Posters that were put up in Stellenbosch as part of a protest in solidarity with Palestine were vandalised and ripped shortly after the protest.
This was according to Nazir Mowzer, an attendee at the protest and a member of the Muslim Students Association.
The Palestinian Solidarity Forum (PSF) at Stellenbosch University discreetly organised the protest at 11:00 on 11 October due to previous push back from Israeli supporters, said Morakane Moletsane, treasurer of PSF, in an interview with SMF News.
A peaceful protest to raise awareness regarding the conflict in Palestine was recently held by the Palestinian Solidarity Forum on the Stellenbosch University campus. PHOTOS: Amy Cloete
The protest happened on the Rooiplein on the SU campus, and was organised due to the on-going conflict occurring in the region, said Moletsane. Participants walked across the Rooiplein, through the Neelsie and to the Jan Mouton Learning Centre where the group separated to distribute posters.
About 10 minutes after the protest ended, some of these posters could be seen defiled with pro-Israeli slogans and symbols, and slurs against Palestinians.
Posters put up during a recent peaceful protest in solidarity with Palestine were defiled and ripped, shortly after the protest ended. This was according to Nazir Mowzer, an attendee at the protest and a member of the Muslim Students Association. PHOTOS: Daniel Roodt
Raising awareness
“The point is not to create animosity, it is to raise awareness,” said Haroun Samuels, vice chairperson of PSF, in an interview with SMF News.
“People deserve to have their voices heard and we will be their voices,” stated Moletsane.
Apartheid state
“We are begging for Palestine to be free and asking for the world to recognise that what is happening in Palestine is apartheid,” said Moletsane.
“[Apartheid] is a term we are very familiar with in South Africa and we are pushing that Palestine is currently going through a very harsh form of apartheid which we would also like to say is a war in a sense,” stated Moletsane.
The aim of a recent peaceful protest held by the Palestinian Solidarity Forum (PSF) was not to create animosity, but raise awareness for what is happening in Palestine, said Haroun Samuels (pictured above), vice-chairperson of PSF at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Nicolas Adamy
“We are not trying to make it political, it is a humanitarian crisis,” said Samuels. “We are not [justifying] the killing of Israelites; we are not saying ‘Oh, that’s fine’. We are for people in Palestine, for their rights to just be.”
“We are showing up to free Palestine against the Israeli occupation,” explained Kaedan Bönker, a final year education student at SU.
By Amy Cloete and Daniel Roodt.