City University student allegedly threatens to behead Israeli professor
'City Action for Palestine' has conducted a campaign of targeted harassment against Professor Michael Ben-Gad
Pro-Palestinian students at City St George’s, University of London have continued a campaign of targeted harassment against an Israeli professor at the institution by invading his lecture theatre during a class, with one of the protestors allegedly threatening to behead the academic.
Video footage posted online and quickly picked up by Iranian and Turkish state television saw anti-Israel protestors, their faces hidden by keffiyehs, interrupting a lecture given by Professor Michael Ben-Gad, who teaches economics at the university.
The footage shows one of the protestors telling Ben Gad that “you have blood on your hands”. Another told the students in the lecture, many of whom looked confused or otherwise resigned to the disturbance, that “This lecturer served in the IOF! They are a part of the genocide in Gaza.”
Chants of “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea” followed.
Professor Ben Gad told Sky News that “I finished my lecture and it was invaded by protesters who came right up to my face and called me a war criminal and a Nazi.
“They refused to leave, they were masked. One of them made a threat about having my head chopped off.”
Ben Gad praised the university administration for their support. They had provided extra security for his lecture, and some of those security guards can be seen in the video ushering the protestors away. He also said that he had been offered paid leave, or the chance to “sit at home and work on my research”. But he said that “under the circumstances, I am carrying on with my duties. The students should expect nothing less from me.”
He said: “My main concern is for people who are far more vulnerable than I am, and I mean particularly Jewish students who have been targeted all over the country.”
One of the protestors, her face still hidden behind a mask, later claimed that the students in the lecture “were appalled to hear the things they were hearing. How can City University employ a lecturer that has this background? It’s unacceptable, and we have to let them know today and we had to let him know that war criminals are not accepted on our campuses. That they will never be welcome here, especially in light of the genocide in Gaza.”
The interruption of Professor Ben-Gad’s lecture appears to be the latest escalation in a campaign by a group calling itself “City Action for Palestine” which has falsely described Professor Ben-Gad as a “terrorist” in social media posts and has said it “will not allow evil to roam free on our campus”.
More than 1,000 academics have signed an open letter condemning what they have described as “a targeted harassment campaign against Michael Ben-Gad…we deplore any campaign that seeks to intimidate and drive out lecturers because they are Israeli, Jewish, or members of any other group.”
On Tuesday, City St George’s responded to a request for comment by saying that:
“City St George’s fully supports and upholds freedom of expression within the law and is willing to engage in lawful discussion and debate across the full range of topics. However, unlawful and repugnant attempts to obstruct and interfere with our academic operations are another thing entirely, and the University will not tolerate the harassment of its staff and students.
“We reject the unlawful actions of this small group of individuals that is neither affiliated with the University nor its Students’ Union. We will continue to support and protect our staff and students, including Michael, who has the full support of the University and its senior management team, as well as colleagues of all faiths and backgrounds.”
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