"Pro-Palestine" thugs disrupt KCL event and attack Israel intelligence chief

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/21/kings-college-london-hate-attack-israeli-ex-secret-service-ami-ayalon_n_9037882.html

Fascinating story. The former chief of the Israeli Shin Bet (their equivalent of MI5, responsible for dealing with terrorist plots and espionage), Ami Ayalon, was invited by the KCL and LSE Israel societies to speak. Unfortunately, the event was hijacked by "Pro-Palestine" thugs who smashed windows, threw chairs and assaulted the attendees.

The huge irony is that Ami Ayalon is an emphatic opponent of the occupation policy; from his time as service chief of the Shin Bet he has concluded that it is vital for Israel's future that a lasting deal be struck and the settlements dismantled

I think anyone who has seen the superb documentary The Gatekeepers would share the sense of irony. An Israeli film-maker called Dror Moreh managed to convince all six former heads of the Shin Bet to be interviewed about their time as service chief and their views, which he intersperses with the history of Israel/Palestine since 1967, the settlements, the assassination of Rabin, the Intifada and stories of their intelligence operations. Five of the six are utterly convinced the occupation has to end, and lay a substantial amount of blame at the door of the Israeli right and religious demographic

Anti-zionists hate this documentary because it means you can't just fantasise about these intelligence chiefs as evil and heartless Israeli puppet masters pulling the strings; they're real people, and in fact incredibly intelligent and introspective. The Israeli right hates it because they can't slander these men as some kind of far left peaceniks and Israel-haters. Can't recommend it highly enough, here's the youtube link to the full thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2BqrpLaDVw

[video="youtube;N2BqrpLaDVw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2BqrpLaDVw[/video]

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

anarchism101

Original post by LeoAngliae

Unfortunately, the event was hijacked by BDS "Pro-Palestine" thugs who smashed windows, threw chairs and assaulted the attendees.

The article doesn't mention BDS at all. They mention a group called KCL Action Palestine, who formally denounced the violence.

Reply 2

LeoAngliae

Original post by anarchism101

a group called KCL Action Palestine, who formally denounced the violence.

Amazing, if they were denouncing then who carried out the attack?

[video="youtube;pZ9QjSY8724"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ9QjSY8724[/video]

Reply 3

anarchism101

Original post by LeoAngliae

Amazing, if they were denouncing then who carried out the attack?

Rogue members, or maybe just some guys who came along. An organisation can denounce things done by its members , you know?

Reply 4

LeoAngliae

Original post by anarchism101

Rogue members, or maybe just some guys who came along. An organisation can denounce things done by its members , you know?

Rogue members, eh? Are you going to tell us next that it was secret Shin Bet provocateurs?

The tactics of the extreme "pro-Palestine" movement are well known, this is completely consistent with their previous actions

It also speaks volumes that you focus in on the least interesting and least substantive element of my OP. I guess you're less interested in serious debate than internet squabbles

Reply 5

LeoAngliae

Original post by JohnGreek

Holy **** I read an LSESU announcement about it this morning,and had literally no idea what it was referring to :biggrin:

http://lsesu.tumblr.com/post/138077764303/statement-on-kcl-israel-society-event

What is most irritating is that by physically attacking and disrupting an event headed by someone who has such an interesting experience like Ami Ayalon, and such a nuanced view as he does, they have missed a real opportunity for genuine dialogue and exchange of views.

There are few Israelis who know the Palestinians as well as a Shin Bet chief; they all learn literary and spoken Arabic fluently, they spend years handling Palestinian agents, spending time among them, managing interrogations. Ami Ayalon (along with his fellow Shin Bet heads in the documentary... really I encourage you to watch it, much better use of your time and much more interesting than TSR) strongly believe the occupation has to end and most of the settlements dismantled.

This is no shrinking violet or far left peacenik; he was the head of Israeli naval special forces, took part in many missions, would have ordered physical pressure of detainees as Shin Bet head (not like the sort of torture Hamas does to their own people, needles under fingernails and drill bits into kneecaps, but stuff like slapping detainees around, sleep deprivation, etc). Such a man is eminently credible to say what he is saying, the pro-Palestine movement should literally be worshipping the ground he walks in and trying to wheel him out onto Israeli and Western television stations.

Unfortunately most of the BDS/"pro-Palestine" movement disagree with Ayalon in one fundmantal respect; they don't want two-states, they want to see Israel cease to exist, so of course even his eminently experienced and interesting views will be dismissed as that of an "evil Zionist oppressor" etc etc