Debate has been sparked after activists at the University of Bristol held a protest against a speaker who was invited to attend a private event. Protesters barricaded the door of a university society's event at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, at which libertarian Yaron Brook was scheduled to appear.
Brook was asked to speak by the university's Liberty Society about the causes of war in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, and the event was also used as a fundraiser for the Ukranian war effort. But the door was barricaded by activists, who played loud music through speakers, banged on doors and chanted, which caused the event to be shortened slightly.
The protesters have accused Brook, who is the chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute, of having "hateful" and "sinister" politics due to his views on US imperialism, Islam and Palestine. Brook has previously advocated for a ban on Muslims immigrating into the United States of America and Europe on the basis that the western world is "at war with radical Islam". He also supports Israel in its conflict with Palestine, which lead to the deaths of 5,600 Palestinians and 250 Israelis between 2008 and 2020, according to data published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
