This is the most offensive and brazen example of anti-Semitism in the BDS movement to date. Professor Jacobson covered the story yesterday at Legal Insurrection but I wanted to address it here as well.

Stav Ziv of Newsweek reports.

Backlash After Students at South African University Demand Jews De-register

The Students Representative Council (SRC) and Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) at Durban University of Technology in South Africa has stirred outrage at home and abroad after a local newspaper, the Daily News, reported they had demanded that Jewish students, especially those who “do not support the Palestinian struggle,” leave the school.

In a memorandum sent to the university’s management Tuesday, the SRC and PYA asked that students who support the state of Israel or are sponsored by the Israeli government de-register.

“As the SRC, we had a meeting and analyzed international politics,” Mqondisi Duma, secretary of the group, was quoted as saying in the Daily News report. “We took the decision that Jewish students, especially those who do not support the Palestinian struggle, should de-register.”

The move garnered swift and scathing responses from university officials as well as local and international Jewish organizations.

Natan Pollack, the national chairman of the South African Union of Jewish Students, called the request “deplorable.” Likewise, Mary Kluk, chairwoman of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and vice president of the World Jewish Congress, said she was “appalled” by the demand.

Ahmed Bawa, the vice chancellor of the university, responded to the memorandum—which also raised concerns over financial aid and student accommodations—in a letter to students and staff Wednesday. Bawa called the demand related to Jewish students “outrageous, preposterous and a deep violation of our National Constitution and every human rights principle.” He concluded his rapid rejection of the idea by emphasizing that “no student at DUT will be discriminated against on the basis of religion, race, gender, political affiliation or sexual orientation.”