Student
representatives and activists held a joint press conference at the
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on Aug. 4 to condemn
an upcoming Israeli propaganda tour. The Israeli delegation will
begin its tour of South African universities on Aug. 11, and they
will also tour universities in five other countries.
Representatives
of the South African Union of Students, South African Student
Congress, and Young Communist League issued a statement urging all
student and youth groups, as well as student representative councils,
to boycott Israel and its tour of deception. They also urged Israeli
students to resist their government.
The
statement pointed out that Israel has attacked Palestinian education,
and the blockade of Gaza, illegal under international law, has also
harmed Palestinian students.
“We
lived apartheid, we suffered apartheid, we know what apartheid is, we
recognize apartheid when we see it,” said the statement. “And
when we see Israel, we see a regime that practices apartheid.”
