King’s College to ban violent protesters who tried to halt Israeli’s campus talk

An investigation by King’s College London into violence at an Israel Society event on its campus has concluded that students “crossed the line” in carrying out their protest.

Two Jewish students held off a mob of pro-Palestinian demonstrators during the incident at the university last month.

They were subjected to a volley of abuse, including being called "Nazis" as they stood their ground while Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency, was giving a lecture.

King’s launched what it called a “swift and comprehensive investigation” into the incident on January 19.

Its findings, published today, concluded that the disruption had been intended.

The university said in a statement: “A number of individuals intentionally disrupted the rights of others to exercise freedom of speech within the law.

“Those individuals who chose to behave inappropriately crossed a line and should be held accountable for doing so.”

There was sufficient evidence of misconduct by those who entered the college’s Norfolk building. The incident will now be referred to a disciplinary committee, the university said.

The university’s report added: “As the majority of the students involved in entering the Norfolk building were not King’s students, we will assist other London institutions in any way we can to take action under their disciplinary procedures.”
The 20-page recommends that one King’s student should face disciplinary action, while a second, who entered the Norfolk building but did not participate in the protest, should not receive any reprimand.

Students from other universities who took part in the violence should not be allowed to attend future King’s events, the recommendations said.

Staff, students and college officials should receive mandatory training to ensure such protests are not allowed to spiral out of control in the future, it added.

King’s president and principal, Professor Ed Byrne, said he accepted all the findings of the report.

He said: “We have a duty to uphold freedom of speech within the law and will fight against intolerance wherever it is found.

“Intimidating behaviour is completely unacceptable and goes against everything that we stand for at King’s. We do not, and will not, condone the use of any form of violent protest.”

Prof Byrne has invited Mr Ayalon to return to King’s to speak again, and the Israeli has accepted.

Last week Mr Ayalon told the JC the university should demonstrate its support for free speech by having him back.

He had said KCL should "invite me as soon as possible to show that a person like me can give his speech and open it to a debate.

“The idea is not to find out who should be blamed. The response should be to show you can do it. In England, you can create such an event that will not be violent and the speaker will have the floor to present his ideas and everyone will be able to oppose his ideas and respond.

“This is the right response."