UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE CRISIS
Trevor Norwitz, University of Cape Town Fund president, resigns in protest over UCT Council’s Gaza statement
The president of the University of Cape Town Fund is leaving the US alumni and fundraising body of the institution. This follows a UCT Council statement on the war in Gaza.
The chairman of the board and president of the University of Cape Town Fund, Trevor Norwitz, resigned on Tuesday in protest over the university Council’s statement on the crisis in Gaza, in which it called for an immediate ceasefire.
“The Council statement, while varnished with a thin veneer of impartiality, reflects an institution which has lost its moral bearings, even its regard for the truth, which should be sacred to any institution of higher learning,” he said in a three-page response to the University of Cape Town (UCT) Council statement that was published five days earlier.
Norwitz has been on the board of the University of Cape Town Fund – the independent US alumni and fundraising arm of the institution – for more than 20 years.
The University of Cape Town Fund seeks donor support in the US for scholarships to UCT students, grants to UCT’s faculty and programmes, and endowment and capital projects on campus.
In his letter, Norwitz said that he had “often been berated by other alumni for championing an institution that they said had become so hopelessly biased against Israel and even anti-Semitic, that it was not worth supporting”, but that he had disagreed.
However, he said he could “no longer in good conscience be associated with UCT” and is “questioning whether it is worth remaining engaged at all”, following its 7 December statement on the crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Israel-Palestine War
The UCT Council, in its statement, called for:
- An immediate ceasefire, enforced by the United Nations;
- The immediate release of all civilian hostages and those Palestinians held without trial;
- Immediate humanitarian access to all parts of Gaza;
- An international investigation on war crimes by all parties engaged in this conflict, and consequent actions against the perpetrators;
- An international conference on seeking a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that seeks to enforce justice and security for Palestinians and Israelis; and
- Condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism.
“The murder of civilians is and must be condemned regardless of the perpetrators, and even a struggle for freedom must be waged within an ethical and moral framework. We thus condemn the disproportionate and deliberate attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians,” said the Council.
“The disproportionate and deliberate Israeli attack on civilians and civilian infrastructure in acts of collective punishment in Gaza has seen over 15,000 Palestinians killed in a period of under two months; 75% of whom are women and children, leading the head of Unicef to describe it as a war on children.
“The deliberate destruction of hospitals can only be seen as a war crime, as is blocking access to food, water and fuel as instruments of war. In the same period, nearly 250 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, with nearly 2,000 injured by Israeli occupation forces and settlers,” it continued.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Ramaphosa assures Jewish community Pretoria won’t sever ties with Israel, but condemns Gaza ‘genocide’
In his letter, Norwitz spits fire at UCT’s Council, accusing the body of “irresponsibly, even if unwittingly” being among those giving Hamas “support and encouragement, rather than insisting that they be held accountable for their heinous crimes”.
“Having offered its perfunctory condemnation of Hamas, the Council statement goes on to launch into what can best be described as a modern-day medieval-style blood libel…
“It goes without saying that I cannot continue to support or be associated with such an institution. This is my noisy resignation from the Chairmanship and the Board of the UCT Fund after over 20 years.
“I remain open to engaging with UCT if the good people there, including on the Council, see the folly of their statement and are willing to withdraw or revise it appropriately,” said Norwitz.
While the war in the Middle East continues to stir political tensions in the country, South African universities have, for the most part, avoided taking a public position on Israel’s continuing attack on Gaza.
Last month, nearly 300 members of Stellenbosch University – many of them senior academics – signed a letter condemning the attacks on civilians in the conflict.
On 20 November, the UCT Senate called for a ceasefire, and more than 70 members of the UCT Law Faculty called for accountability for the ongoing violence in Palestine, days earlier. (In his letter, Norwitz describes these statements as being “unhinged from reality or morality”.)
“Of all the universities that have made official statements on the war between Israel and Hamas, none I have seen has been as injudicious and tendentious as that put out by my own university,” he said.
In the US, the Israel-Palestine war has roiled university campuses.
Harvard University’s president, Claudine Gay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) president, Sally Kornbluth, and the University of Pennsylvania’s president, Elizabeth Magill, came under heavy criticism from donors, politicians and some student bodies after appearing before a US House of Representatives committee last Tuesday to testify about anti-Semitism on college campuses.
The three university heads evaded questions of whether students who called for genocide of Jews should be punished, which led to calls for them to resign.
Only Magill, following mounting pressure from politicians, donors and alumni, resigned on Saturday, The New York Times reported. MIT issued a statement of support for Kornbluth and Harvard has thrown its weight behind Gay.
“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University,” said the Harvard statement, signed by its board.
“Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing,” it continued.
Israel’s continuing military assault on Gaza has killed more than 18,500 Palestinians, and wounded more than 50,000. A further 286 have been killed and 3,365 wounded in the occupied West Bank.
More than 1,140 people were killed and about 200 hostages were taken in Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October.
On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after the US last week vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have called for a ceasefire to end the conflict.
When contacted by Daily Maverick, Norwitz declined to comment further on the contents of his letter and his departure from the independent fundraising body.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola confirmed to Daily Maverick that the university had received correspondence from Norwitz.
“The UCT Fund is an independent non-profit organisation based in the US (and is among three such UCT international alumni structures of this nature outside the continent),” said Moholola.
“The correspondence was, according to Mr Norwitz, intended to alert the university leadership of an open letter he intended sharing publicly as his personal response to a statement issued recently by the UCT Council. In that draft open letter, Mr Norwitz makes reference to a decision to resign as Chair of the UCT Fund. This decision has not yet been communicated via a formal written notice directly to the university.
