- Kiana Sezawar Keshavarz, Ella Carter-Klauschie
- Feb 26, 2024 (dailycal.org)
A guest lecture by Israeli attorney and former Israeli Defense Force member Ran Bar-Yoshafat was canceled Monday evening following protests outside Zellerbach Playhouse.
A WarnMe notification at 6:55 p.m. was sent to the campus community notifying them of protest activity at Zellerbach Playhouse. By 7:35 p.m., crowds had dispersed, according to a subsequent WarnMe message.
A joint Instagram post by Students Supporting Israel at Berkeley, or SSIB, and Berkeley Tikvah, who organized the event, said Bar-Yoshafat would address Israel’s “international legal challenges” and whether or not it is violating international law and the rules of wartime conduct.
The post adds that Bar-Yoshafat was to speak on how the IDF can better protect civilians, as well as issues of “perception and ideology” for Israel. A post from campus group Bears for Palestine urged students to protest the lecture, calling Bar-Yoshafat’s message “propaganda.”
During the protest, the group chanted messages like “Long live the intifada,” “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go” and “Killers on campus.” The crowd marched from Wheeler Hall at 6:00 p.m., to Zellerbach, where they were met by UCPD.
By 6:30 p.m, protestors had crowded side entrances to the building.
Officers struggled with the group at a side door of Zellerbach, one of them pushing a protester. UCPD officers stationed in Haas Pavilion moved towards the main entrance at 6:40 p.m.
Speakers gave closing remarks, thanking protesters and emphasizing how the event was shut down despite a last-minute location change from Wheeler to Zellerbach and UCPD presence.
“Justice is our demand and if we don’t get it we will shut it down,” said a speaker, echoed by protestors’ chants.
Around 8:30 p.m, Berkeley Hillel issued a statement, noting that they were appreciative of administration and UCPD’s attempt to maintain order and see that the event took place, though they were unsuccessful.
The Hillel further noted that they are supportive of the University holding the “disruptors” accountable “for their actions and destruction of university property.”
“Breaking windows, intimidating students, and inciting a mob are never acceptable and have no place in civil discourse,” the statement read.
Chancellor Carol Christ and Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin Hermalin issued a statement in an email to the campus community the following afternoon, addressing the events at Zellerbach. Christ expressed “remorse and sympathy” for those inside Zellerbach during the protest and cited campus’s Principles of Community, including free speech.
Nearly 200 protestors surrounded and gained “unauthorized entry” to the building despite the last-minute event relocation and UCPD presence before the building was evacuated, they stated in the email. Christ and Hermalin encouraged students and event attendees to report their experiences last night to UCPD and/or the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.
“The attack on the building, and on the event, was an attack on the fundamental values of the university,” the statement read.
Kiana Sezawar Keshavarz
Ella Carter-Klauschie
Deputy Editor
