Cii News – 30 August 2012

The University if the Witwatersrand Student Representative Council (Wits SRC) has called for a complete academic boycott of Israel.

The move is seen as a significant one taking into account the prestige of Wits University.

The SRC took a resolution to boycott Israel fully, not allow pro-Israel events on campus, and to push the university to investigate its suppliers, to see if Israeli connections exist, and subsequently push for a boycott. The SRC also resolved to support international Israeli apartheid week.

Yusuf Peer, the SRC head of Policy, Constitutional and Legal Affairs, told Cii on Thursday morning, “The SRC took the decision after the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign made a presentation to the SRC and requested us to take this decision.”

Peer added that it wasn’t a difficult decision to take because the SRC is currently dominated by the SA Students Congress (SASCO), the ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League.

“All of our bodies have a similar position to Israel…It’s something that SRC’s around the world did during apartheid where products from South Africa were not allowed in canteens. So it’s only fair that we as an SRC coming from a country that had to fight for liberation start similar actions in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”