“UCT highly values the contribution by Mr Norwitz and remains open to a process of engagement with him, noting that even in such moments of having different views on issues, it is the interest of the institution that all parties concerned are committed to uphold. Like Mr Norwitz, UCT hopes this will not be the end of his almost lifelong relationship with the university,” he continued. DM
Update on 19 December, 2023, at 5.50pm: UCT, through its communication and marketing department, subsequently released a statement to address some of the specific claims made by Norwitz:
“One of the most alarming claims by Mr Norwitz, made without any substantiation, is that other alumni he had engaged with had referred to UCT as ‘an institution that they said had become so hopelessly biased against Israel and even anti-Semitic…’ This is a reckless and irresponsible claim to make, particularly without any shred of corroborating evidence or reference. In our statement of values, UCT commits itself to – among others – an institutional culture of inclusiveness, embodying respect for cultural, religious, linguistic, political, and other differences and acknowledgement of the value of diversity in society.
“Any claim to the contrary could, as far as UCT is concerned, be a result of the scourge of disinformation that has not only been witnessed across the globe in relation to the Gaza conflict but has also unfortunately found a way to the UCT campus. It is likely Mr Norwitz and some alumni base this claim on a few online reports by a particular Jewish publication, which has taken a biased stance when reporting on the matter, and which has attempted to spread an alarmist and exaggerated narrative around events on campus. UCT once again cautions any member of the university community and the public at large to be mindful that, living in an age of fake news, there should not be reliance on a single source and it is important to sift through and establish fact from fiction. There have been no official UCT activities, engagements, events, or statements that are indicative of any anti-semitism on campus.
“The university has spent hours in in-person, telephonic and written engagements with a number of stakeholders – including Mr Norwitz himself – to draw on evidence and dispel this incorrect perception that UCTis antisemitic.
“Mr Norwitz also claims that the Council statement is ‘varnished with a thin veneer of impartiality’. It is ironic that one reading the statement from the gaze tainted by their own subjectivity based on their personal stance on the Middle East conflict would question the impartiality of the Council statement. That the Council statement does not say what one wants it to say in alignment with their own personal stance on a matter does not make it partial. The Council statement was a result of a formal Council meeting at which members present – drawn from diverse backgrounds, including the Jewish community, and each with their own personal views on the Middle East conflict – applied their minds and settled on a version that addressed issues on either side of the conflict in an as balanced as possible manner.”
UCT remains as equally open to engaging with Mr Norwitz further on this matter. While Mr Norwitz is yet to send any formal written notice of his resignation, we reiterate that we hope that the informal correspondence received from him does not signal the end of his long relationship with the university.
UCT is a diverse community of individuals from different racial, religious, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, woven together into a strong community. UCT values each and every one of these members of our community and is committed to strengthening cohesiveness in our community. As much as moments of disagreement do and will arise from time to time, it is the interests of the university that must prevail at all times.
The academic environment provides a unique space to encourage critical thinking: through the exploration of diverse views and diverse ideas, reflection, and constructive debate. Given multiple and often competing stakeholders, differing perspectives pleasing everyone will not always be possible. Nor is it desirable.
As a leading African university and centre of learning, UCT, from time to time faces difficult or contradictory choices. But it is in times such as these when members of the diverse university community – be they students, academics, professional staff, alumni, donors or international partners – need to focus on what we have in common: a shared sense of purpose.
UCT has a pivotal role to play in creating an environment where our students, staff and other university stakeholders relate to each other on a human level, seeing the human faces behind current and historical events and political narratives. Navigating complexity, being alert to misinformation and avoiding a ‘winner takes all’ approach must find their way into any sensitive dialogue. “
Update on 29 December, 2023 at 11am: Norwitz has responsed to UCT’s statement by saying it was a missed opportunity for “self-reflection and course-correction”. You can read his full statement here:
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The statement by the Council is so neutral that they could just as well have said nothing at all. It’s not very different from what, for example, Rishi Sunak has been saying. Even the USA has started warning Israel that their response is disproportionate and indiscriminate.
Something is terribly wrong with this guy this statemement supports all innocent victims and condemns all perpetrators, it is the best human neutral description of the situation expected from an institution of higher learning
All so fair until you get to: “The deliberate destruction of hospitals can only be seen as a war crime, as is blocking access to food, water and fuel as instruments of war.”
The hospitals are still all running, admittedly under difficult circumstances, and there is access to food, water and fuel, at distribution centres. It is limited but available, with delays due to every shipment having to be searched and goods accounted for. We all know previous aid shipments of cement, steel and pumps were used to build bunkers and tunnels for Hamas’s fat cats.
It is this idea that Jews are deliberately destroying hospitals which is the most obvious blood libel you hear. In medieval times and even till the pogrums of 1870 in Europe, it was that Jews stole and ate Christian babies — now the worthies at UCT believe they deliberately destroy hospitals…
Gallant’s statement on OCT 8 .No water , no electricity , no fuel and no food will be allowed into Gaza , they are all human animals . Only under pressure from US is allowing a the bare minimum to get in. On the hospitals Biden’s comment ” indiscriminate Bombing” . The deconfliction targets ( targets that are protected by laws of war) was given to IDF by all parties. So either the Israeli Air Force are so incompetent that they cannot hit the targets or it is deliberate .
If there is “indiscriminate bombing” why are they still standing? Even after tunnels found under them, and DNA of hostages found in the tunnels?
The one big explosion is now agreed by anyone with access to radars and satellites to have been caused by a Hamas rocket. And so on.
What fantasy world do you live in?
Yours … sir ! You would have done a better job as a representative to belittle the secretary general .
UCT is yet another organisation that has been poisoned by the halfwit cadres that claim to be academics in this country. The ANC and its stooges have successfully infiltrated all the universities in SA and in so doing have reduced both their intellectual ability and their moral standing. These cadres are people who only achieved their academic positions by virtue of corruption and patronage networks not by virtue of any native intellectual ability so its not surprising they are incapable of taking either an ethical or a learned stance, you can’t ask a brute to act as a human being.
This is not an ANC cadre position, there are a lot of people who are objectively disgusted with Israel’s response to what was a horrendous attack by Hamas. However if Hamas is defeated a new group will replace them, as long as the ongoing oppression of the Palestinians continues.
