British Jewish Leaders Outraged by London University Anti-Israel Protest Which Required Police Intervention

Rachel Frommer

Attendees at last night’s UCL Israel lecture. Photo: Twitter/Israeli Embassy in UK.

Leaders of Britain’s Jewish community expressed outrage on Friday after a lecture on Thursday night by a former IDF soldier at a London university was stormed by protesters, resulting in the arrival of the police.

Marie van der Zyl, vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said in a statement, “We deplore the aggressive and intimidating protests which disrupted a student event in UCL (University College London)…It is disgraceful that in a society which values free speech, students at a top UK university cannot host an open event without being harassed.”

Van Der Zyl also referred to the anti-Israel protesters — who trapped students and visitors inside a lecture hall during the talk by Israeli peace activist Hen Mazzig — as a “hate-filled mob supporting the worst kind of extremism in the Middle East,” who “serve only to bully and threaten.”

The Board said it will be taking its concerns to the government and called on UCL “to initiate a strong disciplinary process against the perpetrators.”

That message was echoed by the Israeli Embassy in London, writing in a statement posted on Twitter: “We are concerned by the shameful violence recorded at last night’s event at UCL aimed at preventing an Israeli speaker from engaging students. We are confident the university will be investigating those responsible.”

Footage of the event, which was co-organized by UCL Friends of Israel and CAMERA on Campus, shows officers warning people not to leave the lecture room without police escort, as the environment outside was too hazardous. On the video, protesters are heard shouting slogans like, “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” As the audience was led out of the lecture hall, they were followed by chants of, “Shame! Shame! Shame!”

Devora Khafi, a student at Queen Mary University London who attended the program, tweeted:

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