 post in which Lukie condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and referred to “these merciless killers, the Jewish Zionists”.

The Board alleges that her posts portrayed Jews or Zionists as evil, murderous and possessing a “cold-hearted, demonic nature”. It seeks removal of the posts, an unconditional apology, a R100 000 donation to the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre, and punitive costs.

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Lukie’s response is contained in a replying affidavit. She said the matter was sub judice and would not comment publicly. No court has ruled on the allegations.

Under the Constitutional Court’s Qwelane judgement, hurt or offence alone is insufficient to establish hate speech. Read objectively and in context, the expression must demonstrate a clear intention to be harmful or incite harm, and to promote or propagate hatred on a prohibited ground.

The court must therefore decide whether Lukie’s posts targeted people because they were Jewish, or because of their support for Israel and Zionism.

That distinction will be tested against the context in which Lukie wrote. By August 2024, Palestinians had been documenting Gaza’s destruction from inside the besieged enclave for ten months.

That record of destruction has been examined by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, Amnesty International and the Israeli organisations B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, each of which concluded that Israel’s assault amounts to genocide.

Oxford philosopher Brian Klug defines antisemitism as “hostility towards Jews as Jews” – a formulation that distinguishes prejudice against Jewish identity from opposition to political belief.

The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, endorsed by more than 200 scholars, states that “criticising or opposing Zionism as a form of nationalism” is not, on its face, antisemitic.

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Those definitions help clarify the distinction, but the legal test comes from the Equality Act and South African precedent.

In SAHRC v Masuku, the Constitutional Court examined four statements made during the 2008–2009 Gaza war. It found that one crossed the threshold into hate speech. The other three did not. The evidence indicated that Masuku was addressing supporters of Israel and Zionism, not Jewish people on the basis of their identity. In reaching that distinction, the Court weighed evidence pointing in both directions – that Zionism forms part of the identity of many Jews, and that accusations of antisemitism can silence legitimate criticism of Israel. Context ultimately determined the meaning.

Context was similarly decisive in the Dubul’ ibhunu, or “Kill the Boer”, litigation. Rather than reading the words as a literal command, the courts considered the struggle song’s history, political function and understood meaning before finding that it was not hate speech.

The ruling in Lukie’s case may define how South African law distinguishes genuine antisemitism from uncompromising opposition to Zionism amid the genocide in Gaza.

The post Equality court case, anti-Zionism and antisemitism appeared first on Al-Qalam.

As South Africa continues its historic case for Palestine against Israel at the International Court of Justice, two of the world’s most outspoken advocates for Palestine and human rights – George Galloway and Yvonne Ridley – will touch down in South Africa this September for a multi-city “People Power” tour.

The Durban leg of the tour is hosted by Palestine House South Africa and Wage Peace International, and features a press conference, mosque talk, fundraising dinner, and a university event designed to bridge geopolitics and grassroots action, united against imperialism. 

Friday 25/9/26: Press Conference – Addressing The Politics of Division (Venue to be confirmed); Saturday 26/9/26: Fundraising Dinner – Panel Discussion & Solidarity Fundraiser (NMJ Hall); Monday 28/9/26: University Workshop – aimed at empowering youth, but all welcome.

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Shabnam Palesa Mohamed, Durban convener, said: “Durban declared Zionism a form of racism in 2001. That declaration is our strength. We are bringing Galloway and Ridley here to empower people – not just to march, but to lobby, boycott, create, and educate. Together, we turn pain into power.” 

Galloway and Ridley’s presence in South Africa has been arranged by Imam Al Ghazali Global Relief. Pretoria, Johannesburg, Polokwane, and Cape Town are also hosting events during this popular tour. More details, including event listings and ticketing, are available at www.GallowayRidley.co.za

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The post UK activists Galloway and Ridley on SA Tour appeared first on Al-Qalam.

With the summer school holidays not far off, the kids would be chomping at your feet for a costly holiday at a luxury resort. Save the expense and try camping – or even glamping at some of South Africa’s many superior class campsites.

In my experience as a camper, I’ve come across only a handful of Muslim families camping in the true sense of the word. Perhaps the concerns are security, wudu facilities, “Paak Saaf” or privacy concerns. This is understandable and justified in many cases, but today’s top campsites or glamping resorts are in a class of their own – they are operated professionally with all the creature comforts in mind. Some even have private bathrooms and enclosed kitchen areas tastefully built around riverfrontages, mountainsides or natural forests with emphasis on private space.

