South African Students Demand Jews ‘Deregister’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The student government of a South African university is under fire after it called on Jewish students to “deregister” over their supposed support for Israel.
The student representative council and a left-wing student group at Durban University of Technology made the demand amid controversy over a speech by a Palestinian activist.
We took the decision that Jewish students, especially those who do not support the Palestinian struggle, should deregister,” said Mqondisi Duma, chair of the council.
The council presented the demand to the university’s administration, which swiftly rejected it.
Vice Chancellor Professor Ahmed Bawa called the call “totally preposterous, unjust, unfair, unreasonable and unconstitutional”
South African Jews expressed outrage over the call and plan a demonstration in the Indian Ocean city to protest the call, which they branded blatantly anti-Semitic and contrary to the non-racial constitution of post-apartheid South Africa.
The anti-Jewish call came after a speech at the college by Leila Khaled, a Palestinian activists convicted of taking part in a 1969 hijacking.
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