The alleged racist heckling of Danny Ayalon at the Oxford Union last week has prompted Israel to develop a new policy on how it deals with such incidents.
Danny Ayalon, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, addressed the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations on Tuesday, and said of the incident that “this type of warfare is on a global scale, which is guided by the Palestinian Authority and Islamist groups.”
Mr Ayalon commented, “We need to focus Jewish NGOs and organizations to this issue. They say ‘Free Palestine’ and try and prevent us from speaking, we say ‘Free speech’.”
He continued. “We have learned how to defend ourselves from [physical] terrorism and now we are learning how to defend ourselves from verbal terrorism.”
A Facebook group has also been set up in response to the incident. Named, “Standing against anti-Semitism in Oxford”, the group has more than 500 members.
The group’s description states, “As students, we are taking a stand against anti-Semitism. We are appalled at the behaviour of the student who screamed anti-Semitic remarks at an Oxford Union event. This is nothing to do with foreign policy or politics, but about showing our intolerance for intolerance. All racism, whoever it’s directed at, is unacceptable.”
In regards to what action Mr Ayalon will be taking, his spokesman, Ashley Perry, stated, “We are waiting to hear about the progress of the police investigations before making a decision on whether to press charges. We are looking into all possibilities and will not allow such blatant racism, intolerance and incitement to violence go unnoticed and unpunished.”
The Israeli Embassy confirmed that the police were investigating the incident after a request from several students.
