{"id":2190484,"date":"2024-03-01T16:57:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T21:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/berkeley-administrators-have-offered-no-apology-to-israeli-speaker-accosted-by-anti-semitic-mob\/"},"modified":"2024-03-01T17:02:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T22:02:44","slug":"berkeley-administrators-have-offered-no-apology-to-israeli-speaker-accosted-by-anti-semitic-mob","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/berkeley-administrators-have-offered-no-apology-to-israeli-speaker-accosted-by-anti-semitic-mob\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley admins fail to apologize for Israeli speaker attacked by anti-Semitic mob"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fberkeley-administrators-have-offered-no-apology-to-israeli-speaker-accosted-by-anti-semitic-mob%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2190484&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Ran Bar-Yoshafat \u2064invited \u200dto \u200dspeak to a campus Jewish group<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<figure><figcaption>Ran Bar-Yoshafat (Israel National News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>University of California, Berkeley, administrators have offered no apology to Israeli \u2064lawyer \u2062Ran Bar-Yoshafat, \u2062whose\u200d speech to a campus Jewish group was \u200babruptly canceled by the university after violent protesters \u2063choked \u2062a female student\u200d attendee, spit in \u2062another attendee&#8217;s face,\u200b and broke into the auditorium where Bar-Yoshafat waited onstage.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had no apology,&#8221; Bar-Yoshafat told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>.\u200b &#8220;No \u200done from Berkeley has contacted me since, or tried to contact me, \u2063even.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Only about 10 to 12 student attendees\u2062 had been able to make it into the\u200c university\u200c venue\u200c where Bar-Yoshafat had been\u200c moved for the third time when violent \u2062protesters broke down the doors and university police abruptly declared that the event would be shut down. Following this announcement, Bar-Yoshafat said,\u200d an unidentified staffer told him\u2063 that he \u200dwould have to leave. The staffer and security guards then showed him and his wife down a backstage\u200c corridor so that they could leave without having to navigate the violent protesters.<\/p>\n<p>Before the lawyer could leave, however, two fully masked protesters \u200djumped onstage and approached \u2064him with their hands in their pockets, \u2063without interference from \u200dsecurity, and saw \u200dwhere he and his wife were going. Bar-Yoshafat said his\u200d university escorts showed him down the corridor, opened the door to the street, and left him and his wife \u2062outside alone with \u200ca &#8220;good luck.&#8221; The couple had no idea \u2062where\u2062 they were or how to get to their car until a staff member for the group sponsoring Bar-Yoshafat&#8217;s U.S. speaking tour found them.<\/p>\n<p>The treatment that Bar-Yoshafat describes is another black mark on Berkeley that shows\u200c the\u200b school&#8217;s growing reputation for \u200dallowing anti-Semitism to fester on its campus. Last fall, a civil\u2063 rights group <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/uc-berkeley-faces-lawsuit-for-longstanding-unchecked-spread-of-anti-semitism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sued<\/a> the university for\u2063 its &#8220;hotbed of anti-Jewish hostility and harassment.&#8221; In 2022, the federal government <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/feds-open-investigation-into-deep-seated-anti-semitic-discrimination-at-berkeley-law-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opened\u200b an\u200b investigation<\/a> into &#8220;deep-seated anti-Semitic discrimination&#8221;\u2062 at the university&#8217;s top-tier\u2063 law school.\u200c And Berkeley is <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/anti-israel-berkeley-group-says-israel-is-playing-victim\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">home \u200bto the inaugural chapter of Students for Justice in\u200c Palestine<\/a>, which has been fomenting anti-Semitic fervor on campuses around the country.<\/p>\n<p>The university \u200ddid not immediately respond to a request\u200b for comment.<\/p>\n<p>One \u2062female Jewish student has <a href=\"https:\/\/jewishjournal.com\/news\/368623\/jewish-student-says-she-was-choked-at-uc-berkeley-pro-palestinian-protest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">described being choked<\/a> by Monday&#8217;s violent protesters, and another\u2062 was\u200b injured. Activists spit \u2062in a male Jewish student&#8217;s \u2063face and\u200c shouted &#8220;Jew Jew Jew&#8221; at him.<\/p>\n<p>Bar-Yoshafat&#8217;s event was sponsored by \u2064a Jewish student group, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ssi_berkeley\/p\/C3x88lPP8wb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">publicized<\/a> the event as\u200c a chance \u200cto \u200dhear the lawyer &#8220;address Israel&#8217;s\u2062 international \u200clegal challenges,&#8221; including \u2063whether Israel &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/palestinian-human-rights-are-not-a-bargaining-chip-rashida-tlaib-confronts-biden-on-tarmac\/\" title=\"\u2018Palestinian Human Rights Are Not A Bargaining Chip\u2019: Rashida Tlaib Confronts Biden On Tarmac\">violates international law<\/a>, the rules of wartime conduct, and how the [Israel Defense Forces] can better protect civilians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bar-Yoshafat said he has had experience with protesters and heckles on American university campuses, prior\u2063 to Oct. 7\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/amchainitiative.org\/letter-to-uc-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notably<\/a> \u200dat UC Davis in 2012. Given the heightened vitriol against Israel and pro-Israel sentiment\u2062 following Hamas&#8217;s terrorist attacks, he was expecting trouble. But\u2064 the violence this time marked\u200c a sharp change, he said, and the cancellation\u200c was &#8220;giving a prize \u2064to those who are not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spotify-doesnt-renew-the-obamas-podcast\/\" title=\"Spotify Doesn\u2019t Renew the Obamas\u2019 Podcast\">allowing free speech<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This \u2063is a \u200dcollapse of Western Civilization,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You are\u200c supposed \u200cto be\u200c innocent until proven guilty.