Setback for UCT boycotters

SHAUN ZAGNOEV

We welcome the council’s rejection of the resolution, which in addition to flouting fundamental principles of academic freedom, was self-evidently discriminatory, thoroughly unscholarly in terms of its skewed interpretation of the Israeli-Palestinian question, and driven by radical ideological bias against Israel rather than any genuine concerns for human rights. In our statement, we commended the council for having endorsed the principles of academic freedom, and called upon the UCT senate “to further endorse and uphold these principles in their future deliberations”. I thank all those organisations and individuals, including students, academics, alumni, activists, and others from both the Jewish community and outside it, who have joined us in taking a stand against this morally repugnant initiative. Our focus now will be on the upcoming senate debate on the issue.

Mozambique relief appeal

I am pleased to be able to report that there has been an outstanding response from our community, particularly in Pretoria, to our appeal on behalf of victims of the Mozambique cyclone disaster. Our national and regional offices are overflowing with donated items, which will be sent by truck to the crisis areas. In terms of financial donations, the community has likewise been very generous. Through these funds, we have been able to purchase large amounts of disinfectants, soaps and other hygiene products, and assist with the provision of hospital beds. We are further able to support other relief bodies, including Cadena, a newly founded Jewish relief agency in South Africa. We are assisting Cadena in facilitating the transportation of donated items, and also in purchasing materials for water purification projects. The Jewish schools have all come on board, as have the South African Union of Jewish Students, which has made flood relief a core component of this year’s campaign in response to Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), another grotesque anti-Israel initiative on our campuses. I will report back on this year’s anti-IAW activities next week.

One of the most encouraging aspects of the community’s response is that it came at a time of considerable economic stress in our own country. That so many South Africans contributed to assist disaster victims across the border is indeed to the credit of the country as a whole.

In conclusion, I would like to also mention the participation of our national director, Wendy Kahn, as part of the World Jewish Congress delegation in last week’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington DC. This included speaking on a panel with her counterparts from the United Kingdom, Argentina, and Ireland about the challenges their respective communities face.

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