Don't ever compare the honorable Mandela to Israeli war criminals...

CJK is right. Lucy was a tattooed inmate. Sentenced to death. These asylum applicants are a messy crowd. In best case, refugees. With questionable identities. Administrative numbering is not an insult. Let us fight for real human rights. Lucy should raise her voice at the mullahs, who mistreat the Iranian people.

We are generations of survivors; our wounds are understandably still raw. However the experience of our people and the deaths of our martyr (including my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins) teach us not only vigilance but humility and compassionate empathy - empathy for those in like and near like situations, humility to understand that today's victim could be tommorows assailant. There must be two sides to the equation of "never again".

If South Africa is so great why is Israel having trouble with Africans flocking to Israel and not to South Africa?

You are so proud you can't sign your name? Could it be you're a proud coward? Sorry to burst your bubble...Mandela was not what they pictured him out to be.

The Jewish state is an Astounding miracle but has Many Flaws.The Divide between Rich and Poor The Corruption and Mafia and The Tribalism And Racism are still strong .But most of Islam is far worse Denying the Jews refugee from Nazi occupied Europe Not only Mandated Palestine but worse from Turkey to Afghanistan a Four Million Jews Women Children Sick and Escorts temporary sanctuary.

People become numbers out of practicality. We are dealing with thousands of these Africans and its apt easier for them to be referred to as numbers than it is to be referred to by their real name especially if as in some cases those names are hard to pronounce. When your dealing with your dealing with large numbers of people its much easier for the judges to refer to people as a number rather than a name. The Holocaust survivors need to understand that sometime these things are done out of practicality not to be cruel and they must not take it so personally.

Not everyone is lucky to have a name as nice as yours. They could have done worse and picked some portion of a birds anatomy I guess.

... is a senile old fool. Israelis have personal identification numbers and military service numbers. Americans have Social Security numbers. My medical and dental insurances identify me by number. And this despite the fact that I can produce all manner of personal identification with photographs, including drivers licenses and passports, attesting that I am who I profess to be. What African can do that? So what's in a name, if that name changes tomorrow, or the next time an African illegal is arrested? My parents -- both gone, now, z"l -- had concentration camp tattoos. But they never adopted false identities and that is what the Africans do. Numbers don't lie. People do.

Do not mix. Illegal migrants must be repatriated to their countries of origin. Israel is a Jewish state for the Jews. The holocaust was a war of extermination against the Jews.

You are joking-what did he do for his people.All the promises to the children etc.He became a celebrity that's all.

Trust me, we have thousands and thousands of refugees in SA. It is a huge problem, and there has been xenophobic violence in the past. There is great dislike of black foreigners by local black people. Most foreigners come to SA from southern and central Africa. It's Africans of northern origin that make their way to Israel.

Compassion & reality do not always walk side by side. In theory giving people numbers so they can be kept track of is the same although in this case nobody is tatooing the Africans and its not done so we know who is going to be a slave labourer When you have large numbers of people to deal with you cannot rely on names. There might be many people with the same name, some names might be hard to pronounce or read, the Africans all have ID numbers anyway and thats how they are listed its nice simple and practical. That woman in the article doesn't seem to realise that every official institution lists her by identity by number first individual second. She wants a passport She gets a pension I imagine She has a bank account She wants medical insurance All these things on the computers she is listed as a number first and an individual second. Numbering people when you have a lot of them to deal with has always been the way it gets done be it Nazis, Africans or citizens we just don't see it much. We cannot start listing all these Africans and everybody else in the country by name out of compassion we need to do it in the most efficient way and thats by turning people into numbers for official purposes and only refer to them by name if you want to speak to them personally

I wonder how many of African migrants, is "Ms Mandelstam" and those who "talk"and write for her, are ready to sponsor and settle... All that big mouth empty talk about numbers and court rulings, are just pathetic, untrue and destructive for the country...There have always been many means and attempts to innihilate Israel...Out numbering the Jewish population in the Jewish State, would be one of the means. Perhaps, those who put words in Ms Mandelstam's "mouth", should find another,more democratic country, suitable for the African migrants to resettle...Israel is a tiny sovereign Nation State of the & for the Jewish People, who's many citizens are people of diferent religions, who are enjoying freedom & democracy.. It is and has always been Israel, who is first to extend help of every kind to the Nations near and far .. Lucy Mandelstam's comment is not to the point, not convincing or may not have been hers...A Holocaust survivor knows to value and appreciate the existance of the tiny sovereign State for the Jewish People on a deep, emotional and personal level...

the Torah commands Israel to be Kind to Strangers because we were strangers in another Lang and we know the horrible experience of being treated badly. Shame on you Israel for repeating this injustice HaShem, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob neither slumbers nor does he sleep.