Some campsites even have tented accommodation ready to move in, so you don’t have the expense of purchasing or hiring camping gear.

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Not long ago I did a solo camping trip in my kitted Suzuki Jimny across the Eastern and Western seaboards of South Africa – a distance of 5000km over 40 days (including a few days of Ramadaan) It was one of the most magical moments of my life – a joy of peace and freedom in nature that cannot be explained unless you experience for yourself. Yes, hard-core camping can be difficult, particularly when you have to get up in the middle of the night and trudge to the communal bathrooms, 100m away but those are what memories are made off.

But, if hard-core camping is not your thing, AfriCamps Boutique Glamping, for instance (located at many spots across the country) and offers all the creature comforts in the midst of nature; maybe your kind of holiday for your family.

Why a holiday in nature, you ask?

Camping with your children builds stronger family bonds, teaches valuable life skills, and costs much less than a luxury hotel. While a fancy hotel offers comfort and pampering, camping removes daily distractions like screens and schedules. This allows your family to connect deeply with nature and each other. It’s also a good opportunity for families to put down their cell phones and actually talk.

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Teamwork creates stronger bonds when you get the kids involved in doing camping chores, braaing the meat, talking and playing games, going on forest trails, overcoming small challenges during a storm, or a campfire that won’t start creates stories you will tell for years. Best of all, reading salah with the family in the heart of nature, alongside a flowing river, at the foot of a mountain or amidst the sounds of a forest.

These memories will stick with your children right through adulthood.

For me, this summer, insha’Allah, I intend travelling solo and camping all the way to Hazyview, in Mpumalanga – to the Kruger National Park – one of the largest, most diverse wildlife sanctuaries on earth.

If you’d like to check out my camping journey, head out to my Instagram page and follow @jimny_go_afrika

The post Go family camping– the halaal way appeared first on Al-Qalam.

Antisemitism – hatred of, prejudice towards, and discrimination against Jewish people – is real.  Jews were expelled from England in 1290; from France in 1306; from Germany from 1430; from Spain and Portugal by 1492; and after 1848  Jews fled the pogroms in Central Europe.  And no one should deny the twentieth-century genocide and holocaust wrought by fascism in Western Europe against the Jews. 

Even today, antisemitism is real. Indeed, Jews suffer antisemitic incidents ranging from slurs, online targeting, assaults, and terror.  Antisemitism is a real member of the family of bigotry, the persistent and pernicious hatred and intolerance of people who are different.  And so, in a world of revived supremacism and chauvinistic nationalisms, and increasing prejudice and discrimination, antisemitism takes it place alongside racism, misogyny, xenophobia, islamophobia, homophobia, and all other siblings in the family of bigotry.

An evolving definition

But as antisemitism remains real, its definition and application are evolving and changes in definition have accelerated with the onset of the twenty-first century.  Antisemitism in the Middle Ages remained, in definition, quite stable; its drivers were theological (like accusations of the deicide of Jesus) and economic, which could be solved through conversion or expulsion. The definition adopted a race dimension in the twentieth century as the Nazi regime prioritised ethnic origin rather than mere religious beliefs.  After the horrors of the holocaust were uncovered, the recoil from Western Civilisation tended towards inclusion in the definition of antisemitism any criticism of Jews, whether in questioning the holocaust or being remotely critical of the Zionist vision and solution. 

Resistance, brutality, and an all-encompassing antisemitism

However, the onset of the twenty-first century saw two parallel trends:  Intensified Palestinian resistance with brutal Israeli responses, accompanied by a more expansive, all-encompassing definition and application of antisemitism. Triggered by Ariel Sharon’s show of strength at the Aqsa Mosque after the scuppering of the Camp David Summit, the second Intifada (2000-2005) saw an Israeli response of assassination of Palestinian leaders, Operation Defensive Shield that occupied West Bank Cities, and the construction of a security barrier.  Following Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006, Israel blockaded Gaza in 2007, and maintains this till today, eliciting various attempts to break the blockade.  Between 2008 and 2014, three Gaza wars were conducted by Israel: “Cast Lead”, “Pillar of Defence” and “Protective Edge,” using airstrikes, missile attacks and ground invasions to destroy lives, livelihoods and infrastructure in a futile chicken-and-egg puzzle of what came first:  Hamas rockets or Israeli atrocity?  Ongoing hostility climaxed in 2021 as Palestinians rose to repel the planned Israeli evictions from Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, the raids on the Aqsa Mosque, and the incursions into, and settlements onto, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, which today almost total 192 “officially sanctioned”, and about 350 “unauthorised” settlements by Israelis on Palestinian lands. Across these settlements, more than 780 000 Israelis are now entrenched.  This is the powder keg that was lit on 7 October 2023: the prelude to the genocide. 