There is no oppression of Palestinians by Israel. Palestinians are oppressed by Hamas.
Really? Can anyone actually believe this fact defying nonsense? Hamas didn’t exist until…..
He (and many of his ilk) don’t care about facts !
You have clearly never visited Jerusalem and the West Bank. I saw with my own eyes the oppression through apartheid style tactics. The Palestinians of Bethlehem get water a delivery of water by tankers once a week. If that’s not oppressive I don’t know what is.
Tell that to the Jewish settlers who are constantly making the lives of all Palestinians unbearable. Committing crimes that are not even entertained by the Apartheid Israeli Government. Forcing old women and children out of the homes so that the Zionists can move in…..APARTHEID BY ANY OTHER NAME IS …….LACK OF HUMANITY!!
James can you say what exactly is wrong with UCT statement? perhaps i am missing something, i dont see unconditional support for anyone
Agree.
Agree
Agreed one hundred percent. It could actually have been a little more critical of Israel, if I’m honest.
Where was the UCT statement about Hamas firing rockets at Israel?
Where was UCT statement on HAMAS’s stated policy on the annihilation of Israel?
Where was UCT’s statement on the barbaric attack on 7th October?
I can only assume that you don’t have a clue of what you’re talking about, and are making the same standard assumptions us SA whites do all the time.
I think there’s clear evidence – EG that letter from prominent Jewish South Africans – that not all White South Africans have adopted a pro-Zionist stance.
I don’t usually mention it, because it’s not usually relevant, but I am a white South African, and you can see my comments here.
150 UN member nations have called for a ceasefire. That is a massive majority in that organisation. Even the USA, until now Israel’s one steadfast, unqualified ally, is warning Nethanyahu that he has gone too far and that international patience is running out. Sunak has called for a two state solution. Macron has called Israel out for the death rate amongst women and children, and warned that “There is no lasting security for Israel in the region if its security is achieved at the cost of Palestinian lives and thus of the resentment of public opinions in the region.”
And so on and so on.
What the Council stated is not particularly an ANC position, it is a very common position globally, including in most of what is called the “west”.
This is not wokeness, this is the voice of a vast majority.
It is not just a ‘majority’ … but an overwhelming majority (however calculated) ! That is what authoritarian/dictatorial states like the US hate. The only one whom supported it was the ‘founder’ of Israel and its incestuous other parent the US. Several of the other (also with colonial histories) supporters ‘abstained’ … firstly from fear of big brother’s adverse reaction to them and secondly in realisation that they are on the wrong side history !
Kanu, look at the “majority” voting in the UN.
Cuba, South Africa, Iran, Russia, Egypt etc.
Are those countries with squeakier clean HR history? Are we supposed to bow to those opinions?
This is a ridiculously inflammatory statement with no basis in truth. As a long-time UCT academic myself, I can attest that there are no “deployed cadres” I know of in UCT management and certainly not in academic circles at UCT. “These cadres are people who only achieved their academic positions by virtue of corruption and patronage networks…”: do you have ANY evidence whatsoever to support this claim? No? Then don’t criticise what it appears that you don’t understand – an institution’s Council taking a principled stand against what is demonstrably genocide, from both Hamas and the IDF.
Dramatic!
Well he just pinned his colours to the mast. Good riddance I say, the UCT statement is on point, if it is so far from his position on the issue that he must resign then he is blinded by his own faith or allegiances.
Agree.
If Trevor Norwitz finds the impartial statement of the UCT that closely reflects the opinion of the UN and over 150 countries calling for a ceasefire in Gaza unacceptable, then good riddance on hearing of the departure of Norwitz.
The UCT should be supported in not having the likes of Norwitz, a person whose humanity seems to have been extinguished.
What on earth did iran an hamas think Israel would do when THEY declared war?
Israel has every right to fight Hamas but no right to kill 19000 Palestinians irrespective of the excuse
Yeah – I have some issues with the casualty numbers coming out of Gaza. They are remarkably fast at counting, classifying and sharing detailed demographic information of casualties supposedly pulled from bombed buildings. Its highly suspect, and I think completely manufactured. 19K deaths (now some claiming more than 20k ) is simply not credible for the weapons deployed and short time elapsed. Even Nazi death camps were not so efficient. Heck – Fat Man (the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) only killed around 50K immediately (and plenty more later) – they were never able to get an exact count, which makes perfect sense considering the destruction and chaos. All of which casts serious doubts on the numbers published by Hamas and parroted by the UN.
Actually by Israeli intelligence in news reports in Israeli newspapers when the number of dead was 12000 by Gaza , they put the number at approx 20 000. So the number is lower than actual number , bodies not recovered from rubble not included only confirmed death certificates. Number of missing is about 50 000, now people may have lost contact due to communication issues and some detained by Israel but a number of those would be dead not counted . As Israeli numbers have moved from 1400 down to 1200 and at last count i checked was a at 1139 not accounting for missing.
We were all naive to imagine that Israel would not commit genocide.
An ambush. Israel has never looked worse and is condemned from all sides. That’s what they thought.
Mr Norwitz, you and your clear decisive moral standpoint are a credit to what once was a fine institution. I commend and salute you.
The UCT statement was balanced, fair and neutral. By contrast the actions by Mr Norwitz show a completely biased Zionist point of view
Zionism bad, Islamofascism good, eh.
Simplify why don’t you.
I can only assume that you didn’t even bother to read the UCT statement that Norvitz got his knickers in a knot over. There’s nothing at all objectionable about it.
It is an indication of how some apparently ‘intelligent’ people read things and see things that are not there … or conveniently ‘ignore’ things they don’t like . Ask people if they supported apartheid during its heyday and you won’t find a single ‘white’ (since they were then only ones who could vote) person who did . They want us to believe the apartheid regime just somehow ‘manifested’ itself without any support !
Hamas started a WAR by attacking Israel!
And Hamas must be punished for that! Irrespective of which school or hospital they hide in.
To prevent another attack on Israel in the near future.
