PETITION CALLING ON FRENCH UNIVERSITIES NOT TO SUCCUMB TO ISRAELI PRESSURE TO CANCEL LECTURES BY S.AFRICAN ACADEMIC FARID ESACK

Several South African Government Ministers, SA Government Officials, University Vice Chancellors and hundreds of academics from across the world have backed a petition calling on French universities not to succumb to pro-Israeli pressure to ban Anti-Apartheid Activist and international scholar Professor Farid Esack from delivering lectures in France on the topic of Palestine.

 

Professor Farid Esack (of the University of Johannesburg and also a Board Member of the Palestine solidarity and human rights organization BDS South Africa) is in France participating in a Palestine solidarity speaking tour as part of Israeli Apartheid Week (Israeli Apartheid Week takes place in France this week). French Universities, however, are attempting to ban Professor Esack from speaking after coming under pressure from pro-Israeli lobby groups who have falsely accused Esack of being an anti-Semite due to his criticism of Israel.

 

Conflating criticism of Israel's colonial policies of Occupation and Apartheid can not and should not be equated with anti-Semitism; to do so is a disservice to the real victims of anti-Semitism. This tactic by the pro-Israeli lobby to falsely accuse those critical of Israel of being anti-Semitic is unfortunately becoming a standard practice. The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) together with other Israeli-lobby groups recently wrote to various South African Government Ministers, Mayors and other officials pressuring them not to attend, speak at or partner with Palestinian solidarity organizations such as BDS South Africa. Attempts by the SAJBD and the Israeli lobby to prevent Government officials from speaking with BDS South Africa have thus far failed. We salute the South African Government for not succumbing to the pressures of the SAJBD and Israeli lobby. We trust that French universities and authorities too will not succumb to this Israeli pressure. Click here for more information or to sign the petition calling on French universities not to succumb to pro-Israeli pressure to ban Anti-Apartheid Activist and international scholar Professor Farid Esack from speaking on the issue of Palestine.

VIDEO: A LETTER BY PROFESSOR FARID ESACK SPRAY-PAINTED ON ISRAEL'S APARTHEID WALL

Professor Farid Esack is a South African scholar who cut his teeth in the anti-apartheid liberation struggle where he was a leading figure in the United Democratic Front. Professor Esack was appointed in 1994 by President Nelson Mandela as a Commissioner for Gender Equality. Esack has subsequently held academic posts at, amongst others, Harvard University in the USA, Gadja Mada University in Indonesia, Hamburg University in Germany and is currently the Head of Religion Studies at the University of Johannesburg. Click here to read a speech by Professor Esack from a 2014 Holocaust Remembrance Day event hosted by BDS South Africa.

 

In 2009, a one-thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-eight word letter to the people of Palestine written by Professor Esack was spray-painted along Israel’s 800 kilometre long Apartheid Wall. Click here to watch a YouTube video of Professor Farid Esack's Palestine/BDS letter spray-painted on Israel's Apartheid Wall.