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New Antisemitism – Conflating Jew, Zionist and Israeli

Shadowing this cauldron of resistance and brutal suppression is the weaponisation of antisemitism. In 2000, the Stockholm Declaration saw the need to promote Holocaust education, remembrance, and research because “humanity remains scarred by antisemitism and xenophobia, establishing that the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight these evils.”  This further gets tightened by the European Union in 2005 as a framework for a Working Definition of Antisemitism and now includes “rhetorical and physical manifestations” against anything Jewish.  This builds towards the formal adoption in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) which evolves towards “Israel-Related Contexts” such as singling Israel out for criticism as applying “double-standards”; or opposition to Israel as “denying Jews self-determination”; with examples of antisemitism, in some cases, equating or conflating “Jews as a people, or Israel as a State”; or questioning whether Jews are “more loyal to Israel” than their national state.

The clinchers, however, are that it is anti-Semitic to draw “comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis…” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state or Israel.”  Ostensibly this is meant to blunt “third wave Antisemitism” because “…antisemitism is growing among those who use their hatred of Zionism and Israel as a proxy for their hatred of Jews.” (AIJAC Fact Sheet, 19 August 2021).

Weaponisation – Anti-Genocide is Antisemitism!

Such conflation of Jew, Zionist, and Israel is merely the precursor to the weaponisation of antisemitism, which becomes particularly evident in the aftermath of October 7, 2023, and the genocide it occasioned.  This period of genocide (2024-5) sees the chronicling of “cases of antisemitism” with the main prosecutors being the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) based in the USA, and the Community Security Trust (CST) in the UK.  Both agree that antisemitism had reached historic heights globally, especially because they now use the ‘weaponised’ definition.  By this application, their research fields in the West are anti-genocide protests on university campuses, the incidences of online and digital ‘harassment’ of Jews, as well as physical targeting of Jews and their institutions.

The ADL and the CSK on Third Wave Antisemitism

The ADL report (05/20/2024) on ‘Global Anti-Semitic Incidents in the Wake of Hamas’ War on Israel’, include the following as anti-Semitic: ‘Free Palestine’ or ‘Free Gaza’ graffiti; the allegation that Israel treats Palestinians as sub-humans; the accusation that Israelis or Zionists are ‘murderers’ or ‘child killers’; the demand that ‘genociders should get out of our neighbourhood’; or to be confronted with the question ‘do you support the IDF?’. The CST Report on Anti-Semitic Incidents in 2025 is a lot more detailed.  It totals 3700 such incidents in the UK.  Of this, 55% are related to the Palestine-Israel conflict, of which 1766 (48%) are “Anti-Zionist”, with “Zionist” deemed to be a proxy for ‘Jew’.  Furthermore, 1541 (42%) of these incidents are ‘online antisemitism’ of which 70% are related to ‘events in the Middle east’.  In total 2821 incidents (76%) constitute political or ideological discourses.

What both the ADL and CST reports illustrate is that such reaction to the political, geo-political, military and ideological events – and indeed the occupation, settlements and genocide – are now firmly under the “Third Wave Antisemitism” and no longer simply outrage at the death of 70 000 Gazans, the destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods, the increasing occupation of the West Bank, and the sustained incursion into Lebanon.  This has become the weaponisation of antisemitism to shield Israel from moral judgement and legal accountability, and to shield Zionism, as a political ideology, from scrutiny, when, in its name, destruction is actual and devastating.

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Antisemitism Now – Shield and Sword!

Albert Camus, in his work, The Rebel, argues that the twentieth century shows what occurs when political movements abandon moral constraints in the name of history, progress, revolution, because every genuine rebellion contains within itself a limit, a point beyond which the rebel, in destroying what it opposes, replicates it.  Indeed, the weaponisation of antisemitism is not just to shield Zionism from its excesses.  It is also a sword!  Since dubiously achieving its apotheosis – the state of Israel in 1948 – Zionism has progressively shrugged off its limits:  it has occupied beyond its mandate; it has resourced itself beyond its needs;  it has settled to create immutable facts on the ground;  it has muted and maimed journalists to hide its shame;  it has lobbied to exploit Western guilt;  it has killed and assassinated to quell resistance; and ultimately, it is in the throes of a genocide.

