The Israel ambassador to the UK was rushed out of the London School of Economics by security guards on Tuesday night following pro-Palestine protests against her visit, the Independent reported.
Tzipi Hotovely, who became Israel ambassador in August last year, was invited to the university for an interactive session with the LSE Debating Society.
Her invitation sparked controversy and pro-Palestinian groups at the school who accused the student union of giving a platform to “racism”. People also waved Palestine flags and shouted “Palestine will be free. Occupation no more”, and “Israel is a terror state.”
The protesters observed Hotovely, who is in former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, has been a staunch supporter of “settler colonialism” and slammed her for employing “Islamophobic rhetoric” in the past.
She once served as the nation’s settlement affairs minister.
A video that appeared on social media after the ambassador’s visit showed her being rushed out of LSE’s Centre building in Holborn by security personnel. Staff in high-viz jackets were shown holding protesters back to give the ambassador a clear route to her diplomatic Jaguar.
Amazing.
Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely was forced to flee London’s LSE university after students protested her presence and refused to give her a platform. This is how colonial war criminals must be treated everywhere. #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/SuInl4tna0
— Hadi Nasrallah (@HadiNasrallah) November 9, 2021
The protesters booed the ambassador as she left the university building clutching a bunch of flowers, and one person can be heard shouting: “Aren’t you ashamed?”
London police said there were no incidents of note and that no one was arrested at the protests.
The school and Israeli embassy did not respond to attempts of contact.
