World Jewish News

Outrage at violent anti-Israel protest at University College London

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has expressed outrage at a violent anti-Israel protest at University College London (UCL).

British media reported that dozens of police officers were called last week to one of the country’s top universities to quell the assault which left Jewish students barricaded in a room, after being told their safety could not be guaranteed.

The mob screamed ‘‘Intifada, Intifada, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’’ The Jewish students waited for police to escort them through the crowds of around 100 demonstrators who had gathered outside after hearing a talk by Israeli activist Hen Mazzig, as they waited for police to escort them through the crowds of around 100 demonstrators who had gathered outside.

Mazzig, a former IDF Commander, had been invited to speak by UCL Friends of Israel about his humanitarian work in the West Bank, building medical facilities, school, roads and water infrastructure.

According to The Daily Telegraph, police are investigating after two female Jewish students reported that they were assaulted during the evening. One was knocked to the ground when protesters broke into the lecture room through a window and jumped in, while another was pushed against a door causing her to have a panic attack.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews condemned the protesters as a “hate filled mob” who support “the worst kind of extremism in the Middle East”.

“We deplore the aggressive and intimidating protests which disrupted a student event in UCL,” the Board’s Vice President Marie van der Zyl said.

“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.”She said that the Board planned to raise the issue with the Home Secretary in a meeting on Monday.

In a letter to University of London Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Adrian Smith, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Shimon Samuels, expressed ‘’outrage’’ at the last week’s assault.He said that if the UCL ‘’‘pogromists’ are not harshly penalized, their violence can be expected to spread to other London colleges, infecting a broader student body.

A spokesman for UCL said: “UCL and UCLU do not condone acts of intimidation or violence under any circumstances and, as a university with a longstanding radical history, we fiercely support the right to exercise free speech within the law.

“The freedom to debate and challenge views is fundamental to the nature of a university. We also acknowledge the right to peaceful protest. We regret protestors took measures to try to prevent the event from happening but stress that the protest was non-violent.” The university said it will consider disciplinary action against students where necessary. Earlier this year students at King's College London were attacked by demonstrators as it hostedinvited Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israeli secret service Shin Bet.

EJP