\u200c Now you are guilty and you are not even\u200c given \u2063the chance to defend \u2063yourself. I&#8217;m sorry, that&#8217;s not going to work in a normal society.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, masked protesters again targeted Bar-Yoshafat&#8217;s speech at Los Angeles&#8217;s landmark Holocaust \u200dmuseum, the nation&#8217;s oldest, \u2064which was founded by Holocaust survivors. The protesters shouted, \u2062&#8221;Israel\u200b can go \u2064to hell,&#8221; among \u2064other chants, while waving \u200cflags and\u200c shouting at Israel supporters. \u200cThe museum, however, maintained tight security, and the protesters weren&#8217;t able to break into the event and disrupt the lawyer&#8217;s \u2064speech.<\/p>\n<p>Bar-Yoshafat, who said he would\u200c return\u200d to Berkeley\u200d if invited, is on a speaking tour sponsored\u2064 by Club Z, a national education program for Jewish teens that was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is seeking to answer questions about international law and the Israel-Hamas war, in\u2064 which\u200b he has\u2064 first-hand experience as a reservist \u2062with the Israel Defense Forces.<\/p>\n<p>California has witnessed particularly vitriolic anti-Semitism since\u2064 Hamas&#8217;s Oct. 7 attacks. Anti-Israel protesters <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/california\/anti-israel-protesters-shut-down-california-legislature\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shut down<\/a> the State Assembly in\u2062 January and\u2064 forced the state \u2062Democratic Party to cancel\u200d some of its \u200bconvention events in \u200dNovember. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.), meanwhile,\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article282713973.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called off<\/a> the state capitol&#8217;s traditional \u200clive Christmas tree lighting ceremony to avoid \u200dplanned protests in \u200dDecember.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How has the recent \u200dconflict in Gaza sparked\u2064 anti-Israel\u200b activism on \u200cuniversity\u2064 campuses?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  The recent conflict in Gaza, it is not surprising that his event was \u2064targeted by\u200d anti-Israel activists.<\/p>\n<p>The violence and intimidation that Bar-Yoshafat and the \u200cattendees of his speech faced are completely unacceptable. It\u200d is deeply concerning that university administrators have offered no apology or support\u2064 to Bar-Yoshafat, \u200cdespite being aware of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>This incident is not \u2063an isolated event at\u2064 the University of California, Berkeley. The campus has gained\u2064 a reputation for allowing anti-Semitism to flourish, \u200cas evidenced by the\u200d lawsuit filed against the university for its\u200b &#8220;hotbed of anti-Jewish hostility and harassment.&#8221; Additionally, the federal\u200b government \u2062has launched an investigation into &#8220;deep-seated anti-Semitic discrimination&#8221; at the university&#8217;s \u2062law school. These issues, along with \u200dthe presence of\u200c groups like Students for\u200c Justice in Palestine, only \u2064serve to fuel the anti-Semitic fervor\u2063 on \u2064campus.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of\u200d response from the university is troubling. It sends a message that violence and intimidation against \u2064Jewish students and speakers are acceptable. It is the responsibility of the university administration to create a \u2064safe\u200c and inclusive environment for all students, \u200dregardless \u200dof their background or beliefs. Allowing anti-Semitism to persist goes \u2062against these principles and undermines \u2064the\u2063 university&#8217;s commitment to academic freedom and diversity.<\/p>\n<p>It is crucial that the University of California, Berkeley takes immediate \u200daction\u2062 to address this issue. They must\u2064 condemn the violence and harassment that occurred during Bar-Yoshafat&#8217;s event \u2064and provide support\u2062 to those affected. Additionally, they\u200c must implement measures to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-gif-tiff-sparks-mandatory-anti-racism-training-at-cornell\/\" title=\"Kamala GIF Tiff Sparks Mandatory \u2018Anti-Racism\u2019 Training at Cornell\">prevent similar incidents<\/a> from happening in\u2064 the future. This may include\u200b increasing security \u200dmeasures, educating students about the importance of respectful dialogue, and fostering\u200c an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding on campus.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom of speech and peaceful \u2064protest are fundamental rights that\u2063 should be protected \u200don university campuses. \u200bHowever, these rights should \u2062not extend to violence, \u2064intimidation, or the silencing \u200dof opposing viewpoints. \u2064It is essential that universities\u200b uphold these\u200c principles and\u200b take \u2064a\u2062 stand against any form of\u200d discrimination or hatred.<\/p>\n<p>The incident involving Bar-Yoshafat at the \u200cUniversity of California, Berkeley serves \u2062as a \u2064stark reminder \u2064of\u200b the need\u200c to combat anti-Semitism and ensure\u2064 the safety and well-being of Jewish students and speakers. It is our collective \u200cresponsibility to \u200dcreate a campus \u200denvironment\u200c that fosters respect, inclusivity, and intellectual discourse. Only then can we truly fulfill the\u2063 mission of higher education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli lawyer Ran Bar-Yoshafat&#8217;s speech to a campus Jewish group at the University of California, Berkeley was canceled without apology from administrators. Violent protesters choked a female student and spat in another attendee&#8217;s face, leading to the abrupt cancellation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1604,"featured_media":2190485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/maxresdefault-8_736x514.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2190484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/maxresdefault-8_736x514.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1604"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2190484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2190485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2190484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2190484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2190484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}