On 30 July 2024, the University of Pretoria’s Senate held a discussion regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A decision by UP’s Senate was made to rework the draft resolution tabled by UP Staff for Palestine (UPS4P) and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee at the University of Pretoria (PSC-UP). The restructuring of the resolution seeks to acquire input from a broader representation of stakeholders across the UP community.The process will include input from faculties, students, and professional service departments, all under the guidance of UP’s globally renowned Faculty of Law, according to the Director of Institutional Advancement at the University of Pretoria Mr R. Delport.
PDBYmedia approached PSC-UP for comment to which they responded, “As the PSC-UP, we would have preferred that a clearer decision be taken that strongly affirms the content of the resolution, however, it is positive that the resolution is being taken forward in some way. As this is taken forward, we think it is important that the core points of the resolution are not watered down and that the input that is obtained is representative of the university community. Specifically ensuring that input from students and university workers is genuinely considered, given that from our perspective, these are stakeholders who do not have sufficient representation in university decisions.”
Furthermore, PDBY media were successful in attaining a comment from UPS4P, “The resolution was submitted to the Senate by the Dean of Law with the support of other Deans. The resolution was not passed by the Senate as it was decided to set up a task team to revise it to take to Council. This is positive as the issue is being taken forward and as an agreement by the Senate that UP should take a stance on the Palestine situation. Importantly, UP must distance itself from any collaboration with Israel or Israeli institutions. The International Court of Justice has determined that Israel’s policies are racist, segregationist and discriminatory, they are a form of apartheid.”
This is a developing story.
