Former Israeli PM Olmert Shouted Down at University of Chicago (Video)

On October 15, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came to give the annual King Abdullah II Leadership Lecture at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. Outraged at a man responsible for war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon that killed more than 3,000 people during his term of office, community members confronted Olmert inside the lecture hall, effectively preventing him from delivering his speech.

The Goldstone report, examining Israel's attack on Gaza last winter while Olmert was prime minister, called for Israeli leaders to be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Recording and photography were officially banned at Olmert's request, but The Electronic Intifada had a camera anyway as protester after protester rose to make a statement before police forced them to leave.

 

 

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Comments

[rroy]

For over 60 years, actually long before that,as long ago as the Balfour declaration of 1917,European and now American Colonialists have acted as`if the people who have lived in Palestine for centuries,the vast majorety being non Jewish, did not exist .
During these years violence ,often bordering on outright Genocide has been commited against these people,this violence being aided and abetted by The United States!
At last,thanks to the digital revolution­,Americans­(long after the rest of the world)are being disabused of the mythology that these actions are justified by The Holocaust!
Since when is the protest against mass murderers a violation of freedom of expression !!!!!?

[Fireslayer]

So Olmert gets treated to a bit of disrespect.

I don't respect him a whole lot either.

But I wonder what is gained by uncivil disobedience and behaving badly in public.

It seems there are a lot more cogent ways to make a point than showing one's ass at a public speech.

These sort of anger and fear based displays and these same "tactics" employed for 4 decades by the left in general have not altered the deterioration of the facts on the ground for Palestinians and have served to alienate potential sympathetic parties.

It is time for tPalestinians supporters to learn some new dances.

[Ali Abunimah - Huffpost Blogger]

Really? Can you tell me when in history an Israeli prime minister was directly confronted with the names of his/her victims by his victims (or their relatives)? I would say the tactics are achieving their goal: stripping these people of the aura of authority and prestige that usually shields them. I would hope that one direct effect of this action is that it makes Olmert unmarketable so he cannot continue to collect speaking fees of $50K or more per speech, profiting from his crimes. So I guess if there are protests and his "price" goes down, that's just the free market. Right?

[Ali Abunimah - Huffpost Blogger]

What does free speech have to do with it? The man is a mass killer! He bombed the Islamic University in Gaza destroying its (USAID funded) buildings. He killed dozens of university students and teachers during his career of crime. What about their rights? What about the rights of Palestinian universities in Jerusalem that can barely function because of the land confiscations and settlement building done by Olmert? If John Wayne Gacy came to give a speech at the University of Chicago, would you expect people to sit and listen to him politely? The difference is that Gacy killed far fewer people than Olmert. I do not object to what Olmert says or thinks. I object to what he has done. He must be held accountable, and until the appropriate institutions do so, it is right that civil society confronts him directly with his crimes whenever the opportunity arises.

[StCuthbert]

Free speech has everything to do with it. Olmert was invited to give a speech and those students actively impeded him from giving it. Even convicted criminals are allowed to make statements before, during, and after their trials, like John Wayne Gacy as you mentioned. I don't suppose you would object to Hamas leaders being prevented from speaking at a university, despite the fact their crimes are just as bad if not worse than Olmert's?

The UN allows Ahmadinejad and other, far worse leaders than Olmert to speak unimpeded at the General Assembly. If they are allowed to, Olmert is as well.

The idea that Olmert is a "mass killer" is up for debate. A lot of people, in Israel and elsewhere, believe in the actions of the IDF were completely justified. Just because you disagree with them does not mean they should not be allowed to have a voice and be heard.

[Ali Abunimah - Huffpost Blogger]

I don't care what "a lot of people in Israel think." I do care what the Independent fact-finding mission led by Goldstone (a zionist Jew), and virtually every other human rights group including HRW, Amnesty and many others have found: overwhelming, incontrovertible evidence of war crimes. The time when Israel could attack its accusers as a way to avoid dealing with the evidence is thankfully coming to an end. The pile of bodies is just getting to big to keep sweeping under the rug.

