Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat cancels visit to SFSU

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has canceled a scheduled visit to San Francisco State University, accusing the university of failing to adequately prepare for his visit.

“By failing to provide the necessary public forum and properly publicize my lecture, the University has contributed to the continuing marginalization and demonization of the Jewish state,” Barkat declared, adding “If I were a representative of any other country, no institution of higher learning would have allowed my speech to be drowned out by protesters inciting violence and then bring me back to campus in a limited, secluded way,”

The visit was scheduled for Thursday, a full year after his talk at SFSU was interrupted by anti-Israel activists.  A subsequent investigation found that SFSU failed to properly handle the protest, yet the participants faced no actual consequences. San Francisco State University is regularly listed as one of the most difficult campuses for Jewish students.

Mayor Nir Barkat planned to visit the campus exactly a year to the day after students with the General Union of Palestine Students group interrupted his on-campus speech with chants of "Intifada, Intifada", terrorizing the Jewish students and community members attending the event.

“Dozens of anti-Israel protesters disrupted my public lecture through intimidation and provocation, vulgarities and incitement that bordered on the anti-Semitic,” Barkat said

Barakat’s speech was scheduled to take place Thursday  at the Seven Hills Conference Center. The venue quickly sold  out.

Bay area Anti- Israel activists had already begun to mobilize for the event, distributing a rambling, incoherent diatribe emphasizing  their personal and collective victimhood, and demanding Wong cancel the appearance.

Instead, Barakat will be speaking a private venue.

Mayor Barkat's full statement follows:

"At San Francisco State last April, dozens of anti-Israel protesters disrupted my public lecture through intimidation and provocation, vulgarities and incitement that bordered on the anti-Semitic.

Following the incident, President Wong invited me back to the University to provide students the opportunity to learn that they were denied last spring. I felt a moral obligation to return to San Francisco State and share Jerusalem’s progress, challenges, and opportunities.

Unfortunately, the University did not offer the lecture that would provide the kind of healing needed after the assault on free speech last year. Instead, the University offered a ticketed, limited event, and no legitimate effort was made on the part of the University to publicize the lecture. I have decided not to participate.

By failing to provide the necessary public forum and properly publicize my lecture, the University has contributed to the continuing marginalization and demonization of the Jewish state. If I were a representative of any other country, no institution of higher learning would have allowed my speech to be drowned out by protestors inciting violence and then bring me back to campus in a limited, secluded way.

Mostly importantly, the University's proposed framework is nothing short of a double standard. The University has demonstrated that they will protect the rights of anti-Israel students to drown out diverse voices through violent incitement, while they will not protect the rights of the students to engage in open, robust dialogue."

--
Rachel Greenspan
Deputy Advisor, Foreign Affairs and International Media
Office of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat"