Wits rugby players thrilled to join Junior Boks squad
Four Wits rugby players have been selected to join the national Junior Springbok squad. (more…)
PROFILE: Africa’s current discus champion to compete in Tokyo Paralympic Games
BA sports development third-year student from the University of Johannesburg has qualified to compete for the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Wits student film hits Paris film fest
Wits film graduates fly the South African flag high at a Paris film festival.
Wits students want to study in Europe, despite coronavirus
Wits hosts information session for students wanting to pursue their studies in Europe. (more…)
Wits Professor receives international top rating
Professor Lyn Wadley, who is a joint honorary professor of archaeology in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies said she had to go through a rigorous process to receive this acclaim.
Gauteng Premier worries about the people of his province
Reinventing Pan-Africanism in the Age of Xenophobia, a international symposium, was hosted by the WISER Institute last week.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura says he worries about the people of his province as “many of those [people] come from the rest of the continent”. Makhura was speaking at the discusson on pan-Africanism in the age of xenophobia, hosted at Wits University by Wiser, (the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research) and the Ahmad Kathrada Foundation.
Makhura said the the dangers of xenophobia lie not only in the “absence of opportunities” but also in narrow “national interests”. Makhura said that if we want to build a great Africa we can no longer make “catching up” with Western civilization our intention; we must offer something new and unique to the rest of the world.
“If there is something Western capitalism teaches us, is that in fact you can even become more less of a human being as your material needs are met,” said Makhura.
The two-day symposium aimed to fostering dialogue on a number of issues affecting the African continent including xenophobia, racism, tribalism, nationalism and colonial boundaries.
Other speakers on the day included academics Neocosmos and Associate Professor Suren Pillay.
Michael Neocosmos, an academic, stressed that it remains problematic to associate xenophobia with poverty and that research shows that some 65% of South Africans feel that the country’s borders should be secured through electric fencing which is a good indication that xenophobic attitudes are prevalent throughout society.
He also mentioned that people live in subhuman conditions and the assumption is that poor people can’t think, this means that we exclude them from what we think humanity is.
“If we want to expand pan-Africanism it means we must expand knowledge,” Neocosmos said.
International law debated over Gaza conflict
WAR TALK: Former Constitutional Court Justice Zak Yacoob (centre) uses Skype to moderate a debate on alleged violations of international law by Israel. Photo: Roxanne Joseph
The accusation that Israel is violating international law in the Gaza conflict was the issue at the first in a series of talks moderated by former Constitutional Court Justice Zak Yacoob at Wits Caltsty auditorium on West campus.
The debate featured well known law professors including Prof Alan Dershowitz, speaking for Israel’s actions in Gaza, and Prof John Dugard of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands speaking against Israel’s role in the recent conflict.
Dershowitz said Israel was defending itself in the conflict and should not be reprimanded for this. He argued the Gaza conflict was similar to a bank robbery in which police officers might hurt innocent civilians being used as shields by criminals.
He added that Israel should not be criticized and this would embolden Hamas, its opponent in the Gaza strip, to continue attacking Israel.
“Israel should not be condemned. If it is condemned it would encourage Hamas to do what it does,” Dershowitz said.
Dugard did not agree to the defence claim argued by Dershowitz.
“Israel’s defence claim is non-existent…It is a punishment to kill those occupying Gaza,” he said.
Dugard argued that only three Israeli civilians have been killed but over 2 000 Palestinians have been killed and 10 000 injured. He called Gaza a “killing field”. He added that Israel was guilty of crimes against humanity because it had intentionally killed a large number of innocent Palestinian civilians who were in hospitals, mosques, schools and homes and should be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) or a tribunal.
Dugard said accountability and responsibility was required from both Israel and Hamas.
“Accountability is of great importance in this battle,” Dugard said.
Dershowitz rejected holding Israel accountable in the ICC. He attacked the court’s credibility going so far as to call it an “apartheid court”.
“The international court is certainly not international and it is not a court of justice. It is essentially an apartheid court,” Dershowitz said.
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