On Thursday, May 19, approximately 75 UC San Diego students, faculty members, and community activists gathered outside the Gardner Room at the UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy to protest former Israeli Ambassador Ido Aharoni’s guest lecture. Three groups — the UCSD Faculty Defense Group, Students for Justice in Palestine San Diego, and GPS students — each organized actions, beginning at around 4:30 p.m. and concluding at approximately 6:30 p.m.
GPS hosted Aharoni as a guest speaker for its public lecture “Israel Today: Threats and Opportunities,” which it originally announced on GPS’s events calendar in early May. On the event website, the lecture was advertised as “a timely discussion exploring the complex security challenges, geopolitical dynamics and emerging opportunities facing Israel in the current regional and global landscape.” Aharoni served in the Israeli Foreign Service from 1991 to 2016 and has since held various diplomatic positions, including the Israeli consul-general to New York.
The three protests had similar yet distinct interests. The Faculty Defense Group’s silent protest aimed “to call attention to the one-sidedness of the event.” SJP’s rally, which occurred simultaneously, intended to disrupt Aharoni’s speaking engagement from the GPS courtyard. Inside the Gardner Room, eight GPS students — who had previously delivered a letter to the event organizers expressing their dissatisfaction with the panel — staged a silent walkout approximately 10 minutes into the event.
GPS administrators, including Dean Caroline Freund, coordinated the event in collaboration with the Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative. The lecture was moderated by Eli Berman, a professor in the UCSD department of economics and research director for the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.
Prior to the public lecture, Berman was seen engaging with several demonstrators outside the venue. Protestors chanted “baby killer” at Berman, to which he responded, “You’re saying because I’m Israeli you’re going to harass me.”
Event coordinators delayed the public lecture by approximately 30 minutes as a result of the protests. In a statement to The UCSD Guardian, Freund wrote that “the event was delayed until 5:20 because the doors were blocked by protesters until security arrived.”
As The Guardian noted in earlier coverage, we did not witness any obstruction of entryways or sidewalks during the event; rather, we observed protesters holding the doors to the Gardner Room open, until officers from the UC Police Department arrived and requested that protestors close them. We did not observe protestors restrict any attendees’ movements.
For their silent protest, members of the Faculty Defense Group stood with tape over their mouths, holding signs that read: “~20,000 Children Killed in Gaza,” “72 Weeks of U.S. Weapons Shipments to Israel,” “All Gaza’s Universities Destroyed — Genocide Goes On,” and “64 Students and Faculty Arrested.”
In a statement shared with The Guardian on May 18 at 5:25 p.m., the Faculty Defense Group stated that Aharoni was “directly involved in crafting and defending the policies of Israel’s occupation in Palestine, which has been designated as illegal by the International Court of Justice.”
Also on May 18, GPS students delivered an open letter to the GPS dean, criticizing Aharoni’s past involvement in shaping Israeli policies, including what they described as a “system of apartheid,” and listed several actions the event organizers should take to improve the event.
The open letter read: “Hosting an event that excludes Palestinian perspectives on a conflict recognized globally as a human rights crisis fails to meet these standards and risks undermining our institution’s credibility and moral leadership.”
As none of their requests were implemented prior to the public lecture, the eight GPS students staged a walkout while Aharoni was speaking. In an interview with The Guardian, the students said they believed this event was not a lecture meant to educate the community, but rather a fundraising campaign for the state of Israel.
After The Guardian’s initial coverage, Freund sent us a written statement explaining her attempts to alter the event to the students wishes, citing that the letter was delivered too late for her to make their requested changes.
“I asked the students to propose a speaker for counterpoint, which we would welcome, they did not,” Freund wrote. “I also tried to find one. In addition, I solicited student questions and promised to ensure time for discussion and open dialogue…I would have liked to adjust the event more, but the time was limited.”
SJP announced its rally two hours before the lecture on May 19. Alongside the Faculty Defense Group’s silent protest and the GPS students’ walkout, individuals attending SJP’s rally chanted slogans, including “War criminal,” “Shame on you,” “Bombing hospitals, burning journalists alive,” and “Shame, shame, shame on you, you have blood on your hands too.”
Several demonstrators also directly criticized Freund. “Caroline Freund, you’re a sell out. Pack your bags, and get the hell out,” protestors chanted.
Tensions escalated as police and UCSD administrators arrived on the scene, around 20 minutes after the event’s scheduled start time. The Guardian saw members of the UCSD Operations Management and Capital Programs Office, including Vice Chancellor Niraj Dangoria, observing the protest behind police. Fourteen UCPD officers arrived on scene and were stationed at the various entry points around GPS’s Robinson Complex.
The Guardian reporters heard UCPD officers instruct several protestors to move away from the Gardner Room entrance, warning that failure to comply could result in arrest. Police also deliberated whether to “hold back” protestors in a contained area in front of the entrance.
Police sealed off the area at 6:17 p.m., blocking the path between entrances to the Gardner Room and preventing movement toward the west side of the Robinson Complex, though they allowed event organizers to pass.
Several individuals gave statements to The Guardian during the three protests.
Fourth-year Mike Borisov criticized Freund’s opening remarks at the event.
“I did actually comment to the dean of GPS when she was commenting that, ‘Oh, you know, we want to have a discussion of dialogue,’” Borisov said. “That’s complete baloney. She does not. If she wanted to have a dialogue or open conversation, she would have a seat for both Palestinians and pro-Israelis.”
Borisov added, “I’m just here today to support the innocent people who are being killed in Gaza.”
One student protester and SJP member, who identified herself as Jenna, told The Guardian that the goal of their protest was “to disrupt the event, stop it from happening, [and] shame every single Israeli leader that was in that room.”
“And I think we definitely did that,” Jenna added. “Even though it may seem like it’s slowing down or becoming more stagnant, that doesn’t mean we’re able to give up our fight for Palestine, because it’s only getting worse in Palestine.”
The public lecture concluded approximately 30 minutes later than initially planned. After attendees left the event, Aharoni and Freund exited, escorted by police officers.
Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and Academic Senate President Olivia Graeve, the Faculty Defense Group, and Freund all issued follow-up statements in the days after the event. UCSD administration has since announced that it is investigating the disruptions to the event.
As of publication, Ido Aharoni has not responded to an interview request.