You must be a ‘graduate’ of UCT from the apartheid era ? Just ‘clarity’ of thinking (sic) is a product of that era.
if you follow the situation closely you will understand that the war crime on both sides is with regards to innocent Israel and Palestine civillians
Agreed. The more angles I see on this conflict the more complicated it gets. If either side refuses to acknowledge their own faults then they simply haven’t learned enough about the conflict. UCTs statement was relatively balanced but it couldn’t have hurt to pay homage to harms against Israelis.
Hell, you seem to conveniently forget Israeli atrocities for the last 75 years & not even mentioning the criminal illegal settlers supported by the equally criminal IDF hiding behind orders. Where have you been? The UN SG also said Oct. 7th did not happen in a vacuum.
Interestingly, the previous UNSG said much the same thing in 2015.
Slaughtering thousands of Palestinian women and children (and men) that have nothing to do with Hamas is not punishing Hamas, its committing a war crime. And before anyone asks, I am a 34 year old white male (atheist) from a Christian background. I have no particular love for either Islamic or Jewish people.
When a ‘christian’ like Tutu visited and described Palestine as an open air prison, I found it believable because he had no ‘axe to grind’ . BUT … even he faced heavy ‘criticism’ …even denunciation from some blinkered quarters.
Gaza has been bombed repeatedly since 2008 – what did that prevent?
The sheer arrogance is typical of the zionists from Israhell. Steal other people’s homes and land and they expect the world to just roll over. One has to wonder where this arrogance comes from. It is part of their psyche…but maybe dig a little deeper to find out WHY…and how this is linked to their history as a people that most countries did not want in their midst.
Love these firm positions taken by commentators here.
Here’s a new expression for everyone.
Ignorance is bias.
Bias is ignorance.
What makes all these people / organizations believe that they should take a stance or comment or that anybody anywhere actually cares what they think about this war?
Does it really matter what others think about the comments of many persons? Can it not be possible that the many persons are commenting because of their inherent care towards other human beings and commenting will bring about an inner peace and satisfaction that did not idly stand by and witness a genocide being committed.
That is too philosophical a stance for someone like him to appreciate. They want to be ‘right’ or ‘clever’ !
His public resignation is actually amplifying the issues raised in the UCT statement which if you were not a UCT student , would have not even cared about. Now it is distributed to a wider audience. The problem i think is the Israeli lobbyists around the world had it all the their own way ,working in the background to kill stories unfavorable to Israel , for so long they finding it hard to adapt to getting pushback for the first time. With social media and independent news websites it has become harder to control and shape the narrative.
I studied at UCT, as did both my parents, and both my sons. Some years ago, I severed all links with the institution (having contributed generously for a number of years). The mealie-mouthed Council statement is, in my view, the very least of a much larger, and ever-evolving, decline by UCT into irrelevancy and “bush-college” status.
So sad – it was once a fine institution of higher learning.
I agree with your views on UCT – the stature and relevance of this once great institution of higher learning is in decline – Mainly through acceptance of mediocrity in its leadership and it’s blind eye to intimidation on campus where small groups of militant protestors put forward views at the expense of peaceful (conflict avoiding) academics. Very sad indeed, as I was once a proud Ikey.
It still is: you obviously haven’t been paying attention. The toxic governance is GONE; student protests are no longer a major factor in determining how the University is governed; research excellence continues and increases. STILL a fine institution of higher learning!
It seems a peculiar world in which a statement calling for peace and the negotiation of an equitable solution that recognises the rights of two groups of people is construed as hate and racism.
Shalom alsalam ealaykum
Amen
As far as South African statements go the UCT one wasn’t bad. But it is more anti Israel than it is anti Hamas. And I suppose that is the problem. Hamas attacked, murdered, kidnapped and held onto hostages to trigger the worst Israeli response ever. Which they got. Hamas wanted the heavy handed response, they wanted the maximum number of civilians killed. All to stop the two state solution and to start to call for the annihilation of the Jewish state, for “Palestine to be free from the river to the sea”, plainly put, for the Jewish state of Israel to be dissolved. Hamas has absolutely succeeded in their goal. Suddenly Israelis living anywhere in Israel are *colonizers* and must be chased off all Israeli land, with no Jewish state left as a home for Israelis. That was the Hamas aim and listening to South Africans it succeeded. And I think it is that sentiment that Norwitz is refusing to be part of. South Africa has become so pro Russia, pro Iran, pro China, that any Western leaning (apart from Western funding) is anaethema. Russia and Iran are winning the social media influencer war in South Africa, and we are very much part and parcel of that axis of evil now. Hamas’ goal is to destroy Israel utterly and completely and to get the whole world to demand that the Jewish state ceases to exist and for Israelis to either live in a Shariah law state or flee. our Russian and Iran funded government is fully behind Hamas. So why would a Jewish US donor want to be part of that?
The Israeli government had already killed the 2 state idea with settlements . They for the first time officially stated yesterday that their government policy is there will never be a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the sea . comments by their Prime Minister .Communication Minister , Heritage Minister and their ambassador to UK. `
except that he didnt say so Greta and we can all read what UCT said and its a well balanced statement in support of innocent civillian lives on both sides[An international investigation on war crimes by all parties engaged in this conflict] to be exact
“In his letter, Norwitz spits fire at UCT’s Council, accusing the body of “irresponsibly, even if unwittingly” being among those giving Hamas “support and encouragement, rather than insisting that they be held accountable for their heinous crimes”.
This is the sentiment I reference. That he states there seems to be support for Hamas instead of condemnation.
As I said, for a South African statement on that far away Iran proxy/Israel war, the UCT one is not bad. But I get why Norwitz is upset. The anti Israel sentiment in South Africa is way beyond just caring for the Gazans suffering. It is far more about “freeing Palestine from the river to the sea” (i.e. Turning the only Jewish state in the world, a piece of land the size of the Kruger Park, into a secular, or more likely Islamic state) than it is about caring for the civilians suffering in the war. I am not Jewish, but I live in an area where I can see how fellow South Africans are targeted and hated for simply being Jewish. That far away conflict is absolutely awful but actually so is the conflict in the Congo and in Sudan and in pockets of Mozambique. By some estimates 2.5 million people have been displaced due to war in the Congo in the last year, a similar number to Gaza, with no statement from any SA University about it. The mass raping of women displaced in the DRC does not warrant a sound from our sage politicians and universities. If it was about human suffering those conflicts would matter too.
Well said!
Thank you. Well said.
By the same token then by not taking sides was UCT not “irresponsibly, even if unwittingly” being among those giving Israel “support and encouragement, rather than insisting that they be held accountable for their heinous crimes”? Rather I think Mr Norwitz would only be happy with a statement condemning Hamas and supporting Israel.
I do however agree with you 100% that the world is very selective regarding which wars and atrocities are judged to be worth paying attention to.
You hit the nail on the head Gretha
Agreed!
He was a useful fool for the Fort Hareification of UCT, for long enough.
What a waste.
Way too long….
The UCT Council, in its statement, called for:
An immediate ceasefire, enforced by the United Nations;
The immediate release of all civilian hostages and those Palestinians held without trial;
Immediate humanitarian access to all parts of Gaza;
An international investigation on war crimes by all parties engaged in this conflict, and consequent actions against the perpetrators;
An international conference on seeking a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that seeks to enforce justice and security for Palestinians and Israelis; and
Condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism.
Thanks, I was going to do that – highlight those points. How is any of that contentious??
Unlike Mavros Msimang, THIS is a man of integrity. As an occasional lecturer at UCT, I have increasingly felt more uncomfortable with the radical role of even junior administrative staff, never mind decision makers and a few academics. The institution is slowly being hijacked by brutes.
No man! Love how you made this about how you feel unsafe. Try living in Gaza with bombs falling one after the other. The brutes you refer to must struggle with that.
Well done. A bit of clarity from Mr Norwitz amidst all this darkness. There is no equivalence between the sides here. Israel is fighting a war against evil and darkness on behalf of all civilised humanity.
When all the dust from the bombing has lifted and you can see the light – I hope you see the war crime. At the end of the day this war will only end when Israel is able to come to the table and negotiate a way forward. Why continue bombing. Why not start being civilized and begin the negotiation?
Keep dreaming the thuggery of Israel created the evil , the miracle of a peaceful end to apartheid only happened in South Africa, when the Genocide ends we will pray for more Palestine children who will end this nonsense
A bit of clarity from Mr Norwitz amidst all this darkness and hate. There is no equivalence between the sides here. Israel is fighting a war against evil and darkness on behalf of all civilised humanity.
Israel is wrong and has gotten away for years with land theft by the Settlers. For many years they have suppressed the Palestinians and now the top 3 Israeli politicians have openly declared genocide.
Remember the one US president (Obama) who is sheer exasperation dared to utter the words “can’t they just stop building settlements on occupied land ?”. AND … he was not even asking for the ‘return’ (like all the artifacts stolen by European colonists) of the stolen land !
You are talking about Zionist who throughout history got kicked out of at least 109 countries, including most of Europe (not just Germany). Over time they have revealed their true nature without fail – just like they are doing now.
Here’s an example of real anti-semitism. Apparently too dense to understand the difference between jews and zionists..
Please enlighten us as the two seems to be like first cousins. I know of a few good Jews who are totally against what these criminals are doing.
Do you honestly believe the families of the 19000 victims families will kiss Israel governments feet and say thank you Jesus? think again God willing i will be here reminding you, the revenge is sweet for Israel now but……
UCT has, for years, been bullied by Jewish donors. In this case Trevor couldn’t appease his Zionist donor network because we down here in deepest darkest part of Afrika are liberated and well informed to call it for what it is – absolute war crimes and a genocide. Ag shame, Trevor. Must be hard for you. One would hope that going forward UCT is far more cautious in taking funding from Jewish funders that always have strings attached to their money. Leave UCT alone. No need to give with such a bleeding heart. UCT does not want to be caught up in the future with funders that are proudly supporting Israel during this war (like Michael and Susan Dell foundation proudly boasts on their website). All funders will need to be trialled for the war crimes in Gaza with the current Israel administration. Trevor you will be busy helping them. Hang in there.
This comment really does confirm a lot of things. I went to the Dell foundation website and there it is on the front page ‘Our Support for Israel’ … did a quick search and yep Michael Dell funds IDF. It’s sickening how our South African children’s faces get associated with a family that obviously supports the genocide – yet say they want to help students of colour graduate – the hypocrisy! How are you improving the lives of children in Palestine if everyone deserves opportunity. Foundations like this are all smoke and mirrors. UCT should cut and run. I’m sure the VC will get a call on Monday because of this post. Thanks Trevor for delivering us with such right wing donors. You can leave, Trevor!!!!!
Now we are going somewhere and the reality is sickening
Foundations are meant to be non racial, apolitical and serve a social need. Moshall, Mastercard, Orbis, and other funders at UCT have not come out strongly in support of Israel so I can understand the mild protest on this thread. The challenge ahead: it’s going to be impossible to convince a UCT student that it makes sense in 2023 to support a conflict. In any way. Even if foundations funded clean water for Israel in solidarity; it would be viewed as picking a side since children in Gaza are now officially with no water and starving according to the UN. And the debate on who started this is just so messy since this conflict dates back way before 7 October. Frankly, as the actions of Israel play out over the next few months it will become more and more difficult for funders to stand with Israel. South Africa’s boycott on brands are trending (like Zara’s PR mess)…will UCT and it’s students be boycotted because of power of association? Lobbyist will put pressure on UCT to end partnerships with funders that support the conflict. What implications will this have on the students that need the funding so desperately? My heart goes out to the student who will be conflicted by their funder’s position in the new year. Foundations should be promoting peace and zero tolerance for any additional loss of life. There would be no need for funding the effects of a war if it was handled better. Love and peace in these dark times should be all that we strive for. Put money behind that.
