Motion to the Faculty of
Humanities concerning the abuse of Human Rights in Palestine and the Occupied
Territories
Noting the United Nations
Security Councils specifically call for an immediate and unconditional
ceasefire, respect for humanitarian law and protection of civilians in Gaza;
the general worldwide condemnation of the Israeli government’s sustained
airborne assault and ground force military incursion into Gaza,
which has resulted in over 1,035 deaths of Palestinians (of which 218 deaths
have been children); the deaths of 3 Israeli civilians; the injuring of 6,200
Palestinian people and the displacement of 100 000 Palestinian individuals by
the 27th of July 2014;
Noting further that this
current 2014 incursion in Gaza is consistent with a sustained campaign waged by
the Israeli government to subjugate the people of Palestine and the Occupied
Territories by lethal military force since the 2008 ‘Operation Cast Lead’,
which has resulted in the estimated deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinian
civilians (of which nearly 300 were children) including 13 Israelis;
And finally, noting the
founding provisions of the Constitution of a democratic South Africa as
committing South African citizens to upholding an ethic of human rights,
protecting the right to life and the civil liberties of citizens, including
their right to freedom of association and freedom of expression;
In an act of conscience
that is mindful of our recent apartheid past and the generous spirit of
international solidarity that was extended to South Africans in their own
struggle against extensive human rights abuse in the era of apartheid,
solidarity that compelled the South African government of
the apartheid era to
negotiate a peaceful resolution of the South African conflict:
We now call on members of
the Rhodes University academic community to support the position that:
Academics holding Israeli
citizenship, as well as official representatives from Israel, in advance of an
invitation to visit Rhodes University, be requested to make a statement
renouncing the use of lethal military force by the Israeli government against unarmed
civilians in Palestine and the Occupied Territories and the forcible
displacement of Palestinians from their homes.
Motion Prepared by:
Prof Larry Strelitz –
Head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies
Prof Robert Van Niekerk –
Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research
