17 August 2001
Mrs Marlene Bethlehem,
National President,
South African Jewish Board of Deputies,
Johannesburg.
On behalf of the South African Government and in my own name, I am pleased to send our best wishes to all participants at the 41st Congress of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
We wish the Congress success in its deliberations which, I am certain, will contribute to the common national effort further to transform our common motherland into the peaceful and prosperous country we all want it to be.
I recall still the time I spent with the Board at its 40th Congress and the determination expressed then to continue to participate in the historic process of the eradication of the legacy of the racist past that still defines our country.
Once more, I would like to thank you for the privilege you accorded me to address your Congress.
In the period since then, our country has made further progress towards the creation of the South African society defined in our national constitution.
While acknowledging the progress that has been made, I am certain that all of us desire that we should move faster towards the achievement of this goal.
Nevertheless, as South Africans who know our country and its past, all of us also recognise the fact that it will take us time to eradicate the consequences of the injustices suffered by our country for centuries. What this means is that, necessarily, we have to approach the task of the transformation of South Africa into the non-racial, non-sexist, peaceful and prosperous country that it will be, with the frame of mind of a marathon runner.
Accordingly, to accomplish this task, as we must, will require persistence, stamina, determination, courage in the face of the inevitable problems and occasional reverses we will all experience, and a refusal to be diverted from what can only be described as a noble goal.
I am privileged to take advantage of the occasion of the 41st Congress of the Jewish Board of Deputies to salute both the Board and our Jewish citizens, for the great contribution you have made and continue to make to ensure that your own country, South Africa, transforms itself into a happy home for all South Africans, regardless of race, gender or belief.
I, together with all my colleagues in government, value greatly what Jewish South Africans, including yourselves, are doing to ensure that our country truly belongs to all who live in it.
I would like to urge you to persist in these positions, which can only lead to the birth of the humane society which all our people, both and black white, so richly deserve.
I would also like to urge that you approach this historic task as the marathon runner approaches the long and hard road to victory.
It is true that Rome was not built in a day. It is however equally true that Rome was built. It stands to this day as one of the most majestic cities of the world.
This is the objective that all of us as South Africans must pursue. All of us are strengthened by the knowledge that our Jewish fellow South Africans will continue to occupy the front ranks among those who will work tirelessly to ensure that we build our Rome.
I also know that you are deeply concerned about the situation in the Middle East. I would like to assure you that we are as deeply concerned about the violence that has gripped this important part of the world for many months now.
We are firmly committed to contribute whatever we can to ensure that the violence ends, negotiations resume and a just and stable solution found that addresses the interests of both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
To us, these outcomes are of the greatest significance. We will therefore not waver in their pursuit. We look forward to working with you, as with the rest of our people, to ensure that all these objectives are achieved.
I also know that you are concerned about some elements of the draft documents being considered by the international community as it prepares for the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerances, which will take place in Durban later this month.
We are privileged to host this important conference, which has been convened to consider the critical matter of the defeat of the cancer of racism throughout the world.
We are convinced that the Conference must, indeed, focus on this issue which is of the deepest relevance to billions of people across the globe who have been and are the victims of racism.
As Jewish people, you too know the catastrophic impact of the crime of racism, which resulted in the unforgivable Holocaust of the century from which we have just emerged.
We have an obligation to act together to ensure that the repugnant ideology and practice of racism ceases to influence the ordering of human society in all countries, everywhere and permanently. This must include extreme vigilance against and a firm repulse of any and all manifestations of anti-Semitism.
To achieve these objectives, it is critical that the World Conference serves to unite the peoples of the world around a common programme of action to build a world of non-racism.
As hosts of this important conference, we seek to encourage all participants to focus on this outcome. This requires that nobody, except racists, should feel threatened by the pursuit of this goal.
Accordingly, it imposes an obligation on all participating countries at the conference to aim for the unity of all countries and all peoples of the world around a commonly agreed programme of action. This will require that all participants make the necessary compromises, driven by the hope that all governments in the world are, today, united in their resolve to contribute to the victory of the cause of non-racism.
Our government will continue to play its role to encourage such an outcome which, I know, you would welcome.
Once more, I wish the 41st Congress of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies success as it discusses the important matters that are of concern not only to our Jewish citizens but to us as well, who were always prepared to lay down our lives to end racism in our country, and to create the circumstances in which we can build a non-racial society.
We look forward to the outcome of the important deliberations of the 41st Congress of the Board.
Thabo Mbeki