After anti-Israel rally, Livni forced to talk online
A talk with former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the University of California, Los Angeles campus on Tuesday was moved online to avoid disruptions by anti-Israel protesters.
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies decided on Monday to host the event “Israel and the Middle East after the October 7th Massacre: Threats, Challenges, and Hopes” on Zoom “in order to avoid any disruptions.”
Livni had been scheduled to speak at Royce Hall, but chapters of the Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA organized the protests to make “sure war criminals are NOT welcome on our campus!”
“There is a warrant out for Livni’s arrest in the United Kingdom for her role in overseeing war crimes against Palestinians,” SJP at UCLA wrote on Instagram on Monday. “In Israel’s most recent bombing campaign against Gaza, Livni has justified further war crimes and exonerated Israel to Western audiences. Join us in committing to the academic boycott, putting an end to normalization, and showing that war criminals are not welcome here!”
The Jewish Faculty Resilience Group (JFrg) at UCLA criticized Israel Studies Director Dr. Dov Waxman for saying that the decision set a bad precedent for a response to antisemitic attempts to limit Livni’s free speech “because she is Jewish and is a representative of the Jewish state.”
“The decision to move Ms. Livni out of Royce Hall to Zoom allows antisemitic intimidators like SJP and FJP to marginalize Jewish voices and sends the ominous message that Jews are not physically safe on campus,” JFrg chair Dr. Kira Stein wrote in an email on Monday.
“Antisemitism, particularly in the form of anti-Zionism, is intimidating both faculty and students on campus. By backing down to anti-Jewish threats, antisemitism will be emboldened, and things will get worse. Already, SJP is rejoicing at this perceived weakening of UCLA.”
SJP canceled the planned protest, but was angered that in an act of “cowardice” UCLA did not cancel the event altogether.
“The university fears our collective power and moved the in-person event with the Zionist war criminal, Tzipi Livni, online. As a result, we decided to cancel the action. Tzipi Livni has shown she is not physically welcome on our campus, but this is not over,” SJP said on Tuesday.
“The political science department, which sponsored this event, will not get away with this. Our eyes are on every department and corner of campus. We will not rest until the UC cuts all ties with the Zionist state.”