Protestors mobbed the Israeli Deputy Ambassador last week as she left the venue where she had been giving a speech to University of Manchester students.
Members of Action Palestine swamped the vehicle of Mrs Talya Lador-Fresher at the exit of the Renolds Building on North Campus, temporarily preventing her leaving the premises.
The visit came just over six weeks after Mrs Lador-Fresher’s initial visit was postponed amidst fierce debate and the threat of volatile protests.
Embassy officials said the postponed talk was able to go ahead this time around as a result of the venue change. The move from the Student’s Union to University property at the Renold building meant that campus security was available in the auditorium.
The Deputy Ambassador expressed “serious concerns about physical abuse” had the talk gone ahead in the Students’ Union.
An entourage of private security guards escorted the Deputy Ambassador to and from the venue.
Mrs Lador-Fresher has recently visited several other universities in the UK, aware of a prominent student movement against Israeli policy on Palestine.
Speaking to Student Direct: Mancunian, Labor-Fresher said: “It’s very important for me, and for us at the embassy, to have the Israeli voice coming across to young people in this country and to the new intelligentsia.
“Unfortunately the last time I was scheduled to come here I had to cancel because of the amount of, not just demonstrations, but violence that could have erupted.”
Protests flared up inside the Renolds Building as Lador-Fresher gave her speech and answered audience questions. Several activists in the audience stood and covered their faces with bandanas, which bore the emblem of the Israeli flag.
One prominent member of Action Palestine was cheered when he stood in front of the audience and held a Palestinian flag. He remained there for the duration of the debate.
Audience members shouted the word “rubbish” at the Deputy Ambassador when she claimed there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Chants from protestors outside could be heard in the auditorium.
Student Direct: Mancunion asked the ambassador about campaigner’s calls to have certain members of the Israeli cabinet arrested under war crimes charges should they land on British soil. Lador-Fresher said: “I think both the Labour Party and the Tory party understand that issuing arrest warrants based on political whim is just ridiculous.
“If we were to find, god forbid, an Israeli terrorist or a Palestinian terrorist within our boarders we would arrest them yes, but these are two separate issues: one is a terrorist that you see, you know and you bring to justice, and another is a politician that due to public relations complaints, people want to arrest for crimes against humanity.”
With regards to the Palestine Solidarity movement Lador-Fresher said: “I think we have to educate and that’s part of why I’m coming here.
“Israel is an important strategic partner [for the UK] that’s not what just I think, your government thinks it too.
“I’m sorry to say that some people are unaware of some of the stories. They tend to say ‘well, if he is weak I’m with him’, to go with the underdog. But I must say it’s not always that the weak is right and the strong is wrong. Sometimes the stronger party can be the right party.”
“When the Deputy Ambassador for Israel came to our University to hold the rather ironically titled talk ‘Hopes and Challenges in the Middle East’, Action Palestine felt it was our duty to the Palestinian people, who are systematically oppressed by the government she represents, to protest against her cynical propaganda campaign,” said Patrick Cowling, a first year history student and member of Acton Palestine. Cowling was part of the protest that disrupted the ambassador’s speech.
Cowling continued: “Inside the hall, seven of us stood in silence throughout her talk and the Q&A session afterwards with Israeli flags tied around our mouths to symbolise the fact that whilst her ‘freedom of speech’ is being so passionately defended here in Manchester, the Palestinian people in Gaza, Israel and the occupied territories have no such luxury.
“Deputy Ambassador Lador-Fresher states that it is very important for her and the embassy to have the Israeli voice coming across to the young people of this country. Indeed it is, because Israel is desperately trying to claw back some respectability and restore its public image after the ruthless attack on Gaza last year.”
“But of course, as the Deputy Ambassador herself told us at the talk: there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They have donkeys and Quality Street chocolates smuggled through the tunnels from Egypt, so this of course negates any humanitarian crisis in her eyes.
“The Deputy Ambassador failed to effectively answer many of the questions on Gaza and on the issues of the long list of violated UN resolutions. She put great emphasis on the UN resolution 181, which established the state of Israel, but seemed to miss the irony of the fact that her country is one of the leading violators of UN resolutions.”
Speaking after the event, Lador-Fresher said, “It was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. If this is what passes for debate at British universities, it really is a worrying state of affairs.”
