David Hersch is Chairman of SAIPAC, the South African Israel Public Affairs Committee. Former chairman of the South African Zionist Federation (Cape Council) as well as a former national vice-chairman of the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF). He is also former member of the South Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape Council). Retired businessman and broadcaster.
Talk given to WIZO in Cape Town 25 February 2026
I’m not here today to show you more charts or beg for understanding. We’ve all seen the facts ignored too many times. So let me say what many of us feel but few say out loud:
Enough, Maspik, Dayenu!
We are done constantly explaining ourselves. We are done trying to make people like us. We are done pretending that one more perfect argument will change hearts poisoned by hate.
Instead, we need to stand up-calmly, firmly, directly-and take on anti-Semitism when it appears. No pleading. Just truth spoken with backbone and courage and no fear.
Let me share a small story from when I was about 14 or 15. I went to a wonderful Anglican private school, St Andrew’s in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It was a civilised, classy school. There was no anti-Semitism at all. Everyone was treated equally-religion didn’t matter. The environment was respectful, fair, without superiority on anyone’s part.
Then one day, out of nowhere, an Afrikaans classmate looked at me and said, “Blerie Jood" - Bloody Jew.
I didn’t hesitate. I called his name to make sure he was looking at me, then-in my finest Afrikaans-I said: “Attie, Fok off!"
That was it. The beginning and the end of the problem. He never said it again. No one else did either.
I call that “economic language": short, clear, impossible to misunderstand. No long debate. No appeal for sympathy. Just a line drawn.
At 14 or 15, I learned something important: standing up doesn’t always require a long speech. Sometimes it requires exactly the right words, delivered without apology, and the courage to say them.
That early lesson has stayed with me. And it’s the same lesson we need now, as adults, in a world where anti-Semitism is louder and more normalised than ever.
We don’t need to keep proving our worth. We need to keep defending our dignity-quickly, clearly, unapologetically.
And that brings me to why this hatred keeps coming back, even after all these centuries...
I will avoid overloading with statistics or long historical recitations, focusing instead on moral clarity, self-assertion, and the refusal to keep begging for approval.
“Enough!"
You know that anti-Semitism is rising. You feel it in the streets, on campuses, in the news, in the casual comments that sting more than they should. You’ve seen the facts ignored again and again, the truth twisted, the double standards applied only to us.
So let me say what many of us are thinking but few say out loud:
Enough!
We are done constantly explaining ourselves. We are done trying to make people like us. We are done pretending that if we just present one more perfect argument, one more devastating fact, the hatred will melt away.
It won’t. Not because the facts aren’t strong-they are-but because the hatred is not about facts. It never has been.
Today I want to talk about why we must stop playing defence and start standing up-verbally, firmly, publicly-and taking on the anti-Semites directly. No more pleading. No more hoping for approval. Just truth spoken with backbone.
1. Our Ancient Pride - The Source of the Resentment
Let’s start with something simple and true that too few of us say with enough pride:
When much of the world was still living in tribal bands, chasing game, wearing animal skins, our ancestors were already writing the Bible.
We were composing literature of unmatched moral depth while empires built on conquest and human sacrifice were still figuring out how to organise towns or cities. We gave the world ethical monotheism-one God who demands justice, not blood. We gave the world the idea that every human being has inherent dignity. We gave the world the Sabbath-a revolutionary concept: rest for everyone, even the slave, even the stranger and our animals.
And then came the Ten Commandments.
These were not gentle suggestions. They were a direct challenge to almost every ancient way of life:
- No murder. No theft. No false witness.
- Honour your parents. Keep the Sabbath. Do not covet.
- One God. No idols. No using God’s name in vain.
These rules flew in the face of the powerful-who ruled by fear and whim. They flew in the face of cultures built on endless revenge cycles, on human sacrifice, on treating people as property. We know this still exists. The Ten Commandments said: There is a higher law. There is accountability. There is right and wrong that even kings cannot escape.
That message was revolutionary-and it was resented from the beginning.
The moment we accepted the Torah at Sinai, we became a target. We were given a mission to be a “light unto the nations," but light exposes darkness. And darkness does not like being exposed.
So the first root of anti-Semitism is not our weakness-it is our moral strength. Our insistence on a higher standard provoked envy, anger, and rejection.
2. Jealousy - The Fuel That Never Runs Out
The second root is simpler and uglier: jealousy.
Mark Twain, who was no friend of religion, wrote something painfully accurate: “The Jew’s success has made the whole human race his enemy."
