From the Editor (Issue 5)

Leon Fine

Kaleidoscope, simply stated, is a “general magazine with a Jewish interest”. This, its fifth quarterly issue, continues in its mission of remaining broad in its coverage. It includes articles on science and medicine, population health, Jewish and Zionist philosophy, historical biography, a short story and an artwork.

Added to this, I relate below a very recent personal story which should be of interest to our broad readership:

I well remember the period in the 1960s when boycotts of South Africa during the apartheid era were substantial. They were international and were a significant part of the antiapartheid era. One problem was that such boycott activity included academic institutions and involved restriction of travel to conferences, refusal of journals to accept submissions from academic authors and refusals to engage in collaborations and exchanges. These actions were supported by numerous universities and professional organizations outside South Africa and led to isolation of the South African institutions of higher learning.

I remember equally well, how many of us at the time, as alumni of the University of Cape Town (UCT), tried to point out that, by boycotting our institution, they were strangling the very section of society within the country that was the most vocal, the most liberal and the most obstinate antagonist of the apartheid regime. Some of our arguments were heard and some relaxations of the academic boycott resulted.

Imagine my surprise therefore, when, in December 2025, I received a transcript written by a non-Jewish, black South African author, Lerato Mokoena (pseudonym) who reported an outcome of a recent Convocation of UCT, in which, in her opinion, the word “Zionist” was “used as a convenient code for ‘Jew’; a slur hiding in plain sight”. As voted by the Convocation, “Zionists were to be defeated, excluded and denied a home at the University. In her view “this was not solidarity, not about Gaza, or about humanitarian concern. This was about the quiet expulsion of Jews from public life. It executed a purge”.

Addressing such comments as “defeating the Zionist bloc’ and “ensuring UCT is never a home for Zionists”, she opined that, stripping away the euphemism, the meaning was obvious, that Jews who do not renounce their identities are not welcome here. The author went further in denouncing this outcome as a final step in a slow, deliberate, ideological encroachment on South Africa’s institutions by activist networks that frame Jewish identity itself as a political problem.

My first action was to establish that what I had received was real news and this I did by asking a reliable, seasoned local alumnus who confirmed the report. I contacted the University asking that my concern be relayed to the Vice Chancellor. His office acknowledged my “distress caused by the language in social media which are at odds with UCT’s commitment to being a university where all members of their community feel that they unequivocally belong”.

How did all this happen? Again, writing as an individual rather than as editor of this magazine, I contacted a highly credible legal expert who is intimately connected with the University, for his views. He explained that the university council is dominated by a combination of zealots who seek to “fight the Gaza war in Cape Town” and which had garnered the support of leaders, who had no idea of fiduciary duty to the University. He went on to explain that UCT has no official policy against Jewish students and asserted that the Vice-Chancellor should state this publicly. He predicted that, as it stands, Jewish students and staff will now seek out Stellenbosch, a neighboring university.

So, what goes around comes around in the most distressing way. A South African University, long acknowledged to be the finest on the continent and one which itself was subject to an academic boycott related to the racist government of its country, has now become a place where unbridled antisemitism rules the waves. In 2026 it is likely that Jewish students will seek other options for their higher education and Jewish donors who formerly sustained many of UCT’s finest programs, will curtail their generosities. It is not clear how the University administration will respond to the decisions of its Convocation.

Looking forward to 2026 as a year of peace and tolerance.

Leon Fine

Editor