Board anger over anti-Zionist speakers
THE PRESIDENT of the Board of Deputies has expressed “dismay and anger” over an event at University College London featuring pro-Palestinian speakers, one of whom said that “Zionists should be treated like Nazis”.
The talk, Segregated and Unequal: Palestinian Life Under Apartheid Israel, was held by the university last Friday night under a heavy security presence and strict ID checks.
Israeli-born Miko Peled, an outspoken anti-Zionist, addressed the audience alongside Azzam Tamimi, a prominent Palestinian activist.
In a letter to the provost of UCL, Professor Michael Arthur, Board president Jonathan Arkush said that the two speakers have in the past “expressed views which go beyond the legal and regulatory boundaries of free speech”.
He also referred to another UCL event, in October 2016, when police officers had to accompany Jewish students from a lecture hall after they were trapped by anti-Israel protesters who interrupted a talk by Hen Mazzig, a former IDF commander.
He wrote: “I am deeply disappointed to be writing to you, a year after last year’s events at UCL, to express the Jewish community’s dismay and anger at the event that took place on Friday.”
The university defended its decision, insisting that it “supports freedom of speech provided it stays within the law”.
A UCL spokesman said: “Our main concern is to ensure that events like this pass off smoothly and peacefully for students and staff. Our procedures and protocols for such events have been instituted in order to achieve this.”
“ZIONISTS should be treated like Nazis”, proPalestinian speakers told a 150-strong audience at University College London (UCL) on Friday evening.
Israeli-born Miko Peled responded to the criticism surrounding the event by saying: “If there is going to be any hate or incitement, it is certainly not going to come from us.”
However, he went on to describe Israel as “a racist, apartheid regime, engaged in ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
He continued: “The intent of the state of Israel has never been to live with the Palestinians; the intention from the very beginning was to destroy and get rid of them.”
Co-speaker Azzam Tamimi claimed he had been “silenced” for previous comments defending Hamas suicide bombings. At a similar event in 2012, he had said: “I’d be a martyr for my country, of course. If you’re not prepared to die for your country, then you are not a patriot.”
During an impassioned speech, he repeatedly accused Zionism of being a “racist ideology”, which determines a chosen land for a select group.”
Midway through the evening, two Jewish students left the room, saying: “You’ve got two liars here – a self-hating Jew and a terrorist sympathiser.” They were met with jeers and laughter from the rest of the audience.
Mr Peled complimented Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and support for the Palestian cause. Mr Corbyn “shows clear leadership,” he said. “You put away this nonsense about Holocaust denial and this nonsense about antisemitism. You focus on what’s important.”
In answer to a question from the JC,
Mr Peled questioned why Zionists should be tolerated. “Why do people who believe in and advocate for a racist and violent ideology believe that they get to speak up and have a seat at the table?
“Would we allow any members of the KKK? Would we allow Nazis? No. On that same token, Zionists do not deserve a platform.”
BY ALASTAIR THOMAS