SAZF threatens action over UCT failure to condemn Islamist ‘hate speech’ on campus

The SA Zionist Federation (SAZF) says it is considering “taking further action” against the University of Cape Town (UCT) for failing to condemn an event on the campus two weeks ago at which extremist Islamic propaganda was screened.

The event was hosted by the UCT Palestine Solidarity Forum (PSF) which screened video messages from political representatives of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on UCT’s Upper Campus , says SA Zionist Federation spokesperson Rolene Marks in a press statement released today.

“Both groups are internationally recognised terror organisations whose foundational charters espouse violence against Jews around the world,” she says in a Press statement released today.

She says UCT’s’s failure to condemn the incident where students and the PSF hung Hezbollah and Hamas flags bearing images of military grade rifles in the Leslie Anne building at UCT, will result in further action from the SAZF which has already filed a request for the matter to be investigated by the Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC) at UCT.

Following an antisemitic event hosted by the PSF at the University of Pretoria on March 15, which targeted the SA Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS), the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and the SAUJS engaged with university authorities. The university responded by publicly condemning religious intolerance.

In today’s press statement, Marks says the “intolerable act” at UCT on March 20 “threatens the very foundation of South Africa’s Constitution, which enshrines the protection of the human rights of all its citizens. The fact that UCT has failed to condemn the PSF for hosting representatives from Hamas is a grave affront to our democratic norms, when the Hamas Charter clearly states that ‘The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslim, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him’.”

She says: “It is unconscionable that an institution like UCT would remain silent following messages from Islamist extremists. No Jewish student can feel safe on a campus where fellow students would support and promote such hate speech, discrimination and racism towards those of the Jewish faith.”   

She said the OIC initially communicated that it had planned to meet with the Department of Student Affairs to discuss thes SAZF’s concerns yesterday, but at 9.35am today, was unable to provide any feedback regarding whether the meeting had in fact taken place. 

“UCT’s failure to condemn these actions and investigate the PSF for inciting hate speech, will result in further action from the SAZF. The continued abuse of Jewish human rights cannot – and must not – be tolerated at UCT or any other institution in South Africa. 

“Our universities should be places of rational debate and inclusive engagement, not hostile environments which encourage the dissemination of propaganda from extremist  organisations such as Hamas. Places of learning in South Africa must be clear on the dangers of incitement and hosting speakers who would call for the discrimination, annihilation and destruction of Jewish people, as a result of their beliefs,” says Marks.

She writes: “Supporters of BDS have been convicted by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for antisemitism in previous years – this behaviour, without condemnation, can only result in further human rights violations in future.  

“South African citizens should condemn the PSF for encouraging the discriminatory, racist and extremist political ideologies of Hamas and the oppressive regime of Iran on South African campuses. These groups pose a serious threat to the human rights of women and members of the LGBTIQA+ community as well.

We urge members of the public to join us in condemning this behaviour without reservation. UCT should not delay in doing the same. The SAZF will consider further legal action should the PSF not be held to account for their actions in this regard.” community, and is always rooting for them. The community should be proud of who we are and what we stand for.”

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