Storm rages over recital by Israeli

David Macgregor

A CONCERT by a renowned Israeli pianist at Rhodes University in Grahamstown has divided students and academics.

The timing of Dr Yossi Reshef's visit to the City of Saints could not be worse as students and academics joined 13 other South African universities and started a seven-day international Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) campaign.

It aims to heighten awareness about the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The evening concert has attracted opposition from 44 academics and many students, including members of the Rhodes University Palestinian Solidarity Forum (RUPSF), who penned an open letter to Music Department head Dr Jeff Brukman. It urged him to call off the Israeli embassy-funded concert.