South African University Calls Off Talk by Israeli Diplomat

The University of KwaZulu-Natal has set off a debate about academic freedom and free expression in South Africa with a last-minute decision to cancel a planned lecture by an official of the Israeli embassy, The Independent Online reported. Some academics at the university had called for the lecture to be canceled to object to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. The deputy-vice chancellor, Joseph Ayee, sent an e-mail in which he said: "I have reconsidered the sensitivities that the visit of the Israeli deputy ambassador have generated. Given the negative publicity that the visit will give UKZN, I hereby cancel the visit and the lecture." A spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy told the newspaper that "anti-Israeli elements have embarked on a campaign [of] intellectual terror which rejects everything that the academia believes in: meaning dialogue, discussions, research, understanding and freedom of speech."