Apartheid wealth cannot buy silence on Gaza
Summary
The University of Cape Town (UCT) lost 250 million rand ($15.2 million) in donor funding after passing two resolutions about Israel’s war on Gaza. The university rejected a donor condition to adopt a specific definition of anti-Semitism tied to Israeli policy, leading to funding withdrawals linked to wealth accumulated during apartheid in South Africa.Key Facts
- UCT lost 250 million rand ($15.2 million) in donations after adopting two resolutions on the Israel-Gaza war.
- The Donald Gordon Foundation withdrew 200 million rand ($12.1 million) in committed funds for a neuroscience institute.
- Other donors withheld 50 million rand ($3 million), including about 15 million rand ($910,000) annually for student bursaries.
- The resolutions called for a Gaza ceasefire, humanitarian aid, captive returns, and rebuilding Gaza’s education system.
- UCT barred academics from working with research groups linked to the Israeli military but did not target Israeli or Jewish scholars by identity.
- The Donald Gordon Foundation demanded UCT adopt the 2016 IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which UCT rejected and replaced with the Jerusalem Declaration supporting free academic speech and Palestinian rights.
- The foundation’s fortune originated from Liberty Life, a company tied to apartheid-era economic policies that favored white South Africans.
- South Africa remains highly unequal, with many Black students dependent on bursaries due to historical apartheid injustices affecting wealth and education access.
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