UCT council adopts Gaza resolutions

Call for immediate ceasefire

By Matthew Hirsch

25 June 2024

The Council of the University of Cape Town has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks

The Council of the University of Cape Town has adopted two resolutions of the institution’s Senate on the war in Gaza. The resolutions call for an immediate ceasefire and the rebuilding of academic institutions in Gaza.

The resolutions, passed by the Senate in April, were debated at a Council meeting on 22 June and passed by majority decision, UCT said in a statement.

In the first resolution Senate resolved to:

• call, again, for an immediate ceasefire, the passage of humanitarian aid and the return of all captives;
• condemn the destruction of the education sector in Gaza and the massive scale of killing of teachers and university staff in the current war;
• urge the international community to ensure that the provision of humanitarian aid includes the restoration of the education sector in Gaza;
• express concern and opposition to any attempts to curtail academic freedom by labelling criticism of Israel or Zionist policies as antisemitism;
• reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s conflation of critique of Zionism and Israel’s policies as antisemitism;
• express support for academic colleagues in Gaza who are surviving under appalling conditions and “our intention to assist in the rebuilding of the academic sector after the war”; and
• express solidarity with academic colleagues victimised for their willingness to speak out against the destruction of education in Gaza.

The second resolution bars UCT academics from relations with any research group or network affiliated to the Israeli Defence Force or the broader Israeli military establishment.

Last month, GroundUp reported on Palestine solidarity encampments at UCT and Wits. The University of the Western Cape also called for a ceasefire in a statement in April.

According to Al Jazeera, all universities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed as a result of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. More than 90 university professors have been killed.