Charl Kleinhaus—one in all 59 Afrikaners or white South Africans granted refugee standing underneath the Trump administration—has come underneath fireplace after a sequence of antisemitic posts have been found on his X (previously Twitter) account. Kleinhaus’ arrival at Washington Dulles Worldwide Airport on Could 12, alongside the opposite Afrikaners granted refugee standing, was swiftly overshadowed by controversy after a sequence of X posts surfaced this week, revealing what seemed to be his antisemitic views towards Jewish folks and inflammatory remarks about immigrants.
In line with The Guardian, in 2023, Kleinhaus, 46, posted on X that Jewish folks have been “untrustworthy and a harmful group.” In one other publish shared within the fall of 2024, he re-posted a white nationalist YouTube video—since eliminated—titled: “‘We’ll shoot ILLEGAL Immigrants!’ – Poland’s Unlawful Islamic Immigrant Answer,” punctuated with clapping emojis. Different posts from Kleinhaus promoted the conspiracy principle that white South Africans face focused persecution—a story that has been embraced by President Trump and far-right circles alike.
Throughout an interview with BBC on Thursday, Kleinhaus confirmed that he was the proprietor of the account behind the antisemitic and racist content material. Whereas he denied being antisemitic, he claimed that one of many posts was copied from another person and written whereas he was on morphine for medical therapy, although he acknowledged that was not an excuse.
Defending his controversial remarks about the Jewish neighborhood, Kleinhaus claimed his 2023 publish was written in anger after viewing an unverified video that allegedly confirmed Jewish people spitting at Christians in Israel. He insisted that his feedback weren’t a direct insult aimed on the Jewish neighborhood as a complete.
“Even now, if I see any individual going towards my faith, I’ll converse up towards it,” he mentioned.
Kleinhaus and Afrikaner refugees have been allowed to settle within the US over claims of “racial discrimination” in South Africa.
Kleinhaus, an Afrikaner farmer from South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province, arrived at Washington Dulles Worldwide Airport on Could 12 alongside 58 different Afrikaners granted refugee standing underneath the Trump administration. Below an govt order from the president, the group was admitted primarily based on claims of “unjust racial discrimination” in South Africa, though officers from the nation have denied such accusations. Notably, white South Africans nonetheless maintain 10 occasions the wealth of their Black counterparts, as NewsOne author Tiffany Hamilton beforehand cited.
President Trump’s govt order got here one month after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act in January. The regulation permits the federal government to grab unused or privately owned land with out compensation in sure circumstances, when it’s deemed “equitable and within the public curiosity,” BBC famous.
Whereas the South African authorities says no land has but been expropriated, the act goals to deal with deep-rooted land inequality stemming from apartheid. Per NBC Information, in line with Motion for Southern Africa, white South Africans—who make up solely 7.3% of the inhabitants—personal 72% of farms and agricultural holdings, whereas Black South Africans, representing over 81% of the inhabitants, personal simply 4%.
Kleinhaus claimed the regulation had direct private penalties for himself and his household. He alleges that anti-Afrikaner sentiment has intensified, citing harm to his farm tools and a scarcity of police response. He additionally alleged that he acquired loss of life threats by way of WhatsApp, together with one message that learn, “’We’ll do away with you, you’re on my land.’”
Afrikaners, the white ethnic group that dominated South Africa throughout apartheid till its finish in 1994, proceed to personal a disproportionate share of the nation’s prime farmland. Whereas Kleinhaus believes he has been unfairly focused, he acknowledges the historic injustices Black South Africans have endured and the widespread frustration over the gradual progress of land reform greater than three many years later. Nonetheless, he insists he shouldn’t be blamed, stating he had “nothing to do with apartheid.”
Telling.
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America Welcomes Afrikaner ‘Refugees’ to Rescue Whiteness
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