The perpertrators of this genocide were expelled from 109 countries, including most of Europe (not only Germany). There surely must have been a reason for this…
There must be some correlation. The US and UK didn’t get the brief unfortunately
They were kicked out of both the US and the UK as well before the Zionist sunk their teeth into these governments, economies, media etc.
The reason was that Jews were the money lenders as usury was forbidden by the Catholic Church: a well timed pogrom and your debt disappears. The reason was nothing but prejudice and greed and cannot be condoned. The Zionist project was opposed by many Jews in the early part if the last century. Oppose Zionism , but anti- Semitism is racist and disgusting really.
It appears that the two are practically joined at the hip…
Terrorism in the Middle East started with Irgun and Stern Zionist Gangs; Palestinian Villages and British military and civilians were their targets. They were also responsible for blowing up the King David Hotel. How easily the English forgot this
In my experience private family foundations do punch way above their weight. Also they have this huge sense arrogance. They don’t feel shy when it comes to telling you how children in Africa should be served. Been on the other side of the table with Dell and it’s all NDAs and firing people who don’t tow the line. Horrible American corporate culture at its best behind the glass doors of fancy foundation website … Did not connect the dots that the founders were Jewish. Explains a lot now.
Everything works for a while until people say enough is enough they cannot buy Palestinians lives not anymore
Jeffrey Sachs says American universities signed an agreement to stick with Israel no matter they even have a no employment policy on opposition, unfortunately they are now having a problem with the young students who questions why Israel must do the wrongs and must be supported, some drive around campus will Palestine stickers, the UCT is not an isolated, Trevor must reprimanded for not being honest and frustrated because the American ambassador has no way of forcing our government to blindly support Israel as university have independent structures and can source their own funds and they are scared they will be forced to declare their funding so the Trevor picture is far bigger and complex but this bribery of certain institutes of higher learning needs a magnifying approach, the question is it only in Capetown or in all the institutions but this resignation is slowly opening a can of worms
Whatever. Logic is not your strong point, but try getting funding from your BBBEE friends..
.
Why would a South African university council make a statement on the Gaza situation? If all universities around the world would do it, we could start a great intellectual world war of opinions.
Do they they only lecture about Israel not Palestine,Hamas and Hezbollar no wonder our graduates are sitting at home without jobs
And could we please stop using slogans and analogies from the past completely out of context, it is disgusting!
History teaches us how people, ideologies, governments etc. were formed and how they operated (and continue to operate in some cases). There are very important lessons to be learnt.
If you want a parallel from the past that is entirely apposite, look at the 1944 Warsaw Uprising: the Polish citizens formed militias secretly, and eventually struck against the mainly SS Wehrmacht that were occupying that half of Poland. After an incredibly intense campaign, backed by airdrops from Allied forces (but not by the Russians, who just watched), the SS managed to almost completely destroy much of Warsaw – and massacred thousands of civilians who were just caught up because they lived there. THEN they started the victimisation of the refugess.
Seeing any parallels yet?
Mr Norwitz got this one wrong.
AT LAST:
A statement of integrity by a Universit Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
This man Norwitz’s resignation should be viewed as a positive result of UCT Council’s very balanced statement. The genocide of Palestinians is not even mentioned.
Who, indeed, is “unhinged from reality or morality”?
Pls all that are using IDF talking points (I assume like US Jewish congregations getting their talking points from the American Jewish Council to counter criticism of Israel there is a similar SA organisation ) .Verify them through open sources , it is just embarrassing when they are used . When can so easily be disproved.
Apparently American universties have clearly said they are instructed to support Israel why is it difficult for those who get funding from Israel to declare their conflict of interest instead of spoon feeding us their half truths, 1% of the Palestinian population has been wiped out and counting by the day, Jeffery Sachs says that is equal to a state population in the US, by the end of December watch how Europe will be so shocked by this Genocide yet its daily on national TV, they thought Israel was civilised they were wrong, I stand to be tortured for that it is the least i can do for the poor Palestinians, i will not say anything this time about Hamas as i am not stuck on the 7Th of october
The correspondents that are ‘stuck’ on the 7th October … want everyone to believe that the subjugation and humiliation of Palestinians started on that day … which has systematically been in place for many decades (even preceding Hamas), and continues with complete impunity. The thousands of Palestinians held ‘hostage’ in their jails for actively protesting their subjugation, are just an inconvenient truth ! While Gaza is being wiped off the face of the earth, the regime is unleashing hell on the residents of the West Bank also with hundreds of ‘detentions’ and mindless killings of suspects also. There a puppet of the US, Abbass (remember Ghani in Afghanistan?) is supposed to be ‘head’ of that enclave, but unable to do anything about the invasion of ‘his’ territory !
To all that support Israel . watch the last show by comedian Asaaf Harel – on channel 10 Show – In Last Monologue from 6 years ago. Topic “wake up and smell the apartheid ” . He warned in his show for Israeli’s to wake up before a war made all pay attention. I think the reason he left it for his last show , because he surely would have been fired for the show. It is in hebrew with sub titles .
just wow!
Probably the most commented (100+) DM article of the year.
About a skirmish among Neanderthal extremists that will never see reason or care what we 100 have to say.
Where is this righteous indignation when it comes to local, actionable issues like pit toilets at SA schools?
You’re all shouting at each other and nobody is listening, not least any of you.
Have a great festive season. (I’ll avoid merry Xmas in case that offends 9/10 of the audience)
Eow Johan, some perspective please. We are dealing with the Genocide of the Palestinian people. Almost 20 000 killed over the last couple of months alone. This genocide is being perpetrated by illegal apartheid colonialists, the very same group of people who, throughout history have been kicked out of over 100 countries… and more than once from a few countries.
To trivialise it the way you do, speaks volumes of the type of person you are.
Johan’s use of the word ‘Neanderthal’ sums it up. He sees Palestinians as less than human so couldn’t give a damn.
Very perceptive !
