UC Berkeley officials denounce protest

BERKELEY (AP) — Leaders of the University of California, Berkeley, have denounced a protest against an event organized by Jewish students that forced police to evacuate attendees and a speaker from Israel for their safety after demonstrators broke through doors.

The incident Monday night “violated not only our rules, but also some of our most fundamental values,” Chancellor Carol Christ and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin Hermalin said in a statement to the university community.

Minutes before the event was to start, a crowd of about 200 protesters began to surround the building, Zellerbach Playhouse, Christ and Hermalin said in their statement.

“Doors were broken open and the protesters gained unauthorized entry to the building,” they said. “The event was canceled, and the building was evacuated to protect the speaker and members of the audience.”

University campuses have been a hotbed of protest activity surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, which began following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Israel’s responding assault on Gaza has killed 29,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Berkeley’s student newspaper, The Daily Californian, reported that the event was a lecture by Ran Bar-Yoshafat, an Israeli attorney and former member of the Israeli Defense Force.

The newspaper reported that protesters changed “Long live the intifada,” “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go” and “Killers on campus.”

The campus group Bears for Palestine had posted on social media about the event, urging students to “shut it down.”