Here’s what went down.
It’s pretty typical of the anti-Israel crowd to “champion” human rights and free speech, yet deem these principles irrelevant when it comes to Jews and Israelis.
Update: Here’s another recent example of the same phenomenon.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/protesters-prevent-israeli-deputy-ambassador-uk-addressing-selected-essex
Israeli deputy ambassador to the UK Alon Roth-Snir was forced to abandon a talk at the University of Essex today after angry International Relations students voiced opposition to his presence.
Students said that Roth-Snir had been due to speak to a selected group in the Government Department, but was forced by protesters in the room to abandon his talk after only five minutes.
Nathan Bolton, the president of the Students’ Union, told The Electronic Intifada that a protest outside was attended by around 200-250 students, despite being organized with only two days notice.
An additional 20-30 students who had been issued with invitations disrupted the deputy ambassador’s talk inside the hall.
Not brainwashed
One member of staff present in the room told me that Roth-Snir had just started saying hello and thank you when he was interrupted by a student protesting: “we are not here to be brainwashed.”
The staff member told me students were “passionate and very measured.”
A Palestinian member of the Palestine solidarity society told me that the room was “90 percent pro-Palestine.” Students read from a prepared statement, calling Roth-Snir a war criminal.
Other students chimed in, all the while explaining why they were opposed to the presence of a representative of a human rights abuser like Israel on campus.
Bolton says that police were called and Roth-Snir was “rushed away” by security guards.
A further attempt to give his talk on “The state and terrorism” to an even smaller group of students also had to be abandoned after 10 minutes.
Update: While Galloway is not willing to debate a Jew Israeli, here is something he is willing to do.
