At the time of going to print, a “peaceful protest against the presence of Zionism on university campuses” has just taken place at the University of Pretoria (UP). The event was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) as part of an ongoing campaign at that institution to silence and exclude Jewish voices, even on matters that don’t concern Israel at all.
It began when the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) and the Student Representative Council (SRC) decided to partner in a fundraising initiative on behalf of needy students at UP, as was done with much success by SAUJS and the SRC at the University of the Witwatersrand last year. Though entirely aimed at helping fellow students, the project elicited a virulent backlash from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) lobby, which demanded that the SRC break off relations with SAUJS. Statements released on the issue have included a number of repellent references to “Zionist” (in other words, Jewish) money being used to bribe and corrupt the SRC while at the same time purporting to be a defence of democratic, human rights values of the Constitution.
For those present, it was frankly sickening to be confronted by two rows of placards demanding the exclusion of the Jewish representative union from university affairs. Let it be clear what the PSC and its fellow travellers are objecting so strongly to. It has nothing to do with Israel but is about one of our Jewish organisations wanting to participate and contribute to South Africa. This has always been seen as a positive thing by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD). We encourage our students to engage positively in the broader South African society. By agitating for SAUJS to be shunned and effectively banned from our campuses, BDS agitators are in point of fact seeking to exclude the umbrella representative body for Jewish students throughout South Africa, and therefore Jewish students as a whole, from normal university activities.
The SAJBD has been working closely with SAUJS and the UP administration to address this unprecedent attack on Jewish students’ rights and freedoms. We thank UP for taking this issue so seriously by ensuring that there was sufficient security on the day, and further welcome the reassurance that action will be taken against those responsible for this hate campaign. The SAJBD will continue to support our students against this outrageous attempt to outlaw their representative body and effectively turn university campuses into Jew-free zones. We further applaud SAUJS for the restraint and resilience it has shown in the face of all the ugly smears and intimidation it has been subjected to. We’ll continue to engage with the university administration to ensure that this matter is properly dealt with.
Tribute to an esteemed colleague: Ann Harris (1938-2023)
It was with much sadness that we learned over the weekend of the passing in Jerusalem of our dear friend, colleague, and mentor, Ann Harris. Whether as a Jewish communal leader, human rights campaigner, social-upliftment activist, or in her chosen field as a lawyer, Ann left an indelible mark. Perhaps what most readily comes to mind is how, together with her esteemed husband, the late Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris, she was from her very arrival in this country at the forefront first of leading South African Jewry into the new democratic era, and thereafter of active involvement in the healing and nation building that followed the transition. Her memory will be cherished, and those who follow in her footsteps will continue to be inspired by the example she set.
- Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM, every Friday from 12:00 to 13:00.
