Cape Town – Stellenbosch University says the withdrawal of seven Israeli delegates from an upcoming academic conference is as a result of circumstances beyond the control of the university and the event’s organising committee.
Some civil society groups have welcomed the withdrawal of the Israeli delegates from the December 5-9 conference.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with the support of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance and SA Jews for a Free Palestine and other groups, had called for the Israelis to be barred from the conference.
The aim of the conference is to improve understanding of trans-generational trauma and to develop strategies to deal with the repercussions of genocide, colonial oppression and mass violence.
The conference committee is chaired by award-winning author and scholar Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, and several prominent academics and activists, including Achille Mbembe, Homi Bhabha, Albie Sachs, Zackie Achmat and Lindiwe Hani, are expected to attend the event.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the work undertaken for it by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, are to be celebrated at the closing ceremony. Stellenbosch University rector and vice-chancellor Wim de Villiers said it was regrettable that the “Israeli-Palestinian narrative has now spilled over to the conference”, in the process achieving exactly the opposite of what the event aimed to attain.
“Stellenbosch University supports freedom of expression and academic freedom, and is in no way anti-Semitic or anti-Palestinian,” he said.
“At no point did the conference organisers or Stellenbosch University request or suggest that any speaker should withdraw from the event. Neither were any individuals singled out or vilified on Stellenbosch University’s social media platforms.”
Gobodo-Madikizela has continued engaging with various role-players in a spirit of reconciliation, and has expressed regret at the withdrawal of the Israeli delegates.
De Villiers said: “The most disappointing outcome of this sequence of events is the absence of robust debate on the Israeli-Palestinian issue at the conference.”
The South African branch of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which supports an academic boycott against Israel, welcomed the withdrawal of the Israeli delegates. “We wish the over 350 people from 23 countries who have registered for the conference success and best wishes,” it said.
The SA Zionist Federation condemned what it called the “unlawful silencing of and discrimination” against Israeli academics. “This ... measure is a flagrant violation of academic freedom.
“It is ironic that this conference is ostensibly about reconciliation and recognition, and yet Israelis have been denied recognition by virtue of their nationality,” the federation said.