We survived exile after exile. We rebuilt again and again. We produced thinkers, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, Nobel laureates, out of all proportion to our numbers. We turned deserts into farms, built a state from nothing in the shadow of genocide.
And every time we succeed, the old question returns: “Why them?"
That success is not accidental. It flows from the values we were given at Sinai: education, family, community, ethical business, resilience, hope. But instead of admiration, it often breeds envy. And envy turns into conspiracy theories: “They control everything." “They cheat." “They don’t deserve it."
We don’t need to apologise for succeeding. We need to own it-and stop letting others define our achievements as crimes.
I want to highlight this crucial clarification. It's one of the most misunderstood and weaponised concepts in discussions about Judaism and anti-Semitism. I want to powerfully counter the caricature that Jews see themselves as "superior" or "master race," a lie that fuels much of the envy and conspiracy nonsense.
Let us dismantle this distortion head-on.
3. “Chosen" - Obligation, Not Supremacy
Let me address something that gets twisted every single time anti-Semitism raises its head: the idea of the “chosen people."
First, a basic fact: “Chosen" is an English word. In Hebrew, the concept comes from words like nivchar (chosen) or am segulah (a treasured/unique people), but the deepest meaning is not about being better. It’s about being burdened.
We were chosen for a task, not for privilege.
At Sinai, when the Torah was given, God didn’t say, “You are superior to everyone else." He said, in effect: “You will be My people. You will carry My laws. You will live by a higher standard. You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation-not for your own glory, but to show the world what it means to live in relationship with the One God."
Chosen to the Jews means obligated.
Obligated to keep the commandments when it’s inconvenient. Obligated to pursue justice even when no one else does. Obligated to be ethical in business, in family, in community-even when the world says “everyone does it." Obligated to teach, to heal, to repair what is broken (tikkun olam isn’t a liberal slogan; it’s a Jewish duty rooted in our covenant). In modern times I believe tikkun olam is a bit abused and over-used.
We don’t think we are superior to anyone else. We never have.
The Talmud is full of statements affirming the equal dignity of all people: “Whoever saves a single life saves an entire world." The righteous of all nations have a share in the World to Come. Non-Jews are not lesser; they are simply not bound by the 613 commandments-we are.
But because we accepted that extra burden, because we said “Na’aseh v’nishma" (“We will do and we will hear") before even fully understanding, the world has often resented us for it.
They see our commitment to these obligations-our refusal to assimilate completely, our persistence through exile and persecution-and instead of recognising the service to a higher ideal, they twist it into “They think they are better."
That’s not our claim. That’s their projection.
And when they accuse us of arrogance or supremacy, we don’t need to apologise or over-explain. We can simply say:
“No. Chosen does not mean superior. It means obligated. And we have carried that obligation for over 3,000 years-through fire, through exile, through everything the world has thrown at us. We carry it still. And we will continue to carry it, not because we are better, but because we said yes to the task."
That truth disarms the lie. It shifts the conversation from defence to pride in our mission. And it reminds every Jew in this room: you are part of an obligated people. Not a superior one. An obligated one. And that obligation is what has kept us alive, kept us moral, and kept us contributing to the world despite every attempt to erase us.
So when the next person throws “chosen people" at you as an insult, don’t shrink. Stand tall and correct them-with calm, with clarity, with zero apology.
Because enough is enough.
I hope and trust what I have said so far is emotionally resonant for a Jewish audience, and reinforces what I am saying: stop pleading, start asserting our truth proudly. It directly counters the "chosen = supremacist" distortion that appears in everything from medieval blood libels to modern online conspiracies and campus rhetoric.
4. “My Team vs. Your Team" - The Tribal Trap
The third root is the oldest human instinct: tribalism.
Christianity grew out of Judaism, took our Scriptures, our God, our Messiah concept-and then spent centuries defining itself against us. Christian Replacement theology said: “We are the new Israel; the old one is rejected." That teaching fuelled blood libels, expulsions, forced conversions and ghettos.
Islam also built on Jewish foundations-monotheism, prophets, ethical law-but developed its own corrupt narrative of supersession and rivalry. In some periods there was coexistence; in others, Dhimmi status, pogroms, forced conversions.
Today the “my team vs your team" dynamic is secularised: far-left alliances that see Jews as “white colonisers," far-right alliances that see us as “rootless cosmopolitans." Both teams need an enemy to define themselves against.
