A Member of Parliament of the governing Nationalist party declared in Parliament today that the party was not anti-Semitic and that if efforts were made to spread anti-Semitism in South Africa, they should be “knocked on the head as one kills a snake.”
J.S. Labuschagne also said that all sections of the South African population must work together for peace and prosperity and he paid tribute to the part Jews played in those goals and to their contribution to the common welfare.
He made the statement in reply to a query by J. Higerty, the Opposition Chief Whip who had asked Premier Henrik Verwoerd if he approved the anti -Jewish comments made by some Nationalist deputies in Parliament last week and what steps he was taking to end such comments The Whip said that Jewish MP’s were elected not as Jews but as representatives of their constituencies and that it was “shocking” that they had been subjected to such “racial aspersions.”
While the Premier did not reply, observers felt that Labuschagne was speaking for the Nationalist party, Another Nationalist deputy, Blaar Koezee, accused Higerty of trying to make a political issue of anti-Semitism. He alleged that there was more anti-Semitism among the opposition parties than among the Nationalists.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
