South African higher education institutions have called for a Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire and the promotion of education.
TThe University of Pretoria announced after a senate meeting on Tuesday that it would be “rewriting a draft document” submitted by staff and students recommending a boycott of Israeli institutions over the Palestinian war.
“Following this discussion we have decided to gather input from a wider representation of stakeholders across the university community and to amend the draft document submitted by a group of concerned staff and students,” University of Pretoria spokesman Rix Delport said. Mail & Guardian On Thursday.
In the draft document, the pro-Palestinian faction calls on universities to boycott all Israeli academic institutions and calls for an audit of the University of Pretoria's investments in Israel.
“We call on universities to audit all agreements and contracts to determine whether they are with Israeli academic institutions, Israeli-owned businesses or companies, or other entities that are complicit in supporting Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people, and we call on universities to end all such relationships,” the draft states.
However, the university said that since “the Senate merely represents the university's stakeholder groups” the “university does not have the authority to pass such a resolution.”
Last week, Mark Wegerif, lead chair of the draft document, said that it was important for the university to clearly demonstrate its solidarity with the Palestinians “firstly because it is an important institution – the largest contact university in South Africa and one of the top universities – and secondly because the university itself has a troubled history”.
Wegerif was referring to the University of Pretoria's history of collaboration and support with the white minority government, which shaped university policy during apartheid.
“The university claims to have transformed. This is a test of whether the University of Pretoria will redeem itself today and stand with the oppressed,” he said. M&G.
Other higher education institutions such as Nelson Mandela University, the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) have also passed resolutions in support of Palestine and resolved to end academic ties with Israel-linked institutions.
Nelson Mandela University announced on May 6 that it would “refrain from conducting business or entering into contracts with any business or company of Israeli origin or that is complicit in supporting Israel in the oppression of the Palestinian people.”
Similarly, UCT announced on June 24 that no researcher at the university “may have or continue to have a relationship with the Israel Defense Forces and/or research groups and/or networks in which the authors are affiliated with Israeli military organizations.”
Four days later, the UWC said in a statement that it was “fully withdrawing from Israeli academic institutions, in line with the guidelines of the Palestinian movement calling for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel.”
The University of the Witwatersrand did not specifically mention efforts to divest from Israel, but added that on July 5 the university's senate passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire and establishing efforts to protect Palestinian rights.
“We further commit, within Wits University's mandate, to providing meaningful and ongoing academic support to the reconstruction of the Palestinian education and health systems,” the statement said, after pro-Palestinian students at the university staged a five-day camp in front of the university's Great Hall in early May.
Students said they faced hostility from Wits University after security personnel removed their gazebo from the premises.
South Africa filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice in December last year alleging that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In an advisory opinion on July 19, the court said Israel was violating international law and must withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory “as soon as possible.”
An earlier article incorrectly reported that the University of Pretoria had reached a solution. We deeply apologize for this error.
