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UFS hosts panel discussion on Gaza crisis

26 July 2024 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Supplied

Gaza Panel Discussion 2024 — A UFS panel discussion provides a platform for critical debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently facilitated an important panel discussion addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, organised by the Free State Centre for Human Rights (FSCHR). The event brought together a diverse group of scholars to explore the ethical and political dimensions of universities’ engagement with pressing injustices such as the current crisis in Gaza.

Prof Danie Brand, Director of the FSCHR, opened the discussion by emphasising its significance. “UFS opens the space and takes this very important question forward,” he noted. The panel highlighted the necessity of academic institutions acting as platforms for critical debate, particularly on issues like the Gaza conflict.

Academic and intellectual dialogue

Prof Ulrike Kistner expressed gratitude to the UFS for initiating such dialogues, noting, "The UFS leads in fostering these important conversations." She emphasised the rarity of such discussions at other universities, highlighting UFS's unique role. A key point she raised was the importance of solidarity: “Solidarity entails acting with others because that is what they ask of us. It is a reason-driven rather than relationship-driven political action on others’ terms. Solidarity is a basic commitment to equity. Solidarity is a duty."

The conversation stressed the ethical imperative for universities to take a clear stance against violence and oppression. Prof Kelly Gillespie from the University of the Western Cape articulated this broader mission: "Universities must consider our engagement, not just as individuals, but as a collective guiding institutions towards creating a better world, rather than allowing ongoing inequality and crises to persist."

Prof Noor Nieftagodien, Head of the History Workshop at the University of the Witwatersrand, stated, "With our experience of apartheid, we in South Africa cannot remain silent. As institutions, we are looked to for moral, ethical, and political leadership, both locally and globally. We have a special responsibility to articulate a clear position on global crises, particularly the genocide in Gaza."

The role of universities in addressing global injustices

The discussion also addressed the destruction of educational institutions in Gaza and the killing of Palestinian teachers and academics, urging universities to engage with these injustices.

The panel discussion demonstrated the essential role of universities in addressing global injustice. By facilitating this event, the UFS contributes to the ongoing conversation on Gaza and lays the groundwork for future ethical action and solidarity within the academic community. The insights shared during the discussion resonate with the need for collective academic voices to influence broader societal and political landscapes, ensuring that critical issues are addressed with the urgency and depth they deserve.

View the panel discussion below:

News Archive

“I, too, am an African,” says visiting US drama professor

2013-03-06

Africans are of blood and of soil, says Prof Charles Dumas in his inaugural lecture at the UFS. Speaking on the topic I, too, am an African, Prof Dumas reminisced about his life and experiences on the continent.
Photo: Minette Grove
05 March 2013

Lecture (pdf)

What is an African? Is it those born in Africa, defined in racial and genealogical terms, or those who identifies with the continent in nationality and ancestral location? Did the descendants of enslaved Africans in the US, the Caribbean or Brazil lose their Africaness when their ancestors were put on slave ships to the New World?

These were some of the questions raised by Prof Charles Dumas, visiting senior professor in the Department Drama and Theatre Arts, in his inaugural lecture at the university.

Proclaiming attachment to the continent, Prof Dumas told his audience there are two types of Africans: Africans of the blood and Africans of the soil. In a speech titled, “I, too, am an African,” he stated that he lay claim to his ancestral birthright not because of blood relationship to an identifiable ethnic group or birthright to the continent, but because he earned it.

“I suggest another way that one can be an African, is through trial and struggle to be reborn an African in spirit. It is a ritual journey that may be taken by anyone. For, after all, if we are to believe the anthropologists who tell us that human life as we know it began in the Olduvai Gorge, genetically we are all African in origin.”

Prof Dumas, a senior professor at Penn State University in the USA, took the audience on a journey of his experiences on the continent, starting in 1978 when he first came to South Africa as a legal observer. Noticing the changes between Apartheid and today’s South Africa, he said this generation are committed to learn from each other – and that is the most important, he said.

“With their hopes and aspirations they earnestly desire to live in the new South Africa that we promised them. We must support them in their effort. It is time we stored our old baggage in the closet.”

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