Yesterday, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) kicked off with events being held around the world as a form of unity to boycott Israeli Apartheid and in support of the Palestinian people.
Tensions ran high at the University of Witwatersrand. Private security and management intervened in arguments between pro-Palestinian activists and pro-Israeli activists. In an attempt to boarder the situation private security made a wall between the two groups of people, very much like the one currently in Palestine.
During IAW last year, pro-Palestinian activists were forcibly removed from having events in the same space as the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS). Rashaad Yusuf Dadoo was unavailable to comment on the situation, but a member of the Wits SRC, Azra Karim, made a statement yesterday saying that members of SAUJS initiated contact by shoving the PSC gazebos off the Piazza.
According to Dadoo, chairperson of the Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC), SAUJS used a part of the space that IAW events were supposed to be held on. “We don’t set up to fight SAUJS, we don’t set up to fight private security or management, we set up simply to raise awareness”, Dadoo said. He also explained that the main aim was to inform and discuss various ideas around Israeli apartheid.
Dadoo said that they were informed on Friday that they had to share the space with SAUJS and they completely rejected the idea because of tensions in previous years. A member of the pro-Zionist committee, Yain Hatz, said that there was an agreement with management to share the Piazza and when they came to set up they were violently attacked and their posters were torn up as a result.
He is part of a campaign that promotes #SeeIsraelforyourself as he says that they have nothing to hide. They have also brought in students from Israel to talk about what living in Israel is like.
According to Wits spokesperson, Shirona Patel, extra security was deployed this week as a measure to keep peace and disengage conflicts. They intervened when altercations broke out yesterday between the two groups. Private security members were unable to comment.
Israeli Apartheid Week is an annual event where a series of events take place demonstrating the plight of the Palestinian people and it calls for a boycott on Israel Apartheid as well as a boycott on Israeli products. IAW raises awareness of the Israeli government’s apartheid policies against the Palestinians.
South Africans resonate with the Palestinians because both share a history of exclusion and persecution based on their race or nationality. Some South Africans feel it is their duty to support the Palestinians in a fight against their oppressors.
Written by: Naeemah Dudan
