Image by Getty Images

Image by Getty Images

Blade Nzimande, South Africa’s minister of higher education, sought the visa to conduct a six-day working visit.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

According to Eyewitness News, the South African department of higher education says Israel’s refusal owes to the minister’s “public utterances against the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel.” The department says, in addition, that it views the action as an attack on the South African government. Khaye Nkwanyana, Nzimande’s spokesperson, said this denial meant that a government minister would never be able to travel to Israel or Palestine and “has effectively barred all South African officials from visiting both countries.”

The trip was intended to promote research collaboration between the University of Johannesburg and Birzeit University, following a visit to South Africa by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in November 2014.

According to news24.com, Nkwanyana said the move had created a “serious diplomatic problem.” Israel had refused the visa as Nzimande was “one of the most vocal anti-Israel government ministers,” according to the news site.

As a result, Nzimande would be calling on all higher education bodies to cut ties with their Israeli counterparts. “We must just boycott Israel,” Nkwanyana said.

Nzimande has previously called for South Africa to boycott Israeli imports and said last year at the University of Johannesburg that Israel was waging a “vicious campaign” against the Palestinians.

“[They] have clearly been massacred for the crime of demanding the return of their land and self-determination. This genocidal campaign must be condemned in the strongest terms possible,” he said.

Reacting to the denial of the visa, Nzimande told Independent Media on Thursday: “The Israeli government is trying by all means to hide their atrocities against the Palestinian people and minimize the number of people who can actually see what is happening on the ground.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount