Dublin College Apologizes After Protesters Cancel Speech By Israel Ambassador
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A college in Dublin said it “regrets” the cancellation of an appearance by the Israeli ambassador to Ireland following pro-Palestinian protests.
The question and answer session with Amb. Ze’ev Boker and the Society for International Affairs, or SOFIA, on the campus of Trinity College in Dublin had been scheduled for Monday night.
The event was cancelled after about 40 pro-Palestinian students carrying Palestinian flags and protest signs occupied the venue. Police and university security employees were unable to remove the protesters, leading to cancellation of the event.
“The university regards what happened as an unacceptable attack on free speech,” said the statement issued Tuesday by Trinity College. “The ambassador has been a regular and welcome visitor to Trinity since his appointment. He had dinner in the university earlier in the same evening and attended another event in Trinity last week,” the statement also said.
Trinity Provost Patrick Prendergast told the Israeli news website Ynet that he looked forward to welcoming Boker to campus again, under better circumstances. “This was most unfortunate and represents the antithesis of what Trinity stands for. Universities should be able to facilitate the exchange of ideas. The protesters have violated that fundamental belief,” he told Ynet.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on the college “to take the appropriate measures to deal with the instigators of last night’s protest,” and also said that “we expect the Irish authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure freedom of speech for Israel’s ambassador,” the Times of Israel reported.
The ministry also told the news website that it was “horrified by the vicious action of a group of protesters.” It said the protesters chanted genocidal slogans calling for Israel’s destruction, while barring access to the lecture venue.
Meanwhile, Britain’s University of Central Lancashire cancelled an event which was due to take place as part of Israel Apartheid Week later this year, saying it contravened the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the government and was “unlawful.”
The panel discussion was titled “Debunking Misconceptions on Palestine” and was organized by the university’s Friends of Palestine group to look at the boycott of Israel.
“The UK government has formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s new definition of what constitutes antisemitism. We believe the proposed talk contravenes the new definition and furthermore breaches university protocols for such events, where we require assurances of a balanced view or a panel of speakers representing all interests,” a university spokesman told the London-based Jewiosh Chronicle.
He added: “In this instance our procedures determined that the proposed event would not be lawful and therefore it will not proceed as planned.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