“What is going on at British taxpayer-funded universities is shocking. Extremism is not just running through these places of education: it is galloping,” said Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor. “My ears are ready and waiting to hear the strongest condemnation of this behaviour both from the heads of campus and the local authorities.”
A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “The University of Manchester is fundamentally committed to freedom of speech, exercised within the law. It follows that it should also allow peaceful and lawful protest to take place on its campus.
“The Deputy Israeli Ambassador was invited to speak by the Students’ Union Politics Society, and the University took all reasonable action to put appropriate security measures in place for this meeting, including a complete lockdown of the building, a high-level security presence, ID checks at the door and ticket-only arrangements.”
May 4th, 2010 at 11:45
“One prominent member of Action Palestine was cheered when he stood in front of the audience and held a Palestinian flag. He remained there for the duration of the debate.” CAN WE NOT GET A NAME?!!?
Lador-Fresher comes to speak and all we get is a bunch of pictures of members of Action “Palestine” (in quotation marks due to ambiguity of this term).
May 4th, 2010 at 12:51
Ms. Taylor-Fresher asks if that is what passes for debate at British universities. N, of course not. A debate puts people in a discussion on an equal platform. She stood on a platform above everyone else, and without any sanctioned opposer. It wasn’t a debate, it was a speech and and Q and A. You’d think for the money senior diplomats are paid, they’d know what words mean…
May 4th, 2010 at 13:02
Lador-Fresher said, “It was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. If this is what passes for debate at British universities, it really is a worrying state of affairs.”
“What is going on at British taxpayer-funded universities is shocking. Extremism is not just running through these places of education: it is galloping,” said Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor.
Thank heavens our universities contain people capable of demonstrating that they will not swallow the lies put out by Israeli extremists or be placated by the nonsense statements above.
Israel seems to think the Middle East is there just for their benefit. The Israeli theft of other people’s lives, land, water and homes must be stopped.
May 4th, 2010 at 13:50
No mention of the fact that members of Action Palestine attempted to smash the windscreen of the car then?
May 4th, 2010 at 14:34
The Manchester University Israeli Deputy Ambassador affair
Or how to make a marginal event overshadow positive developments
On the 28th of April 2010, after a conference hosted by the Politics society at the University of Manchester, some activists of “Action Palestine” tried to attack the Deputy Ambassador for Israel and eventually managed to block her car for some time.
These actions are unacceptable and I am sure they are doing anything but contributing to a peaceful solution to the conflict and an end to the occupation. However, I want to put the events back into their context and criticize the way they were portrayed by the Jewish and Israeli media.
After the events, the Jewish Chronicle, Britain’s main Jewish weekly, and all of the big Israeli newspapers reported the attack in a very alarmist tone, making no further investigation on the matter. All the things reported in the articles are true. However, the talk went on quite peacefully and I feel that the situation in Manchester University is appeasing rather than getting more tense.
These are the facts that support this. For many years, Manchester University has been a big centre for “pro-Palestine” activism. The Students’ Union is twinned with the one of Al Najah University in Nablus, and many motions have been passed over the years to “support the Palestinian cause”. Last year, during the Gaza War, after a month-long occupation of a University building, a motion has been passed in the UMSU (University of Manchester Student’s Union) to join the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement against the state of Israel.
This year, the tensions came to a peak when Ms Lador Fresher, the Deputy Ambassador for Israel, was due to speak at the UMSU on the 18th of February. A big demonstration was organized by “Action Palestine” to protest against her coming, claiming that because of the BDS motion, no Israeli spokesperson should be allowed to speak in the Union. The talk was cancelled but the demonstration took place to “celebrate” this decision, taken by the Embassy because of security concerns. The Jewish Society “responded” by a counter demonstration claiming that everybody should be allowed to Free Speech in the Union. Some verbal clashes occurred and observers could testify to a pathetic scene of shouting slogans, one group against the other. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLtPycOJQrs)
After these events, a group of people, willing to create a place where students could debate and learn from each other, created the Manchester Israel Palestine Forum. This Forum, of which I am the chair, tries to promote dialogue and learning on the issues of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and gathers members of Action Palestine, the Jewish society and other students interested in the issues.