Zygmunt Bauman, in Modernity and the Holocaust, notes:  “…it was not illiterate savages, but graduates of the finest education systems in the West who designed the gas chambers used to burn millions …. in Germany.”  In fact, today the Muslim world – portrayed as the ‘savages’ by the ‘most moral and civilised Israelis’ – can look back at the history of antisemitism and rightfully claim that when the ‘civilised’ expelled Jews from Europe, we welcomed you in Istanbul, Morocco, and indeed Palestine! No wonder Dr Israel Shahak, who lived through the Warsaw Ghetto, survived the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, joined the IDF after moving to Palestine, and later was active in the Israel League for Human and Civil Rights, says today: “The Nazi’s made me afraid to be a Jew, and the Israelis make me ashamed to be a Jew”.

It should never be that the current genocide – with the growing and legitimate outrage globally – should be a fig leaf for real antisemitism to find a new lease on life, where bigoted slurs, caricature, conspiracy, vandalism, terror, and Nazi fantasies continue to be directed at Jews as Jews. We cannot replicate what we oppose. But we must oppose genocide in the name of Zionism and Israel, while fervently redeeming the divine and the human in Jews and Judaism!

*Ebrahim Rasool is the former ambassador to the United States and former Premier of the Western Cape.

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The historic turnout at his Janaza was a profound, visible testament to a life entirely spent in the service of others. From his early days as a fiery, principled activist to his later years as a compassionate servant to pilgrims, Ebrahim embodied the very essence of community leadership.

The Janaza on Sunday, August 16, of Ebrahim Abed in Lenasia saw a massive turnout of community members, reflecting deep local respect and drawing large crowds to Avalon Cemetery.

Having fallen victim to an armed robbery a day ago, Ebrahim Abed became one more casualty of South Africa’s worsening crime levels.

The news of his tragic death was met with shock and sadness for his passing not only impacted a grieving family, but also the wider community.

Ebrahim Abed’s sterling role as a community activist left an undeniable impact on the social fabric, local development, and grassroots upliftment of underprivileged via various humanitarian organisations.

Many people recall Ebrahim Abed’s dedicated service during the annual Haj. He is widely remembered as a cornerstone of his community legacy, where he acted as a vital guide, mentor, and pillar of support for South African pilgrims embarking on the journey of a lifetime.

As a Khadim (Servant) to the Hujjaj, Ebrahim Abed spent years selflessly serving, guiding, and ensuring the physical and spiritual well-being of pilgrims, whether from Lenasia or from broader South African community.

His immense efforts during the Hajj season, combined with his local grassroots activism, cemented his reputation as an irreplaceable community leader.

Indeed, Ebrahim Abed’s decades of dedicated service within the Muslim Youth Movement (MYM) of South Africa formed the intellectual and foundational bedrock of his lifelong activism.

Joining the movement during a transformative era for South African Muslims, he was part of a generation that redefined Islamic engagement by directly linking faith with social justice, community development, and civic duty.

His MYM legacy is that he was part of a core team who campaigned vigorously toward a contextualized understanding of Islam, promoting critical thinking and intellectual discourse relevant to the South African socio-political reality.

Through the movement, he helped challenge traditional apolitical stances, steering youth energy toward combating systemic issues and assisting marginalized groups.

His era in the movement coincided with the birth of pivotal social institutions—such as the South African National Zakat Fund (SANZAF) under the guidance and leadership of late Dr Shaukat Thokan— which permanently elevated structured charity and community welfare.

His decades with the MYM cultivated the very leadership skills, ideological conviction, and deep-seated empathy that later defined his legendary community work and his tireless service to the Hujjaj (pilgrims).

The shared journey of Ebrahim Abed and his wife, Fatima Madi, represented a rare and powerful partnership in Lenasia. Their distinguished credentials as scholars who studied in Mecca elevated their community work from standard civic volunteerism to a deeply rooted, scholarly practice of social justice and religious leadership.

Ebrahim Abed lived by a simple code: that the best of people are those who bring the most benefit to humanity. While his presence will be deeply missed in the streets of Lenasia and the plains of Arafat, the generations of youth he inspired and the institutions he helped build ensure that his legacy will endure.

Yet, his monumental impact cannot be separated from the shared life’s work of his beloved wife, Fatima Madi.

We pray that the Almighty accepts his lifelong struggles, forgives his shortcomings, grants him the highest stages in Jannatul Firdaus, and grants his family strength and solace during this time.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon.

*Iqbal Jassat is an Executive Member of the Media Review Network (MRN)

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