An Oxford student yelled “Kill the Jews” at Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, when he spoke at the Oxford Union on Monday night.
The student was removed by security after he shouted the Arabic phrase, “IdhbaH al-Yahud”, which means “Slaughter the Jews”. The incident has been reported to the Proctors’ Office. It was also mentioned in an Israeli Embassy press release on Mr Ayalon’s speech.
There was a great deal of protest during the speech, which was disrupted on many occasions by anti-Israeli protesters criticising Israel’s recent conduct in relation to the Palestinian people.
The first interruption was only a few minutes into the speech, when a woman stood up and read from the Goldstone Report, a critical UN report on Israel’s conduct during the recent Gaza war, to a mixed reaction from the crowd – many supportive, but others’ critical. One person shouted, “I didn’t come to hear you talk.”
In reaction to the interruption, Mr Ayalon criticised the protester for just reading out someone else’s work, saying “I’m not sure she even understood what she said.”
She was soon followed by a woman from southern Lebanon who heckled Mr Ayalon and stood holding pictures throughout the rest of the talk.
Other interruptions included a man holding a Palestinian flag shouting “You are a racist,” “You are a war criminal” and “You will be tried”, to applause from much of the crowd, before being ejected.
Danny Ayalon represents Yisrael Beitenu, a nationalist party, and is a controversial figure even among supporters of Israel. Whilst his talk was frequently interrupted, he managed to convey a combination of moderate and hardline views on the subject of the Middle East in his speech, he blamed Iran for “everything bad going on in the Middle East at the moment”; and claimed that instead of meeting the Israelis halfway on the subject of peace, Israel is giving 95% and Palestine 5%.
However, he also admitted that Israel has to make some concessions to the Palestinians. Arguing that “I do feel for the Palestinians”, he said that he blames successive Palestinian leaderships for their present plight.
Meanwhile, even within the chamber the shouts of the protesters outside the Union gates could be heard. Many were shouting slogans, which ranged from “occupation no more”, to “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” in support of Palestine.
The protests were organised by PalSoc. They were joined by members of Oxford Anti-War Action group.
