Cape Town - The UCT Council has passed two motions related to Gaza after it held an ordinary plenary meeting on Saturday.
On the agenda were two resolutions regarding Gaza, which had been passed by the UCT Senate on April 19.
After they had been passed at Senate level, the resolutions moved to the council for consideration.
UCT said that the two resolutions were debated and adopted, each by majority vote.
The first resolution related to the destruction of scholarship and education in Gaza, with the council resolving to “call, again, for an immediate ceasefire, the passage of humanitarian aid and return of all captives as contained in the Senate's resolution of 17 November 2023; and condemn the destruction of the education sector in Gaza and the massive scale of killing of teachers and university staff in the current war”, among others.
The second resolution related to research collaborations with members of the Israeli Defence Force and the wide Israeli military establishment.
“In terms of this resolution, no UCT academic may enter into relations with, or continue relations with, any research group and/or network whose author affiliations are with the Israeli Defence Force, and/or the broader Israeli military establishment,” the resolution read.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said it was pleased that the resolutions had been ratified by the UCT Council.
PSC co-ordinator Usuf Chikte said: “UCT needs to give its staff, students and the public the assurance that its staff and students uphold the rule of law and are not, through association with the IDF and other structures, acting in violation of the South African Constitution and the law, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act, 2002 and the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, 1998.
“We welcome the support of UCT to ensure the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, academic freedom, its solidarity with Palestinian academics, and its commitment to rebuilding Gaza’s academic project.”
In a statement, SA Zionist Federation (SAZF) Cape Council chairperson David Cohen condemned the council’s decision.
“The SA Zionist Federation Cape Council is deeply dismayed by this development, which poses significant risks to the university’s academic and financial well-being, as well as to the principles of intellectual freedom and diversity.”
Cohen said that owing to Israel’s universal conscription policy, this amounted to a blanket boycott of all Israeli academic institutions.
The federation called on the university’s council to reconsider the motions.