The Canadian government should be encouraged to invest in Black and colored townships in South Africa so as to train leaders in business and management skills, according to a recommendation to the government approved by the B’nai B’rith Canada at a recent meeting in Ottawa.
“We have to train the Black community to become familiar with business and management techniques and leadership roles,” Frank Dimant, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith Canada, told The Canadian Jewish News.
Dimant said the recommendation, which came out of a fact-finding mission to South Africa by B’nai B’rith Canada president Harry Bick and himself, was presented to the Special Joint Committee on Canada’s International Affairs by Marilyn Wainberg, chairman of BB’s International Affairs Cabinet, and BB legal counsel David Matas.
The committee was established by External Affairs Minister Joe Clark and is composed of MPs and Senators. It is holding hearings across the country on Canada’s foreign relations and will report to Parliament on May 31.
While in South Africa, the BB leaders visited Johannesburg, Capetown, Durban, Soweto, Alexandra, and Mitchell’s Plain. Dimant said the trip gave them the opportunity to meet with members of the country’s Jewish community and hear their concerns.
They also met with representatives from every sector of society, including the Canadian and Israeli Ambassadors to South Africa, Edward Lee and David Ariel, respectively. Lee is former Canadian Ambassador to Israel and Ariel is former Israeli Consul General in Toronto.
JEWISH COMMUNITY IS VIBRANT
Dimant said that while South Africa’s Jewish community is strong and vibrant, it has “grave concerns” which stem from the number of Jewish and non-Jewish missions to South Africa. These visits usually result in strong speeches attacking apartheid and do not accomplish much.
“We’re troubled by that approach,” he said. “We don’t claim to be experts. We heard and listened.” Dimant said that while Jews are seen as part of the white community, the Black community realizes that Jews are in the forefront in fighting apartheid. “Jewish leaders in South Africa have gone on record as being against it. It took great courage to make those statements,” he said.
Looking at the current political situation in South Africa, Dimant said the “truth rests somewhere between what the media have been showing us and what people are saying themselves.”
He said people are not just concerned about violence arising from a Black revolution, but also about a political swing to the right and possible efforts to crush Black movements. Such a swing would be detrimental to the country’s liberal Jewish community, he observed.
“If world pressure continues, a segment of the White Afrikaaner population may resort to strong-arm tactics,” Dimant said. “The question of South Africa boils down to how much time the world is prepared to give the country to sort out its problems.” Dimant explained that while B’nai B’rith abhors apartheid, the county should not be judged by outside standards.
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