At Harvard University, during a panel discussion featuring Israeli politician Tzipi Livni, Husam
El-Coolaq, a Harvard Law School student affiliated with the Harvard Arab Student Association and
the Harvard chapter of SJP, interrupted the event and taunted Livni by repeating an anti-Semitic
slur.4
An event at Goucher College featuring Israeli LGBTQ activist and television personality Assi
Azar was disrupted by 15 students. Following the screening of Azar’s film “Mom, Dad, I Have
Something to Tell You,” the group collectively shouted anti-Israel slogans and displayed anti-Israel
signage.5
At University of California, Davis, Arab-Israeli diplomat George Deek was shouted down by
roughly two dozen students and community members.6 Demonstrators protested Dee k’s lecture,
which focused on dialogue and reconciliation, for several minutes before leaving the lecture hall.
Due to security concerns, police officers escorted attendees back to the campus’ Hillel building at
the conclusion of the event.
At San Francisco State University, anti-Israel activists forced Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to end
a speech after they barged into the lecture hall, shouting, “Intifada! Intifada! Long live the Intifada!”
Video released from the event shows Barkat attempting to have an intimate conversation with a
group of students while their anti-Israel peers stood in a corner of the room, shouting and waving
flags and signs.
In a new tactic designed to bolster anti-Israel sentiment across the country, activists have begun
filming event disruptions and disseminating their footage through anti-Israel media channels. At
times, the footage is edited to portray anti-Israel students as victims of aggressive speakers and
professors. Throughout the school year, detractors used recordings of disruptions to promote
their activities among supporters, creating an “echo chamber” within the anti-Israel movement.
In November 2015, after disrupting an Israel-related event at The University of Texas at Austin,
anti-Israel activists published a doctored video of the incident, portraying a professor’s reaction
to their outburst as an unprovoked attack. Palestine in America, a student-run website popular
among critics of Israel, frequently publishes videos of disruptions for its growing audience of
anti-Israel activists.
Regional Shift: Chicago as a Hub for Anti-Israel Activity
Anti-Israel activity declined or remained constant in every region of the country except the
Midwest, where campuses experienced a sharp increase in anti-Israel activism. In California, once
the center of anti-Israel involvement, BDS activity declined by more than 64 percent year over
year, while BDS activism on Midwest campuses increased by 27 percent. As detractor activity on
4.
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/200558/at-public-event-harvard-law-student-asks-tzipi-livni-how-is-it-thatyou-are-so-smelly
5.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/proud-pinkwasher-assi-azar-confronts-campus-protesters/
6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Se0ew0LllI
7
www.israelcc.org