The University of the Western Cape (UWC) continues to foster dialogue on crucial issues facing South Africa and the world. UWC’s Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) hosted a panel discussion with the Commissioners heading up the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.
Before returning to Europe, Judge Navanethem (Navi) Pillay and Commissioner Chris Sidoti ended their countrywide visits at UWC’s Iyatsiba Lab on Greatmore Street in Woodstock.
Judge Pillay outlined their work: “Our mandate is unique. I know because when I was High Commissioner for Human Rights, then I serviced all these Commissions of Inquiry and they were all short-term. This Commission has no end date, and that’s important as that is one of the key objections made by the United States, Israel and member states both in the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, who voted against the establishment of this commission.”
Despite immense political pressure to thwart their efforts, they have continued their work in preparing their report on the incidents on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent genocidal assault on Gaza.
Commissioner Sidoti said: “In Israel and Palestine, there’s no going back to the 6th October. There has been a status quo in that area for 25 years, which suited all principal actors. It suited the government of Israel, it suited the Palestinian Authority, and it suited Hamas. Whatever happened on the 7th of October…has meant that the status quo has been destroyed, and there is no going back. Part of the hope that I have is that this will provide, after all of the killings stop, an opportunity for moving forward. And this will be because people demand it.”
About the Centre for Humanities Research
Since its establishment in 2006, the CHR at UWC has provided a new impetus to the role of the humanities in formulating ideas and experiments for building a post-apartheid society to offer a new concept of freedom for the world. Through the CHR’s Iyatsiba Lab in Woodstock, UWC’s anchor institution strategy has been given new impetus with the redistribution of the humanities, its publics and youth mobility, connecting the University, rural and peri-urban spaces to the heart of the city.
Before returning to Europe, Judge Navanethem (Navi) Pillay and Commissioner Chris Sidoti ended their countrywide visits at UWC’s Iyatsiba Lab on Greatmore Street in Woodstock.
Judge Pillay outlined their work: “Our mandate is unique. I know because when I was High Commissioner for Human Rights, then I serviced all these Commissions of Inquiry and they were all short-term. This Commission has no end date, and that’s important as that is one of the key objections made by the United States, Israel and member states both in the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, who voted against the establishment of this commission.”
Despite immense political pressure to thwart their efforts, they have continued their work in preparing their report on the incidents on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent genocidal assault on Gaza.
Commissioner Sidoti said: “In Israel and Palestine, there’s no going back to the 6th October. There has been a status quo in that area for 25 years, which suited all principal actors. It suited the government of Israel, it suited the Palestinian Authority, and it suited Hamas. Whatever happened on the 7th of October…has meant that the status quo has been destroyed, and there is no going back. Part of the hope that I have is that this will provide, after all of the killings stop, an opportunity for moving forward. And this will be because people demand it.”
About the Centre for Humanities Research
Since its establishment in 2006, the CHR at UWC has provided a new impetus to the role of the humanities in formulating ideas and experiments for building a post-apartheid society to offer a new concept of freedom for the world. Through the CHR’s Iyatsiba Lab in Woodstock, UWC’s anchor institution strategy has been given new impetus with the redistribution of the humanities, its publics and youth mobility, connecting the University, rural and peri-urban spaces to the heart of the city.
