At the University of Cape Town, students who identified as Jewish were ordered to "go back to Europe," harassed, shoved, verbally insulted, and have been constantly referred to as 'racist colonists' and "genocide and apartheid supporters" by oppressors extreme enough to openly claim to be a part of the Hamas terror organization. This came after the most traumatic few months for South African Jewish students, who, for no other reason than their Jewish identity, have been marginalized, isolated, and demonized.
Israel Apartheid Week at the University of Cape Town was a morbid, hateful, and exhausting week-long event this year. SAUJS had a stand to combat the BDS-sponsored affair on display by the ‘Palestinian Solidarity Forum, which waved Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad flags, as well as calls to support the “Yemeni freedom fighters” (the Houthis) and the Iranian regime in a truly frightening experience.
Apart from Israel Apartheid Week, we ran into yet another example of clear Holocaust inversion and antisemitism when a student at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts (UCT’s Art School) created a replica of the Holocaust Plaque on display at Auschwitz Birkenau, which reads, “Forever, let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe." The words on the plaque have since been scratched out and replaced with the number of people killed in Gaza, while "Nazis" were replaced with "Israel," and “Auschwitz-Birkenau” was replaced with "Palestine."
Apart from the group "Jews for Palestine," which has been the root of many of our problems in the past few months, South African Jewish students have never been more unified and supportive of one another. During IAW, we banded together, pulling each other up and never leaving each other alone as we defended one another. Without the help we have received from one another, we could not have survived what we have.
The most recent development on campus was an encampment. It would be an understatement to say we are worn out. South Africa's Jewish students feel oppressed and ignored in the worldwide discourse, notwithstanding a few pieces to the contrary.
UCT has done very little (if anything at all) to protect its Jewish students. Despite countless attempts by myself and the Cape Jewish Board of Deputies, the flags of Hamas, PIJ, and Hezbollah continue to be displayed, students continue to be discriminated against, lecturers continue to spew damaging rhetoric, and despite reporting it and meeting about it, nothing is done. We still have another two votes to go on the boycotts of Israel in the Senate, and our students feel more and more afraid.
WJC has been a tremendously beneficial support system, holding frequent meetings while maintaining communications with me. Unfortunately, not much has been done due to my university's indifference, but if we can garner pressure and attention from abroad, things might be different.
