Board highlights campus antisemitism by joining case against UCT

The University of Cape Town (UCT) is the oldest university in this country, and has a proud and honourable history. Countless Jews attending UCT have gone on to excel locally and internationally. It’s also home to the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies, an institution we want to protect and continue to see flourish.

It’s for this reason that the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has become an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case between Professor Adam Mendelsohn, the head of the Kaplan Centre, and UCT, challenging its decision to implement an academic boycott on Israel.

The history is as follows: on 22 June 2024, the UCT Council adopted anti-Israel resolutions calling for boycotts against Israel. The fight is also about UCT’s rejection of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The resolutions not only impact Professor Mendelsohn’s work in the Kaplan Centre, but have huge repercussions for the university including on research, collaboration, and funding. It is a tribute to Professor Mendelsohn that he has courageously taken up this pivotal case.

Because of the impact that this will have on the Jewish UCT community, from students to academics, the SAJBD has become involved.

In our affidavit, we lay out the pervasive antisemitism on UCT campus; the overlap between Zionism and Judaism; and explore the importance of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, as opposed to the “Jerusalem definition”. The central difference between the two definitions is their approach to criticism of Israel and Zionism. The IHRA definition considers certain criticisms of Israel to be antisemitic. While the SAJBD is not stipulating which definition the university should adopt, we challenge the UCT Council’s bizarre decision to implement a definition of antisemitism with no consultation whatsoever with the elected representative bodies of the South African Jewish community and the South African Union of Jewish Students.

Furthermore, while universities around the world have experienced unbridled antisemitism on campuses, including violent and aggressive actions aimed at Jewish students and academics, UCT is the only university in South Africa that has experienced this hostility. The SAJBD believes that there is a direct link between these resolutions and the anti-Jewish displays at UCT.

We bring context to how these resolutions are resulting in hostility to Jews on UCT’s campus, and draw attention to the impact of these resolutions on the daily lived reality of Jewish students and faculty members of UCT. The anti-Jewish rhetoric on campus has created a hostile environment for Jewish students, who experience verbal abuse and intimidation. Jewish academics have also faced attack and unwarranted scrutiny from their colleagues.

Finally, in our affidavit, we explain the relationship between Judaism and Zionism. South African Jewry is, and has historically always been, fiercely Zionist. The Kaplan Centre’s most recent study on the topic found that 96% of South African Jews have a connection to the Jewish state of Israel. This underscores the relevance of Zionist identity in understanding the community’s self-image.

The fact that these resolutions were adopted by the UCT Council without considering their impact on Jewish students and faculty members is hugely problematic, and we believe it is important to address these issues within the framework of the law.

Ultimately, the fight for UCT goes well beyond the individuals and institutions involved. This case has an impact on university campuses around the world in calling for a halt to the anti-Jewish hostility that is becoming endemic.

• Wendy Kahn is the national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.