Photo : Courtesy of Zahra Carrim
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Courtesy of Zahra Carrim
IN BRIEF
Ayan Datta
South Africa: Universities face pressure to cut ties with Israel
On 27 May, Al Jazeera reported that students at the Wits University and the University of Cape Town set up pro-Palestine encampments in their campuses. The protesters demand to disclose the universities’ relationship with Israel-aligned companies and universities, express solidarity with Palestine, support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, and end censorship on pro-Palestinian activists. The University of Fort Hare committed to not pursuing relationships with Israeli institutions. The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Buti Manamela, told Al Jazeera: “We really want to see our universities and institutional organisations doing what most institutions did to apartheid: boycott it.” The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, argued that universities should advance “critical citizenship.” (Cut Israel ties: South Africa universities face pressure to follow gov’t | Israel-Palestine conflict News, Al Jazeera, 27 May 2024)
Somalia: Town flooded after river overflows
On 26 May, Africanews reported that seasonal rains and the El Nino effect caused the Shebelle River to overflow, flooding the Beledweyne Town. A video by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) showed partly submerged homes and people fleeing their homes. (Somali town of Beledweyne heavily flooded after a river burst its banks, Africanews, 26 May 2024)