We had two events in the last few months. On the 9th of March, we had our first student forum on the theme “Gaza: what next?” After a short movie, a debate in little groups and a shared hummus break, students of the “two sides” made presentations on the history and on the issues in Gaza for the 100 people audience. Then, attendees had the opportunity to debate, to ask questions and to try to understand the other side. It is true that many people did not change their minds, but at least they had a peaceful and well-argued dialogue and the students that weren’t in touch with the issues had the possibility to learn and understand the views of both sides.
After this success, we organised on the 25th of March a conference on the theme “Israel-Palestine: Is the two states solution viable?” There, we had four speakers from very different backgrounds and the debate was very lively and constructive. People from Action Palestine, the Jewish society but also non-involved students were happy and felt comfortable to express their views. Ruth Arkush, a Jewish student, said “For the first time, there was a panel with speakers from both sides on campus; it was very refreshing and positive after a lot of aggressive politics on campus”. I invite you to listen to the entire BBC Manchester report of the conference. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3M-RI3A99U)
The activities of the Manchester Israel Palestine Forum had a very good feedback and contributed to ease the tensions between the two groups after the events that lead to the cancellation of the conference on the 18th of February.
Finally, the talk by Ms Lador Fresher on the 26th of April took place in a quite calm and constructive way. Security measures were very strict and some activists shouted at the beginning and had a silent protest throughout the speech. However, generally, Ms Fresher could speak and be understood by the students. I feel that everybody learnt from this conference but that it would definitely have been better if a speaker that could balance her views had been on the panel. In the room, there was no apparent aggressiveness between the two groups and no one felt scared or intimidated to speak. For a more complete report, see the Manchester Jewish Society report that is quite well relating the events and gives little importance to the attack as the overall feeling of the conference was really good. (http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/alex-goodman/the-challenges-of-the-middle-east/119140761445506)
At the end of this conference, a minority of “Action Palestine” activists, most of which had not been allowed inside, surrounded the building in order to attack the diplomat. After a ridiculous hide and seek game with the security of the University, they managed to disrupt her car for a few seconds.
In today’s society, what becomes important is not what really happened but how it is depicted in the media. The Jewish and Israeli media didn’t say one word about all the positive events that happened on campus and the regained confidence in debate and understanding. However, they emphasised this attack and made Manchester campus appear as hostile and racist.
I assume positive signs are not said because the public is interested in shocking news. But maybe also because the media are interested in portraying pro-Palestine activists as violent, emphasising the fact that “the whole world is against us” rather than noticing the signs of dialogue and good will.
They created a message of hostility and violence to the point that the Israeli father of a member of the Jsoc even called her saying “I saw the news on TV, you should be careful with all these anti-Semites and organise to defend yourselves!”
Members of the Jsoc were shocked by how this marginal event was given so much importance and tried to complain to the media. Letters and phone calls were exchanged with the Jewish Chronicle, the first news site to publicise the event, but nothing was changed in the articles. I even wrote personally to all newspapers that publicised the event but got no response from them. What we can learn from this story is that when the “news momentum” is lost, nothing really matters anymore; only the shocking news itself stays for the people that weren’t there.
I think that activism is very important to campus life but I don’t know how this attack by some members of “Action Palestine” contributed to the liberation of Palestine. What I am sure of is that it contributed to give weight to the voices in Israel that oppose every dialogue with the Palestinians and to the perception of British Universities as Anti Semitic.
Despite this news coverage, I do not think that the situation in Manchester campus is as “bad” as it is portrayed. I really think that the situation is becoming better and that the tensions are actually decreasing, passing from a point of no dialogue and aggressiveness to a phase of debate and mutual understanding.
I hope the Manchester Israel Palestine Forum will be able to carry on its activities and that marginal violent events won’t be given as much importance, leaving away constructive and positive developments.
Marco Schneebalg
2nd of May 2010
This article reflects the opinion of its author and not of any other organisation.
newspaper articles:
the Jewish Chronicle: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/31165/israel-deputy-ambassador-shocked-manchester-attack
the Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=174309
Yedioth Aharonot: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3882700,00.html
Haaretz: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1166302.html
Arutz Sheva: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137290
May 4th, 2010 at 15:44
I was at the event as an observer, neither with AP nor J-Soc. No one tried to smash any windows of any cars.
May 6th, 2010 at 10:32
There “is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza”… seriously? I was hoping this would be more than a Deputy Ambassador trying to talk Israel’s hands clean.
