WATCH: South African Member of Parliament Threatens Jews with ‘Bloodbath’

A South African member of Parliament, Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam of the National Freedom Party, delivered a speech on February 14 in which he warned Jews there would be a “bloodbath” if the “Zionists” tried to make Cape Town a “Jewish state.”

The speech, uploaded to the South African Parliament’s Youtube channel, was reported by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), and has since gone viral internationally.

South African MP Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam: If the City of Cape Town Is Handed Over to the Zionists, There Will Be a Bloodbath; We Will Not Allow You to Make It a Jewish State! #SouthAfrica #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/WWzJ5rgU8v

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 20, 2024

The speech was part of the annual debate on the president’s “State of the Nation” address. Many members of Parliament wore kaffiyehs in solidarity with the Palestinians.

MEMRI noted: “South African MP Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam of the National Freedom Party said in a February 14, 2024 parliamentary debate, which was uploaded to the parliament’s official YouTube channel, that if the [opposition] Democratic Alliance hands over the city of Cape Town ‘to the Zionists, the city of Cape Town will be a bloodbath.’ He added: ‘We will not allow you to make this a Jewish state!'”

Cape Town is already governed by the Democratic Alliance.

The city has a large Muslim minority, which is generally peaceful, though it also includes extremist groups.

South Africa has experienced a surge in antisemitism since the Hamas terror attack on October 7 in Israel. Moreover, South Africa has led the charge against Israel on the international stage, accusing Israel of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice.

Emam’s speech has gone viral partly for that reason: while South Africa accuses Israel of “genocide,” a member of Parliament is threatening genocide against Jews.

Critics also noted that the speech was not merely anti-Israel or anti-Zionist, but also antisemitic.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.