ANT KATZ

An interesting case is that of the Price family in Cape Town. UCT Vice-Chancellor Max’s son, Ilan, who was one of the 29 students arrested for trying to storm Parliament on Wednesday.

Also read: JEWISH STUDENT SUPPORT FOR #FEESMUSTFALL

RIGHT: Among those jailed were two Jews, Ilan and Aaron Vardi

Asked how his father had felt about his actions and arrest, Ilan said that Max had been quoted in the media as having said he was proud of his son, and that if he could have been there he would have.

“My father has always respected my right to make up my own mind,” Ilan told Jewish Report Online.

Prof Max Price had been at a conference overseas at the time of the incident.

Ilan, who has a BSc in applied maths and philosophy (he graduated in 2013) was vocal about any inconvenience some students may suffer. What is happening with students now “is a fight about giving people access to education”, he says.

LEFT: Ilan Price completed his BSc in 2013 and was head of Habonim in 2014

Big struggle

But “the struggle is much bigger than ‘convenience’,” says Ilan Price.

While thousands of people may be concerned about whether they will meet their holiday booking dates, says Ilan, this is about the tens of thousands of qualified students who can’t afford to access tertiary education.

Clarifying the current climate, says Ilan: “I was not opposed to (and participated in) the initial disruptions as part of the first national shut-down which was clearly intent on bringing the issue on to the national stage as an urgent crisis.

“But,” he insists, “I do believe exams should now not be prevented from happening completely.”

RIGHT: Struggle stalwart Professor
Max Price, UCT’s vice-chancellor

Josh Gordon, the current Habonim madrich, was in the front lines of the parliamentary protest as well, although he was not arrested. He was, however, pictured in a BBC article.

Another of the Jewish Capetonians arrested at Parliament was Aaron Vardi.

Ray Harley, the previous editor of the Sunday Times and who wrote “Nelson Mandela’s brave new country became an anti-youth machine” in the newspaper on Sunday, used these most profound words which, in one sentence, encapsulate so much about what is wrong in South Africa: “Once the Constitution had been enacted, the new elite began appropriating SA’s resources at the expense of the next generation.”

LEFT: Still another Jewish Capetonian, Ricky Stoch, took this picture which was published in the media

Dani Hovsha, incoming chairman of the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS), termed the campaign “a historic moment in our young democracy. It has informed the highest levels of our government that the voice of the youth will not be silenced, that the issues which plague the student population are of national concern and demand a national response,” she said.

“It is a victory that everyone involved in the peaceful actions of this protest should be proud of. There is much work to be done to reach the vision of free education for all, but the demonstrations have opened up a dialogue, and made this goal an issue of national and international interest.”

She adds, however, that (as Ilan Price said) she is “hopeful that all students will soon be able to return to their studies”.