May 6th, 2010 at 16:41
Marco, I admire your attempt to put right a fundamental injustice in the way the events of last week were (mis)represented in the Israeli media. These reports were in many ways reflective of the downright lies that the deputy ambassador spun during the meeting itself. Fundamentally, the way the media treated the event made it easy to play down the significance of the distortions made by her during her speech. Of particular note, was the deputy ambassador’s two faced position on ‘peace talks’ between Israel and the Palestinians. On the one hand she said that Israel were not responsible for the stalling of negotiations, and then in the same breath, without a hint of irony in her voice, declared that Israel would never compromise on the illegal settlements and the annexation of East Jerusalem! Both of which form MAJOR issues for the Palestinian side! All she wanted to achieve was pin the blame for the lack of peace, on the actions of the Palestinians!
Is it any wonder that people are surprised at how the Israeli embassy completely distorted the day, given its reputation for propaganda and lies? No wonder Israeli people are so antagonistic to achieving peace with Palestinians when the level of propaganda within Israeli society is of this nature. Given the proven extent to which Israeli society is only exposed to one view point by its media, one wonders if there is anything we can do at Manchester to change the opinions of the average Israeli citizen. It seems to me that the potential for debate and discussion alone, in the absence of non-violent direct action, are hindered by the built in structures which militate against the potential for the building of a serious, internal movement for peace within Israel. That is not to say, there are none; there are plenty of small organizations which are bravely standing up and speaking truth to power, interestingly many of them also endorse the call for a world wide boycott of Israel.
With this in mind, there are a number of major problems with various assertions you have made, because, in spite of your attempts to put the record straight, you have actually confounded the reality of what happened, due to your insistence that the actions of the protesters amounted to an attempt to ‘attack’ the Deputy Ambassador. You then go on to say that the actions, presumably the so-called attack – which never happened – as ‘unacceptable’ and then try and further undermine the democratic right to protest against oppression by describing it as adding nothing to a ‘peaceful solution to the conflict’ thereby implying that our actions were not peaceful and therefore violent, a term which you deploy throughout your statement when you mention Action Palestine.
Marco, I detect within your statement an underlying assumption which fundamentally has as its objective an attempt to undermine those of us, who are striving to have a real impact on the so called ‘conflict’ by building a strong international movement of Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions against the rogue state that is Israel. Whereas you are no doubt sincere in your belief in the power of discussion and debate alone, many of us who have helped established Manchester University as a solid base for Palestinian activism, believe such a strategy, by itself, will lead us up a blind alley. In a world shaped by the force of power, we are in the process of building a grassroots movement which can counteract that power. In so doing we take as our inspiration the forms of actions used against a previous rogue state in the form of apartheid South Africa. The contribution made by a worldwide campaign of BDS was critical to achieving justice, and we are equally determined to achieve the same thing for Palestine. You may, rightly believe that the solution to the conflict is about peaceful coexistence achieved by understanding each other, but you have actually missed out on the predicate for any long term realization of this ultimate objective that is without a doubt shared by an overwhelming majority of people on both sides; in a word, that predicate is JUSTICE. The pursuit of Justice should be the starting point of any movement which is sincere in achieving a real, sustainable peace, anything short of this, merely amounts to an ineffective spasm of wasted effort at best, but an exercise in collaboration with oppression at worst.
May 7th, 2010 at 11:29
If you want a true picture of Gaza, then Google Gaza City and see what Wikepedia shows. Gaza has always been poverty stricken and Egypt was offered it when peace was brokered between Israel and Egypt. It refused. It was under Israeli jurisdiction that univeristies were opened and medical personnel trained for each village . I think it regrettable that Israel is demonised when Egypt is responsible for closed borders.
May 10th, 2010 at 18:33
The only reason that this grassroots campaign has any momentum is because the university of Manchester has a high number of Muslim students. The other members of ‘Action Palestine’ will be far-left spoon-fed privleged students who have too much time on their hands and rely on Mummy and Daddy sending a standing order to them with great wads of cash every month. They have no concept of real life.
Inviting a senior Israeli state official to the university and then shouting her down and attacking her is ‘extremely’ cheap and pathetic and is not wanted in the U.K. It portrays a vile image of the univeristy of Manchester and thankfully is not representative of the whole university. Anyone reading the above article who is ignorant of the events in Gaza will not feel sympathy towards the Palestinians but feel hatred towards the typical violent tactics employed by the dirty ‘Action Palestine’ mob.