Outrage at Israeli Deputy FM

by Shibani Mahtani on 2 Nov 2009 in News

Protest-Front-Page

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon was met with jeers and accusations of racism at the London School of Economics last Monday.
Students and activists gathered outside the lecture with placards and banners, protesting against the lecture, whilst audience members heckled the controversial minister. He was called a “racist” and a “murderer” in relation to the occupation and violence carried out by the Israeli state. The protestors were members of the LSESU Palestine Society, the Palestine Solidarity Initiative (PSI), Jews for the boycott of Israeli goods and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, amongst others.

One protestor, Mira Hammad, was subjected to intimidating and aggressive comments by a senior lecturer present at the lecture.

In a letter to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies Jan Stockdale, Mira said: “I was sitting in the row behind Janet Hartley, George Gaskell and Professor Chris Brown who, after I had interrupted saying that I did not wish to listen to a racist, told me to “fuck off””

“At the time, I did not know who he was and was shocked when I was told afterwards by three witnesses that the man who had addressed me in such an aggressive manner was indeed one of the most senior academics at the LSE.”

In reponse, Professor Brown said: “I did indeed attend the lecture and was distressed at the outbursts by some of the students. I regret if my response was distressing in turn.”

Four pro-Israeli activists were also present outside the New Academic Building, waving Israeli flags and applauding the speaker.

In a statement released to the Beaver, the LSESU Israel Society said: “We, the students, wanted a lively debate, but we also came first and foremost to hear the speaker, listen to his ideas and, and then ask the difficult and controversial questions we had. But this was made impossible.”

Ayalon was in the UK to meet British government officials and spoke at the LSE ahead of these talks in a lecture titled “The Middle East: The view from Israel”. Security on the university was tight, with private security and police officers keeping a close watch on the protestors.

Merna Al Azzeh, a Palestinian student in the audience, said: “I find it disgusting the that LSE could invite a Minister to speak from a racist government that has been committing war crimes for the last 60 years.”

The LSESU Palestine Society and the PSI have, in addition to the protests, sent letters to LSE Director Howard Davies condemning the school’s decision to invite the Minister to speak at the LSE. They also condemned the way the LSE sent an email to all students and staff advertising this event and believed that this “added insult to the injury”. They urged the school to revoke this invitation, sent a day before Ayalon was scheduled to speak at the LSE.

Academics, ranging from Emeritus professors to doctorate students, also wrote separate letters criticising the School’s actions.

Responding to the concerns of the Palestine Society and PSI, Pro-Directors Janet Hartley, Sarah Worthington and George Gaskell said, “We are satisfied that the School’s Free Speech Code has been followed. The code reads: “The Free Speech Group will normally be asked to provide an opinion on whether to refuse or withdraw permission for an event when it is considered appropriate and practical to do so”. The Free Speech Group was informed on Thursday, and was content that the event proceed as proposed”.

Further to this, Davies said in a letter to the PSI: “The individual concerned is a senior member of an elected government of a state with which the UK has diplomatic relations. We were careful to ensure that he was prepared to take questions, that there would be no involvement by the Embassy or the Government in the selection of the audience, or screening of subjects for discussion. We received assurances on all those grounds.”

“I understand the strongly held views of many members of the LSE community about the Israeli Government’s policies, and particularly the impact on Palestinians in Gaza. But given the School’s traditions of open debate, and its strong commitment to free speech, I think it would be decidedly odd for the LSE, as a corporate policy, to take the view that no representative of the Israeli Government should be allowed to speak here.”

The Director also invited the Palestinian representation in London to propose a speaker to the LSE on a future occasion, to indicate that the school was willing to host a Palestinian representative who “might offer very different perspectives on the prospect for peace in the Middle East”.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 12:00 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Miriam

    Interesting, I didn’t know LSE was a 3rd world university.

  • Chris Bryant

    Thank you for getting rid of the false and libelous intimation that Ayalon is in any way a racist. You could not find any evidence for the claim (there isn’t any) and so the headline was there to be divisive and controversial.

    You owe Mr Ayalon an apology and you must include a formal correction in the next edition, as any other publication would. Changing the online edition is not enough, but is a good first step in admitting your editorial mistakes.

  • Jack Benn

    I noticed that absolutely no details about Mr. Ayalon’s talk were not contained in the article. This tells me that either the correspondent didn’t like what Ayalon said (ie. too moderate and didn’t classify him as a racist but actually a moderate) or didn’t want to mention the fact that Ayalon actually addressed all thee accusations very accurately and skillfully.
    As someone who was in attendance, I would suggest that perhaps both are true. Ayalon gave an excellent and moderate speech where he extolled the virtues of peace with the Palestinians and actually managed to change my mind on many issues.
    The more powerfully the anti-Israeli movement villifies Israelis, the more the neautrals amongst us want to hear the truth and can be swayed. You ahve shot yourselves in the foot with your actions.

  • Rob

    Ms. Hammad is quoted as saying “[...] I had interrupted saying that I did not wish to listen to a racist.” Although I may disagree with her view, there are a few obvious questions to ask.
    1. Did she expect to be treated respectfully after interrupting a formal speech?
    2. Why did she attend an event with a speaker to whom she does not want to listen?

    In general, I find it baffling that students would find it appropriate to disrupt such an event. President Ahmadinejad has managed to speak at more universities (and indeed has been interviewed CNN) with far less disruption. The Israeli government, although it may pursue unpopular policies, is a democracy. The Knesset includes Arab as well as Jewish members. Unlike Hamas, Israel does not openly target civilians, and does not launch offensives into peaceful regions. Is it possible to be well informed and disagree with Israel? – certainly. Is it possible to be well informed and believe Israel does not do enough to safeguard Palestinian civilians – probably. Is it possible to be well informed and respond with such hate and contempt that even Ahmadinejad, or Radovan Karadzic can make public appearances with less of a commotion – unthinkable!

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