SAJBD National Chairman Shaun Zagnoev remains confident that the issue will end favorably toward the Jewish community.“We are hoping for a ruling that will confirm our community’s inalienable right to speak out for and identify with Israel without being subjected to threats and intimidation,” he said. “In standing up for Jewish civil rights, however, we shouldn’t lose sight of our greater duty, in the words of our mission statement, to be part of building a South Africa where everyone is free from the evils of prejudice, intolerance and discrimination.”if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("656089") != -1){console.log("hedva connatix");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";}Zagnoev stressed how crucial it was for political spokespeople in particular to use responsible language that did not inflame tensions and further divide communities.Supporting the SAJBD were the South African Human Rights Commission, the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation, the Psychological Society of South Africa, the Rule of Law Project and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. They want Masuku to be held accountable for the threats and inflammatory comments he has made against the Jewish community.On the other side were COSATU, the Palestine Support Mission, BDS, and a group who supports Gaza.COSATU has waved swastikas at Jewish meetings, believing that by doing so they were acting “in support of the people of Gaza” whom they maintain have been savagely treated by Israel.The debate around hate speech in the courts seems to mean whatever the purveyors of the term want it to mean. But no doubt those who have had “hate speech” directed at them know full well.Incidentally, in South Africa recently, the flag of the previous apartheid government was declared hate speech. Need one look further than the swastika to see the reality of this?Yet, how can hate speech be defined? The South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation’s definition: “Genocide begins with words. Words have consequences. Hate speech, repeated hundreds and thousands of times, becomes incitement to commit genocide. It creates a culture of genocide.”It now remains for the Constitutional Court to give guidance. Lionel Slier is a retired journalist living in Johannesburg