OLGA MESHOE WASHINGTON

South African Zionist advocate Olga Meshoe Washington will headline Jewish National Fund-USA’s second annual Women for Israel event in the Capital Region on Wednesday, May 29, at 7 p.m. She will share her perspective about South Africa’s history with an apartheid system of institutionalized racial segregation while arming attendees with facts to combat anti-Semitism in all its forms. The CEO of Defend Embrace Invest (in) Support Israel (DEISI) reports that she has made it her life’s work to combat disinformation about Israel.

“How dare other people use our narrative as a weapon to delegitimize the State of Israel and to call for the elimination of the Jewish people,” Washington asserted in The Jerusalem Post. “It not only diminishes the sufferings that black South Africans experienced, but it also allows international organizations to take legal jargon to try and make Israel fit into the South African mold. They not only trivialize what black South Africans went through; they’re erasing our experience.”

Washington also serves as a board member of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, and in 2016, she received the Jerusalem Award from the World Zionist Organization in recognition of her advocacy for the State of Israel and the South African Jewish community. She was also ranked number one on The Jerusalem Post’s list of 25 Young ViZionaries.

“Olga Meshoe Washington is a powerful advocate for the land and people of Israel, particularly as we see a rise in Jew-hatred following the Hamas massacres on October 7,” said Jewish National Fund-USA’s Women for Israel chairwoman and president of the Capital Region chapter’s board of directors, Lauren Iselin. “Her unique narrative about the history of Israel-African relations, the Christian mandate to stand with Israel, and her engaging speech delivery have contributed to her being a regular on the speakers’ circuit in the U.S. and Africa,” Inselin added.

The “Female Voices for Our Homeland” event will also highlight how Jewish National Fund-USA’s Israel Resilience Campaign has raised $60 million for immediate aid to impacted Israelis and has supported the evacuation and relocation of tens of thousands of residents in Israel’s south while providing thousands more with housing, food, clothing, and other supplies.

The campaign’s Livnot B’Yachad — Build Together plan includes bold and visionary initiatives to rebuild Israel’s envelope communities that were destroyed in the October 7 terrorist attacks.

Information and registration for the complimentary program  may be obtained at  jnf.org/wficr or by contacting Sara Hefez, executive director, New England and the Capital Region, at [email protected], or 617-423-0999, ext.811