A fundraising campaign for the South African BDS Coalition has been posted on the Facebook page of Nigel Branken on 18 April 2026. All proceeds are directed to the South African BDS Coalition and the official logo appears. BDS is an organization whose campaigns frequently cross the line from criticism of Israeli policy into denial of Israel’s right of existence – antisemitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition.

A colourful cartoon adorns the page with the headline “Zionist Trolls for Palestine”.  Accompanying this banner are two cartoons. To the left is a green male face with a long nose, yellow skull cap. He has a fiendish grin and bulging eyes.  On the right-hand side is a pink faced man clothed in blue and red with a DA badge on his jacket.  These features identify him a representative of the Democratic Alliance, a political party which is part of the Government of National Unity in South Africa.   There is a speech bubble from this man proclaiming, “Turn Hate Speech into Donations”.

There are four money pledges in South African Rand currency:

“I call him dangerous”  – R1

”I call him fat” – R2

“I call him an antisemite” – R5

“I ignore the argument completely” – R10

All of these incite and promote of hatred and inversions of morality. There can be no escaping the target being Jews, although not explicitly identifying the trolls. The following tell tale indicators are present:

Grotesque caricature: The exaggerated facial features with bulging eyes,  wild hair and maniacal smile invokes associations with evil.

Hook-nosed imagery: The character’s nose is deliberately prominent and hooked, a direct echo of medieval European antisemitic stereotyping of Jews, reminiscent of  Nazi propaganda

Dehumanization: The figure is green skinned and resembles a troll, a subhuman creature of folklore, positioning supporters of Israel (or Jews more broadly) as monstrous, devious, and less than human.

BDS South Africa endorsement: The campaign graphic prominently displays the BDS South Africa logo, confirming the organisation’s direct endorsement and co branding of the campaign. This is not a case of an individual acting alone or misappropriating the BDS brand; the logo’s inclusion signals that BDS South Africa has lent its institutional imprimatur to antisemitic imagery and rhetoric .

The involvement of the DA in this vindictive  and tasteless fundraising campaign is also risible. It reflects Branken’s animus towards political opponents of the ANC who are not sufficiently anti Israel for his liking.  Vulgar and puerile as the campaign is, nevertheless it is harmful and crosses the threshold into sanctionable conduct.

Who is Branken? Nigel Branken is a South African social worker and Christian pastor. He has a background of sustained social media anti-Israel activism and networking with organisations such as Media Review Network and South African Jews for a Free Palestine, which are hostile to Jewish communal institutions and support  BDS narratives.

Branken was the social worker who boarded the aircraft carrying  Palestinians from Gaza when they landed in South Africa. He has no official government position and had no authority whatsoever from the immigration authorities to conduct any activities on board with the passengers from Gaza. No explanation of his role was forthcoming.

It should be no surprise that Branken has well-documented connections to Gift of the Givers, South Africa’s largest disaster-response NGO, and its founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman. This association is significant because it positions Branken within a broader network of organisations and public figures whose humanitarian credibility can be leveraged to legitimise anti Israel political campaigns, including those that cross into antisemitism. The connection warrants scrutiny in the context of his fundraising activities for BDS and his role in coordinating anti-Israel campaigns.

BDS has had a chequered past in South Africa and has not been free of scandal. It was rebranded  Africa for Palestine in 2020. Muhammed Desai, the Director and Co-founder of BDS-SA, was criticised for his warm ties with  PFLP and former hijacker Leila Khaled on her visit to South Africa.   He is alleged to have sexually harassed an American touring academic and two other women. The case was dropped but there has never been a transparent investigation or accountability of BDS.

The gross abuses committed in this fundraising post  require accountability:

The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act of 2000(PEPUDA) provides a  remedy for hate speech.  A complaint under Section 10 of PEPUDA can be filed. The campaign’s use of antisemitic imagery, trivialization of Jew-hatred, and public solicitation of funds through dehumanizing rhetoric meets the threshold for promotion of hatred based on religion and ethnicity.

Facebook/ Meta also monitors community standards and can remove offending material such as dehumanising imagery and hate speech.

Branken’s conduct should also be reviewed by the international  fund raising platform GivenGain which he uses for another fundraising organisation run by him called neighbours.org.za.

The DA is also unfairly depicted in a derogatory light and as a registered political party should call  Mr Branken to account and remove the offending post. The DA has never supported fundraising for BDS,  nor expressed any sentiments identifying anyone as trolls or calling to  “turn hate speech into donations”.  This is a gross attack on its good name and a false attribution to it of actions and policies it has no part of.

The poor ethics displayed by the campaign post bear the true message of the underlying cause of the organisation the public are being solicited for funds. BDS is no moral flagbearer, but is based on prejudice, racial hatred and perversion of human rights.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)