Last week we lost a dear comrade and signatory to the UJ Petition, Professor Kader Asmal. Asmal passed away in Cape Town on Wednesday the 22nd of June.As many of you may know, Professor Asmal was one of the first people to have publicly lent his support to the UJ Petition. A little known fact is that Professor Asmal also wrote a personal letter to each member of UJ's management. Asmal's letter to UJ's Vice-Chancellor opened, "I have been following the UJ-BGU campaign with much interest. Indeed, I am a signatory to the UJ Petition," the letter was delivered the weekend before UJ's Senate decided to terminate its relationship with Israel's Ben-Gurion University. Asmal ended his letter with anticipation of "a historic -and morally guided- decision by the University of Johannesburg."
Today's Mail&Guardian has a full page dedicated to Professor Asmal from the UJ Petition Committee, as well as other solidarity groups.
Hamba kahle, dear Kader.
- MAIL & GUARDIAN: World must deny legitimacy to Israel [25_05_2010]