Benjamin Pogrund OIS (; born 1933) is a South African-born Israeli author.

Biography

Benjamin Pogrund was brought up in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. He began a career as a journalist in 1958, writing for '' The Rand Daily Mail'' in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, where he eventually became deputy-editor. The ''Rand Daily Mail'' was the only newspaper in South Africa at that time to report on events in black South African townships. In the course of his work he came to know the major players in the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

struggle and gained the respect and confidence of leaders such as

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

. Pogrund was a reporter at the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960. He was author of a 1965 series on beating and torture of black inmates and maltreatment of white political prisoners based on a series of interviews with Harold Strachan. During his career reporting on apartheid in South Africa he was put on trial several times, put in prison once, had his passport revoked and was investigated as a threat to the state by security police. The ''Rand Daily Mail'' ceased publication in 1985 and Pogrund left for London in 1986. There he was the foreign editor at London's ''Today'', and later chief foreign sub-editor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', London. Later he was editor of ''The WorldPaper'' in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and reported from South Africa in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. He has authored books on Robert Sobukwe,

and the South African press under apartheid. Pogrund emigrated to Israel in 1997. He settled in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

with his wife Anne, an artist. He is the founder of Yakar's Centre for Social Concern. He was a member of the Israeli delegation to the United Nations World Conference against Racism in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Views and opinions

For decades, Pogrund pushed back on the application of the term “apartheid” to Israel. According to Pogrund, the term apartheid was being used falsely as a charge against Israel: "Anyone who knows what apartheid was, and who knows Israel today, is aware of that. Use of the apartheid label is at best ignorant and naïve and at worst cynical and manipulative." In 2020, however, he stated that his assessment might change if Benjamin Netanyahu went ahead with his 2020 electoral proposal to annex the West Bank, stating that if the plan were to be implemented, his evaluation would differ:' tleast it has been a military occupation. Now we are going to put other people under our control and not give them citizenship. That is apartheid. That is an exact mirror of what apartheid was n South Africa' In 2023, following the rise of Israel's extremist-populated 37th government, he stated in ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'': “We deny Palestinians any hope of freedom and normal lives. We believe our own propaganda that a few million people will meekly accept perpetual inferiority and oppression. The government is driving Israel deeper and deeper into inhuman, cruel behavior beyond any defense. I don’t have to be religious to know that this is a shameful betrayal of Jewish morality and history. I have argued with all my might against the accusation that Israel is an apartheid state: in lectures, newspaper articles, on TV and in a book. However, the accusation is becoming fact.”

Recognition and awards

Pogrund was the recipient of the 2005-06 Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award.

Published works

* ''How can man die better: The life of Robert Sobukwe'' *''Shared Histories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue'' (Left Coast Press, 30, 2005) * *''Sobukwe and Apartheid'' (New Jersey:Rutgers Univ Press, 1991; Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 1991) *''Drawing Fire: Investigating the Accusations of Apartheid in Israel.'' Rowman & Littlefield, 2014

Articles

Why depict Israel as a chamber of horrors like no other in the world?
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 8 February 2006
Palestinians and Israelis must be able to meet to talk peace
'' Daily Star'', 27 June 2006

Children's books

*''Nelson Mandela: Leader Against Apartheid'' (World Peacemakers) (Blackbirch Press, 2003)

References

External links

Benjamin Pogrund Papers
at Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
Yakar's Center For Social Concern
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070220073918/http://www.wits.ac.za/histp/sobukwe.htm Collection of historical papers on Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe donated to The University of the Witwatersrand Library by Benjamin Pogrund]
The Journalism that Midwifed the New South AfricaA new Tikva for all Israelis - Fathom Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pogrund, Benjamin 1933 births Living people Israeli activists Israeli people of South African-Jewish descent Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists South African emigrants to Israel South African Jews South African male journalists White South African anti-apartheid activists Date of birth missing (living people)