We are not here to win a popularity contest with any team. We are here to live as Jews-with dignity, with pride, with our values intact.
What We Do Now
So what does this mean for us, right here, right now?
- Stop explaining, start asserting. When someone repeats a blood libel disguised as “criticism of Israel," don’t reach for another fact sheet. Say clearly: “That is anti-Semitic. Stop!"
- Refuse to seek approval. We don’t need the world’s permission to exist, to defend ourselves, to thrive.
- Confront directly and publicly. Call out the hate-in conversations, on social media, in letters to editors, at university meetings. Calm, firm, unapologetic.
- Build real alliances-not with people who tolerate anti-Semitism, but with those who reject it outright.
- Live our values proudly. Raise Jewish children who know their heritage is ancient, noble, and worth defending. Support Jewish institutions. Support Israel without apology.
5. Enough.
We are done constantly explaining ourselves. We are done trying to make people like us. We are done pretending that one more perfect argument will change hearts poisoned by hate.
Instead, we need to stand up - calmly, firmly, directly - and take on anti-Semitism when it appears. No pleading. Just truth spoken with backbone.
6. Why this hatred keeps coming back
When our ancestors received the Torah at Sinai, they accepted a higher moral standard. The Ten Commandments challenged the entire ancient world. Light exposes darkness - and darkness does not like being exposed.
That moral distinctiveness, combined with our survival and success despite every attempt to destroy us, has provoked two powerful forces:
Jealousy - plain, ugly envy of Jewish achievement and resilience.
And “My team vs. your team" tribalism - the oldest human instinct.
Christianity and Islam both grew out of Judaism, took our Scriptures and our God, and then spent centuries defining themselves against us. Replacement theology, blood libels, Dhimmi status - all of it flows from that tribal need to say “We are the true heirs; you are the rejected ones."
And that same tribal instinct is alive and well today - only now it has microphones, television studios, and millions of followers online.
Look at what we are seeing right now:
- Nick Fuentes is a self-declared white nationalist who openly praises Hitler, denies the Holocaust, and calls for a “holy war" against Jews. He is not hiding it. He is a Nazi - plain and simple - trying to recruit young men with memes and irony. Why anyone even listens to him is a question.
- Candace Owens, after being fired by Ben Shapiro, pivoted hard. She now defends Kanye West’s Hitler praise, spreads blood libels, and talks about “secret Jewish gangs" controlling Hollywood. Personal grievance turned into public anti-Semitism - and it has given her a new, louder audience.
- Tucker Carlson, once a mainstream conservative voice, now promotes Great Replacement theory, interviews Holocaust deniers, attacks Christian Zionism as a “brain virus," and has been accused of receiving support from Qatar - a major backer of Hamas. Raised in the Anglican tradition of Replacement Theology, he frames Jews and Israel as the problem for “real" Christians.
These are not fringe cranks in dark corners. These are people with large platforms who have chosen to traffic in the same ancient hatreds - dressed up in modern language.
They are not interested in facts. They are not interested in dialogue. They are interested in power, clicks, relevance, and feeding the tribal instinct that says “My team must win - and the Jews are in the way."
That is why explaining ourselves endlessly is pointless. That is why trying to make them like us is a waste of time.
Why this hatred keeps returning
Our ancestors accepted the Torah at Sinai and a higher moral standard. That light exposed darkness - and darkness has resented it ever since.
These people, Carlson, Owens and Fuentes, are reworking the same tired, poisonous rubbish. It is aggressive, ridiculous, and dangerous.
Yet in a perverse twist, I want to say a very loud thank you to Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes and every one of their fellow travellers.
Because despite their best efforts to hurt and divide us, they have achieved the exact opposite of what they intended:
They have forged a stronger, prouder, more united Jewish people than we have seen in generations. Israel is stronger than ever. They have rallied our Christian Zionist allies more fiercely to our side than ever before. And they have ignited in many of us - including me - a fierce, unapologetic fire to stand taller, speak louder, and push back harder than ever.
They have reminded us exactly who we are - and why we will never be broken.
And when all is said and done, these men will enjoy their tiny, fleeting blip in history and then vanish into oblivion - forgotten. While we, the Jewish people, will still be here - surviving their nonsense, growing stronger, and continuing our eternal story.
We are the people who brought the world the idea that life has meaning, that justice matters, that every person is created in the image of God.
We don’t need to prove that anymore.
We need to live it - and defend it - without hesitation.
Because enough is enough.