Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

University Protesters Try To Disrupt Israeli Speaker, Call Him ‘War Criminal’

(JTA) — Anti-Israel activists called former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor a “war criminal” and called Israel a “terrorist state” during his appearance at a London university.

Meridor, who served in Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet from 2009 until 2013, spoke Tuesday night at King’s College in central London on the topic “Threats and Challenges.”

Students who arrived to attend the lecture said that they were threatened and intimidated by the protesters, the U.K. Jewish News reported.

Protesters’ screaming from outside the venue also reportedly interrupted the lecture, during which Meridor the failed peace process attempt by then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kings College security men patrolled outside the lecture hall during the appearance, and only allowed those who registered for the event to enter. At the end of the event, organizers announced that the police had been called to allow attendees to leave the event safely. King’s College denies that police were called.

“It is appalling and concerning that at an academic institution of such high esteem as King’s College, which thrives on political diversity, student protesters would stoop so low as to threaten their fellow students and a former state official,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said in a statement. “These students have shown a complete disregard for academic freedom and expression, and are sending a dangerous message that hostility and force are legitimate methods of protest.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.