Protests against the participation of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely in an LSE debate led to disputes. Police says the protests were peaceful and there were no arrests.
A group of college students protested the presence of Israeli ambassador to the UK at London School of Economics (LSE). Tzipi Hotovely was at LSE as a part of a series of debates the school organized in recent months.
“Perspectives on Israel and Palestine” is a series of debates on Middle East peace for which Tzipi Hotovely attended LSE. A group of LSE students organized the event, while a group of other students found it against human rights disciplines.
Colleges Students who organized the protest have seemingly achieved their goals. They meant to attract the attentions to Israeli practice in Palestinian lands against a campaign of normalization.
In videos and soon went viral in social media, Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador, rushes out of the LSE. Heavy security guard were trying to secure the ambassador’s safety in her exit. In the outer scene, a crowd of British demonstrators were congregating, shouting anti-Israel chants.
Critics believe that the Israeli ambassador has a history discrimination against the people in Palestine. “Aren’t you ashamed!” and “Israel is a terrorist state,” they yelled as they voiced their support for Palestinian residents of the old lands.
British Administration officials, as one could expect, denounced the move and called for investigations. The Home secretary condemned the LSE occurrence saying he was “disgusted by the treatment of the Israeli Ambassador at LSE.” He also voiced support for an all-out investigation by the Police for what he claimed as “Jewish intimidation.”
Behind British Foreign secretary also lambasted the Tuesday night incident. “The treatment of Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely last night and the attempt to silence her was unacceptable,” Liz Truss posted.
Behind Israeli Ambassador Protests
“LSE for Palestine“, a group of LSE students who organized the protest issued a statement following their move against ambassador. The described the move as a “tremendous demonstration of solidarity with Palestine,” in their statement yesterday.
“Contrary to false reports, Tzipi Hotovely did not ‘flee’ the university; students maintained a peaceful protest throughout the evening,” part of the statement read. The statement described the Israeli ambassador as a “Nakba denier and anti-Palestinian racist” for which she was subject to protests.
A student explained in her tweet that the ambassador did not flee, but found open arms with flowers at the LSE. At the end, the student added, Tzipi Hotovely found an easy way out when the students were subject to police attacks. Multiple other accounts also refer to the peaceful nature of the gathering.
“I will continue to share the Israeli story and hold open dialogue with all parts of British society.” Hotovely’s tweet further explains her welcome attendance at LSE while large groups of students opposed it as politically biased.
The invitation of Tzipi Hotovely by the student union group had sparked a stir on school campus. Hotovely, according to the opposer campaign, is a staunch extremist with ties to Israeli Likud party. The ambassador is also the former cabinet member observing the illegal settlement building of Jews in the West Bank. She also faces allegations on promoting bigotry and perpetrating the actual subjugation of Palestinian citizens, according to the LSE student organization.
The student group further notes that invitation of Israeli ambassador is an obvious violation of the LSE student union motion. The motion pledges to “play an active role in dismantling systems of oppression at home and abroad.” As such, Backlash against Tzipi Hotovely seems to have had no anti-Semitic orientation.
