By Yaseen Kippie

Tensions broke out at the Baxter theatre in Rondesbosch on Monday 1 May as the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) celebrated Israel’s self-proclaimed Independence Day, ‘Yom Ha’atzmaut’, This day has been labelled differently by Palestinians as ‘Yawm an-Nakba’, or the ‘Day of the Catastrophe’ – when more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Palestine war. On Monday night, hundreds of pro-Zionist supporters attended an event at the popular theatre, which featured Israeli music and dance sensation Tararam Group.

But the event raised the ire of pro-Palestinian activists who denounced the celebration of the ‘creation of the State of Israel’ as a “reprehensible event”. Various organizations advocating for human rights, including UCT Palestine Solidarity Forum and South African Jews for a Free Palestine, congregated at the Baxter Theatre to protest the concert.

“On that day [May 1st], two-thirds of our population were displaced and kicked out of their homes, and thousands were killed. We see the celebration of this day as a continuation of the Zionist oppression on us as Palestinians. Any independence Israel claims, is on the graves and ruins of the Palestinian people,” said Abdallah Grifat, a Palestinian student at UCT and a member of the Palestinian Solidarity Forum UCT (PSF).

The PSF has also called upon the Baxter Theatre to respond to the call that they had allowed a politically motivated event which is contrary to their policies.

“I asked them if it would be accepted if somebody had an event celebrating Apartheid, would they allow that? They said that they would not. But when I asked them why they were allowing this Zionist event to happen, they could not give any response. The Baxter theatre is owned by UCT. PSF has called upon the UCT board to address this issue, but are still waiting for their response,” Grifat said.

The PSF protestors were UCT students and staff, and as such were protesting legitimately at the theatre, which is part of the university’s lower campus.

Grifat added: “As student at the university, PSF were planning to protest peacefully inside the building. But the Zionist private security who did not have UCT’s permission to be present, prevented us as UCT students and staff members from going onto UCT premises. Even the director of the Baxter theatre, Lara Foot, confirmed we had the right to protest as UCT students. This shows things are even out of her control.

The security blocked us from outside the theatre and assaulted some of us. I myself have a scar on my face. Security members not only blocked us, but they broke our Palestinian flags and instigated us by saying we had weapons with us, meaning our flag sticks, which we did not use maliciously. This is unacceptable by both the UCT student community as well as the broader South African community.”

Aadam from the PSF and South African Jews for a Free Palestine member Nicholas went to see if there was another way out of the Baxter after scuffles broke out between attendees and protestors.

“A lady asked me if we have weapons. She was there part of her work function. I was very confused with this, but the only reason I think she asked that was because they were telling people inside that we have weapons with us so she thought. They were lying to the people, so everyone left through a different exit. This is part of the Zionist propaganda,” Aadam said.

PSF chairperson Jeremy Phillips added, “Zionists are celebrating the dispossession and massacre of Palestinians. ‘Yom Ha’atzmaut’ is actually a celebration of the Nakba. It is a celebration of the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 that led to the creation of the State of Israel. It is unacceptable for this event to go ahead. It is disgusting that anyone celebrates the massacres of Palestinians and the dispossession of land. We are protesting this event forcing the Zionists to confront the truth of Israeli independence.”

The PSF said it has captured all these events on camera, including the abuse of peaceful demonstrators by Zionist supporters. It said it would release these videos on its Facebook page as soon as possible.

“We demand that UCT issue us a formal apology for not guaranteeing our right as UCT students and staff and members of the public to freely enter the Baxter Theatre, but instead initially deploying security personnel to help the Zionist thugs block our entrance. Furthermore, we demand that UCT take action against the organisers of the event, as well as against the Zionist private security, for violating our right of free access to a UCT building.” VOC