Israeli speaker claims he was more scared trapped in a room by Palestinian protesters at London University than he was in the IDF

RT
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 10:20 UTC

Police were called after pro-Palestinian protesters stormed an Israel event at a London university, yelling "shame, shame" and trapping attendees in the room the talk was being held in, it has been reported.

Israeli activist Hen Mazzig was addressing a group at University College London (UCL) on Thursday about the conflict between Israel and Palestine when protesters from the Friends of Palestine Society tried to stop his speech by chanting:"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

According to the Jewish Chronicle, protesters then blocked attendees from leaving or getting into the lecture hall, chanting: "5, 6, 7, 8, Israel's a terror state."

Officers reportedly told attendees to not leave the room without police protection. One student claimed she had been"assaulted" and "attacked" by the protesters.

In a video broadcast on Facebook from inside the hall, Mazzig tells his followers: "The situation is really out of control, we're hiding in a room and there are protesters outside.

"I don't think that even in my days in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] it was as bad as it is right now, it's really scary," he said.

Comment: You would think that after being in a 'conflict zone' and being 'targeted routinely' a few pesky students wouldn't scare poor Mazzig, maybe it's because he doesn't have his gun or grenades with him?

He later tweeted: "I had to be rushed out of the event at @UCL with security. The campus was the war zone and the streets are the safe place. I'm out. My god."

Comment: Seriously?

In a statement, the Union of Jewish students said: "There can be no excuses for the events that took place at UCL last night.

"The fact that such violence and hostility took place only nine months after the incident at KCL [King's College London], with police having once again to be called, is an absolute disgrace.

"UCL Friends of Israel were simply trying to engage students in discussion on Israel, but instead were met with a wall of intolerance and intimidation aimed at shutting down free speech."

Earlier this year, protesters interrupted a talk by Ami Ayalon, an ex-commander of the Israeli Navy and former head of the Shin Bet, at King's College in London. One protester was later found guilty of assaulting a Jewish student at that protest.

Comment: While violence is never condoned, the anger that groups such as Friends of Palestine feel is certainly justified, their violence is a mal-formed expression of this rage, possibly due to no actual change coming about. Instead of condemning the Pro-Palestinian protesters maybe the Union of Jewish students could look in the mirror and apply what they have accused the protesters of creating: "a wall of intolerance and intimidation aimed at shutting down free speech." to what their own nation is doing to the Palestinians.

Reader Comments

zman · 2016-10-30T14:55:39Z

Nerve

That's what these Israelis have. How do they think Palestinians feel in their own homeland, surrounded and attacked daily by Israelis and the IDF? They can attack Palestinians with lethal weapons and that's just fine...but when they are attacked with words, it's an 'Oh, God' moment and they're fearing for their lives. What a coincidence that Israeli trained police forces in the US say the same thing when they shoot un-armed civilians...I feared for my life. Yep, up is down, right is wrong, black is white.

gdpetti · 2016-10-30T21:57:04Z

hmmm.

Either his comments are simply sarcastic, or he's suffering from 'afluenza'.

FeatherHat · 2016-10-31T00:06:56Z

In reply to editorial comments, yes seriously. I'm surprised the recent Clinton-oriented revelations of violent provocateurs haven't clued you in on the ponerized nature of the social justice movements. The harassment extends in a number of directions, including towards (Jewish) conservatives. The recent spate of "it's not wrong when we do it" and calls for direct action (arson, violence, and authoritarianism under the guise of anti-fascism) is another outgrowth. There have been enough unruly mobs (eg the frustration over Brexit) that remarks similar to Mazzig's make sense in context. At worst you have him on exaggeration.