On Friday, I met up with my group, American Friends of Shaarei Tzedek, about sixty people altogether. We are staying at the Camps Bay Hotel, situated on the seafront. On Friday night, we davenned at the local shul, and then we were joined by a special guest for dinner: F. W. De Klerk, former President of South Africa, ender of Apartheid, and joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela. He was very interesting, as was his wife, who protested that people were talking during the singing of Shalom Aleichem!
De Klerk spoke about how his former support of apartheid was not due to his being evil, but rather his vision was identical with what much of the world wants for Israel today: two states for two peoples. However, because the whites were not willing to give up enough land, and the blacks were not happy with the situation, it ended up being very cruel to the blacks and he realized that the plan was not working.
Lots more to write, especially about all the stuff we did today, but no time right now. Tomorrow we are flying to Johannesburg and then transferring to a light aircraft to Sabi Sands reserve; I hope to be able to write on the first plane and upload while changing planes!
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