I think some of us are seeing the start of slow death of the post WW2 world created by the economic might of US. Now if one either agreed or not with US stewardship the new world is going to be far more messy. IMF , World Bank , UN all having issues of governance . A comment that stuck was war is now the back as the first option by many leaders , where for the prior 75 years diplomacy was first then war for the majority. Gaza and Palestinians is ground zero the still only unresolved issue from the consequences of WW2.
However … have you seen how the Dow Jones has leapt almost 20+ % … and still climbing daily, since the start of the ‘war’ ? I admit I have no ‘economics’ background (maybe Ismail Lagardien can help) … but surely someone is ‘making money’ from war ?
University leaders resign over anti-Semitism on campus row
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and board chair Scott Bok resigned after coming under intense pressure from alumni, donors and lawmakers amid an escalating row over anti-Semitism on campus.
Magill’s departure was announced in a statement by Bok on Saturday. He then issued his own message emphasising that Magill is not the “slightest bit anti-Semitic” and making clear that she was exhausted by relentless external attacks when she testified before Congress on 5 December in a widely criticised performance.
“Former President Liz Magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep — consistent with that of two peer university leaders sitting alongside her — after five hours of aggressive questioning before a Congressional committee,” Bok wrote. “It became clear that her position was no longer tenable, and she and I concurrently decided that it was time for her to exit.”
Magill (58) will stay on until an interim president of the Philadelphia-based school is appointed, but Bok, also the chief executive officer of investment bank Greenhill & Co., will depart immediately.
Julie Platt, vice chair of the Penn board and board chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, will serve as interim chair until a successor is appointed.
Unfortunately we have got to the point where anti-Semitism has become so weaponised by Zionists that we need to ask what the ‘anti-Semitism on campus’ actually refers to. Calls for Palestinian freedom are now being referred to as anti-Semitic on US campuses. A student wearing a keffiyah at Harvard was told by a senior faculty member that it ‘made her feel unsafe’ and that it was a ‘terrorist scarf’. Allegations of anti-semitism are being used to shut down the free expression of opposition to Zionism and support for Palestinian freedom.
Unfortunately we can’t separate Hamas from the Palestinian people. Palestine declared war on Israel with weapons hidden in hospitals and schools. An appropriate response would have been to flatten Gaza. Israel was extremely merciful. USA after twin towers spent lots of money finding the perpetrators.
Maybe one day someone will walk into your home, guns pointing at you, kick you out and force you to go live on the streets
You are either brainwashed or inherently part of this evil.
I believe you also agree could not separate 3 Israel hostages, young people carrying white flags and they killed them because they don’t have to separate anything in Gaza, the pretext of attacking Gaza was supposed to free hostages but surely you must know the people you want to free and they had white flags not weapons
Kenneth, Mordechai, likens IDF killing their own to denying the Holocaust, how dare you state that the IDF killed the hostages? And please don’t forget about Nahida Anton and her daughter, Samar, who were killed by an IDF sniper while in the grounds of the Catholic Church in Gaza. I also saw mention of an Islamic State by Gretha Erasmus, note that all Palestinians are under attack, Jews and Christians (yes, there are) and Muslims.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, described the killing of two women in a Gaza church by an Israeli sniper as “cold-blooded” while speaking to Sky News on Monday.
He also said that he does not believe the Israeli army’s account of the event, who denied responsibility, saying that Palestinians in Gaza and the Cardinal Archbishop of Jerusalem are “not given to tell lies”.
I noted that there are still commentators who unreservedly believe the IDF narrative of what Hamas “did” on 7 October. Listen to the interview with Erez Tidhar and Aidan Kazas of the Eitam Rescue and Evacuation Unit. Amongst other things Erez describes how he was on his way to the kibbutz and witnessed a missile fired from IDF helicopter into the kibbutz, he also witnessed a tank shelling houses.
It begs the question: “What did Hamas actually do on 7 October?”.
They confirmed taking hostages and killing armed settlers and IDF members.
Will the truth, whatever it is, be believed?
You also finding to many loopholes in the story. No one seems to ask for Hamas to get to Kibbutz they had to destroy or rout the IDF Southern Command whose mission was to protect Israel’s southern border before they could get to the settlements . Hamas destroyed the Headquarters and six bases of southern command and routed the division protecting the border. Also destroyed all command and control communications. This left the military in disarray took 2 days to regain control. This is the defeat that IDF does not want its own public to realize . Why do you think US sent a aircraft carrier the same day , could not trust the IDF to hold the line in the north if Hezbollah had also attacked . Gen. Petraeus in his understated way said OCT 7 was a failure in military readiness.
‘The three university heads evaded questions of whether students who called for genocide of Jews should be punished, which led to calls for them to resign.’ Daily Maverick it is unacceptable to report this as fact. The issue on the US campuses is the slogan ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.’ For you to uncritically report that as a call for genocide against Jews is dishonest. At the very least you should acknowledge that these so-called ‘calls for genocide’ are about that slogan – and leave it for your readers to decide what it means. Because for many – including many progressive Jewish organizations – this slogan has nothing to do with genocide of Jews. You can’t simply reproduce Zionist propaganda as fact. Disappointing from a media outlet of your calibre.
And what happened to freedom of speech,in the democratic world, Israel produced a map without Palestine from the river to the sea before they started slaughtering the Palestinians, those students are not stupid they were returning the favour
This war is becoming more about self-righteousness. Do we give a damn about the death and destruction and insecurity it is causing the Palestinians and Israeli captives? If so we need to be thinking and speaking words in support of peace. It is a war of conundrums there is no “right side”. Nothing justifies the brutality we see unfolding before our eyes. Yet every minute we spend trying to be right in our ambition to advocate for a side another human being dies and the saddest part at the hands of human beings (in all our names) not some elusive demon. Have we lost all our compassion and sensibilities as human beings?
There is a clear right side. On the one side you have an illegal apartheid occupier who have systematically been stealing land and on the other side you have people resisting this illegal occuptation. It is as simple as that.
