With Moyra Samuels (anti-racism campaigner and anti-apartheid activist) and Dr Wesam Amer (Gaza University / University of Cambridge)

What can today’s movements for racial justice, in Palestine and beyond, learn from past experiences? From organising against apartheid in the 1980s to campaigning Moyra Samuels has been engaged in anti-racist campaigning for half a century. In this teach in she will be joined by Dr Wesam Amer, Dean of the Faculty of Communications at Gaza University and currently a CARA fellow at the University of Cambridge to discuss the parallels and contrasts between the struggles for justice in South Africa and today's activism in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide, war crimes and apartheid, including building a movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions.

This event is part of the Cambridge Week Against Racism. This day commemorates the Sharpeville massacre, the reaction to which was a watershed moment in the fight against apartheid in South Africa.

About the speakers

Moyra Samuels is an anti-racist activist living in Ladbroke Grove, West London and was formerly co-ordinator of the Justice4Grenfell Campaign set up in the wake of the devastating fire in Grenfell Tower in June 2017 which claimed the lives of 72 people, 60 of whom were from a Muslim background. She is originally from South Africa and her family were active in the anti-apartheid movement.

Moyra says "I came to London in 1979 from South Africa escaping the dark days of apartheid. My family here were involved in the anti-apartheid movement and it was a relief to be allowed to take to the streets to protest and to celebrate and promote the importance of the BDS campaign against apartheid. Living in Ladbroke Grove, West London gave me an insight into the anti-racist struggles which took place here after the race riots in 1958, the formation of the Notting hill Carnival and the infamous trial of the Mangrove 9. On the 14th June 2017, I witnessed the horrific fire in Grenfell Tower, in which 72+ people died. Islamophobia played a significant role in what led to the fire as well as the aftermath and as a campaign group we challenged it and demanded it form part of the Public Inquiry into the fire.

At present I remain committed, as part of my community, to campaign for justice for Grenfell. As an activist in both the local Stand Up to Racism group and Solidarity with Palestine group, challenging racism persists as a key task in our fight for justice and equality."

Dr Wesam Amer is a CARA/SRF Fellow and Visiting Researcher at the University of Cambridge, specializing in media where he examines the media coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza. He is deeply engaged in international initiatives and advocacy efforts focused on revitalizing Gaza’s higher education system.

Dr Amer is a founding member of the Academic Action Network for Palestine (ActforPAl), a UK-based network committed to advancing the academic and intellectual freedom of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. His work envisions a future where Palestinian academia thrives as a powerful symbol of resilience, resistance, and intellectual sovereignty in the face of colonialism, racism, and systemic oppression.