UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL PASSES ISRAELI BOYCOTT RESOLUTION
Major Victory for Palestinian BDS Movement in South Africa
On 27 July 2012, The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Student Representative Council (SRC)
passed a resolution that called for a cultural and academic boycott of
Israeli institutions. The resolution was brought forth to the SRC by the Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and was unanimously adopted by present SRC representatives.
The resolution states that the University will “not participate in
any form of cultural or academic collaboration or joint projects with
Israeli institutions and will not provide support to Israeli cultural or
academic institutions”.
Furthermore, the resolution calls for an investigation into any
associations the University has with Israeli institutions including
academic relations, financial relations, and cultural relations. The SRC
of Wits University has committed itself to “actively campaign and lobby
for the University to divest from such relations to further support the
boycott of Israel and justice in Palestine” upon the discovery of such
existing relations.
The Wits SRC,
as the executive representative of the student body, will also begin to
actively promote and continue to support the annual Israeli Apartheid
Week (IAW). IAW,
which has developed into an international campaign held in more than
ninety (90) cities and campuses around the world, has become to play an
integral role in exposing the illegal Israeli occupation and its
Apartheid policies.
In 2010, the University of Johannesburg cut its academic ties with an Israeli institution, Ben Gurion University. This was precedent-setting campaign that has since fueled more BDS
actions such as the recent decision by officials in Pretoria, South
Africa to remove the “Made in Israel” label from products made in
occupied Palestinian territories, and now, the Wits SRC resolution.
This is yet another progressive step in the Palestinian solidarity
movement in South Africa led by the youth. South African youth were a
driving force in ending apartheid in South Africa and have expressed and
demonstrated their solidarity with the Palestinians as they continue to
face Israeli apartheid and occupation. The importance of the passage of
this resolution should not be understated, as it is a landmark victory
in the BDS movement and the struggle for Palestinian rights and freedom.