[TheLonelyGod]

Obama has at this point been responsible for more just as many deaths as Olmert. Are you going to call *him* a mass killer and say that he should be shouted down at every opportunity?

[Ali Abunimah - Huffpost Blogger]

Olmert was also paid an honorarium of above $50,000. So we are not talking about "Free speech" for a war criminal, but very expensive speech for a war criminal. Even more disgusting!

[StCuthbert]

Free speech in action at the University of Chicago. So much for intellectual discourse.

[bangpound]

Given the number of Palestinian art shows and film festivals that have been cancelled and the numerous speakers and activists who have been prevented from leaving Palestine to go on a speaking tour (or who have been arrested upon their return home), any criticism of this action as an attack on "free speech" are very weak indeed.

[StCuthbert]

So the best defense you can come up with is: the other side does it too? I thought the Palestinians were supposed to be better than the Israelis.

[SpoonieLuv]

Unfortunately, intellectual discourse is not possible with monsters like Mr. Olmert. Such people must be dealt with in an appropriate manner, and I believe that the students of the University of Chicago behaved appropriately and admirably. They represent the pride of American academia.

[StCuthbert]

I think open-minded people everywhere will be happy that you are not the Secretary of Education. Ignoring alternative points of view is the key to a dangerously close-minded society. I don't suppose you would support the banning of Hamas leaders speaking at college campuses, even though they are just as bad if not worse than Olmert?

[Johnny2Bad]

Israel has refused to cooperate with the Goldstone committee, the U.N. Human Rights Council or conduct their own investigation into the war crimes perpetrated by the IDF. Netanyahu is on record stating that no Israeli charged with commiting war crimes will ever stand trial, thus setting Israel above all other nations and international law. These are the acts of a rogue country. If President Obama really wants to enact change and promote the U.S. as an even handed broker to the Palestinians, Olmert shourl be immediately arrested while on American soil. The Obama Administration should cease all financial and military aid to Israel. Israel must be isolated and brought to account for their apartheid policies, war crimes and numerous violations of international law.

[alysheba 3]

All Israel had to do was agree to cooperate with the Goldstone inquiry and do a complete investigation (or better, as the Palestinians are doing, trying to get an impartial investigation started) and they could have avoided this type of condemnation. Hopefully we see more of it.

[StCuthbert]

Imagine this scenario: Israel cooperates with the Goldstone commission, the Goldstone commission ignores all evidence counter to their goal of finding Israeli war crimes (the way we know they did), and boom! Israel is found to commit war crimes anyway, only this time the report is even more convincing, because it supposedly "includes Israeli evidence".

Israel's condemned anyway. They were in a no win situation.

[alysheba 3]

Imagine this scenario: Israel cooperates with the Goldstone Commission, the Goldstone commission finds that there is reason to push for an independent investigation into both sides (I am sure that somewhere in the world there is a country that the Israelis would not claim is anti-Semitic, other than the US). Israel is cleared and then the whole thing goes away.

But that cannot happen without the cooperation of Israel, which Israel refused to give. The only logical conclusion which can be reached is that Israel is hiding something. If not then let an investigation commence with full disclosure, including visual media, copies of written orders to the soldiers and IDF Rabbis, and to the Hamas fighters, about everything that happened.

[stardust835]

Imagine this scenario. Israel and Hamas set up independent bodies to investigate war crimes. There is open testimony of what took place. Anyone who has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity is prosecuted, sentenced & removed from official positions of power.

This is the only thing that can prevent this from happening again and again.

& while I'm in fantasyland, imagine the US navy delivering humanitarian (food, medical, construction) supplies directly to Gaza. When Pres. Obama says the siege must end, he doesn't seem to realize he can end it today. He has the power to do that as president, not by wheedling Israel, but by delivering humanitarian aid directly to Gaza via the US Navy.