Given the shenanigans at UCT for at least a decade, it’s revealing that he only speaks up now. Anything short of unconditional support for Israel or else. The wholesale destruction of Gaza should appall everyone, as should a similar attack on Tel Aviv or anywhere else, like Kiev. Any criticism of Israel on US campuses is now not tolerated by the powerful: so much for free speech.
There are one of two people in this thread repeatedly posting an argument which has a false premise, and which it sems to me is the reason Norwirz is complsining about the statement. That is the assertion that Israel is purposely killing innocents, destroying hospitals and engaging in a genocide (a term easily banded around) when that is demonstrably untrue. Critisise if you like but don’t confuse your own opinion with fact and don’t think using terms which are designed to evoke Hitler assist you,
demonstrably true…
And why stop at Hitler? Why not mention King Edward and the over 100 other leaders who kicked the zionists out of their countries as well? Common thread much?
I believe I am one of those people and I have repeatedly condemned Hamas actions but I cannot stop being disturbed by the slaughtering of innocent Palestinians, Israel faked an apology for their 3 unarmed hostages they killed interestingly they said their army doctrine does not allow that, they have not done the same for the innocent Palestinians which means their doctrine allows that
Such contradictions are perfectly O.K. with the Israeli regime, and between what they do and say. After all … it is a ‘war’ initiated by the Israeli regime (sponsored and endorsed fully by an arrogant and equally verbose US) in response to a grave incursion into Israel by the military wing of Hamas (remember Umkomto?) with dramatic consequences. So … anything goes … including ongoing war crimes and genocide under any pretext ! If they genuinely went after Hamas fighters only they would pay an extraordinary price … which Netanyahu is not prepared for . And … what about the unrelenting killing of journalists who are trying to record/document the atrocities being committed ? No doubt such records would prove the barbarity being perpetrated ! And the so-called ‘mediator’ in this campaign the US, can simply utter the meaningless word “concern” about what is going on … BUT continue supplying the means of destruction and genocide. The hypocrisy is astonishing … but not surprising.
This is most obviously an extremely divisive issue split along religious, racial and idiological lines. The fact is; innocent people are dying because of the hardline approach of both sides. Hamas is the catalyst and beyond doubt a murderous, terrorist organisation backed by an equally heinous religious political regime hell bent on eliminating Israel. Pushback is obvious and Hamas knew this. Death and destruction the outcome. They knew that too. Is there a better way to resolve this? ‘Two state’? Clearly both Hamas and their backers do not want this. To my knowledge, nobody has offered an alternative that I can identify. Not UCT. Not Mr Norwitz.
Jeremy you are getting it right except you miss the Palestine perspective, Hamas support has gone up 70% like every transaction when the options are in abundance the price is low but in this situation Israel is fortified so the options are limited so the cost will be high when the Palestinians achieve their objectives which they will they will embrace Hamas because its the only thing they have in Gaza liking it or not, the high casuality of the population will be honored as a worthy cause, they have suffered so much and to the world it was business as usual with superpowers legitimising the occupation and trying to buy them and the influential world into submission, what other option do they have they were dying daily anyway, my last post happy xmas please be safe over the festive
Are you not forgetting that ‘hamas’ was only formed more than 20 years after the state of Israel ? The occupation and subjugation and humiliation of Palestinians began long before hamas was formed. The UN brokered resolution around ’67 to try and broker ‘peace’ with clearly defined territories, was ignored with impunity by Israel and land grabs with illegal settlements continued unabated … with tacit US support. So much so that the only US president to speak on the matter is reported to have said in exasperation “can’t they just stop building settlements on occupied territories ?” NO… he was not even asking for the return of occupied land ! I suggest you do some real research.
These evil murderers killed two Christian women. Reported by Vatican News:
“The Israeli military on Saturday entered the compound of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza, shooting at anyone leaving the church. The victims are an elderly woman and her daughter who rushed out of the building to rescue her mother.”
Israel has every right to defend itself and I support it 100%. This most unfortunately is the price that Gazans pay for allowing a bestial, evil and murderous cabal called Hamas, supported by no less an evil Iran under the vile mullahs to take over and use them as pawns in their professed genocide against the Jews. They don’t want peace or a compromise – they want the total destruction of Israel and murder of Jews. If they hadn’t been eventually stopped on 7 October, they would have carried on murdering, raping and torturing until every Jew was wiped out – no doubt about that! These vicious murderers are indoctrinated at a young age to hate anything different from their own. You can’t reason or negotiate with such monsters.
With the Netanyahu government, Israel has lost its bearings. Being anti- its actions in Gaza does NOT make one an antisemite. I lived in Israel. I carried a weapon in Israel. I weep for Israel … for what it has become. Fascists of the worst kind have taken over. I ask a simple question: where does this end. Can someone explain what the end game looks like? Already we see the brutal mentality of Bibi et al reflected in the actions of the troops. Destroying stores. Desecrating Muslim holy sites. Executing people … even their own! 1948 … 1967 … 1973 … Israel covered itself in glory. Now? It feels more like the Warsaw ghetto, with Bibi in the role of Jurgen Stroop. Hamas – the beasts! – has already won. Yoni would be ashamed at the actions of his criminal sibling!
Well said, Johann
Ed: “free Palestine”
Please advise where this Palestine is?
Please advise what should this Palestine be freed of?
Israel evacuated GAZA in 2005. What happened then?
Such irony, he is a director of the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights. But is willing to promote a Genocide in Israel.
Human rights don’t matter when it comes to Palestine.
This was a weak statement by the UCT Council anyway.
Check this clip on tik tok Blacktarantino: “Why so silent when Arabs kill other Arabs?”
Why did UCT not see the need to put out a statement ISIS was established in the name of Islam and set out to behead tens of thousands of Arabs in Syria, Iraq, Libia?
Why did UCT not call for a cease fire after the Battle of Britain or the battle of Stalingrag in 1943?
Where was this effected outrage???