An ex-soldier says a recent talk he gave at the University of Nottingham became "dangerous" when some students reportedly chased him down whilst he was leaving campus. Yoseph Haddad says he had to be escorted out of the university through a back entrance due to fears for his safety.
But Mr Haddad says on his journey from the university to Nottingham's train station, some students chased after the car driving him and his fiancée. Yoseph Haddad is a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel's national military organisation.
After being injured in the Second Lebanon War, Mr Haddad says he wanted to dedicate his life to improving relations between the Israel and those in neighbouring Palestine. Conflict between the two countries evolved in its modern phase from 1948, when the creation of the state of Israel was declared and an ensuing war left swathes of territory divided between it and Palestine.
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Tensions over these territories remain as strong as ever today, with the United Nations reporting a "sharp increase" in fatalities towards the end of last year. As part of his stated aim to bridge the gap between the two sides, Yoseph Haddad has been touring several universities to share his perspective on the long-running conflict.
He recently toured several universities in the UK as part of this and delivered a lecture at the University of Nottingham's Park Campus on February 8. Mr Haddad's talk, titled "Life in Israel as an Arab", was organised by the Nottingham University Conservative Association and was done in conjunction with the Stand With Us UK charity, which aims to fight anti-Semitism in the UK.
The talk was disrupted when several students began protesting just after Mr Haddad started speaking, with around 100 of them walking out expressing their objections to the actions of Israel and labelling it an "apartheid state". Mr Haddad said: "I did manage to make the whole lecture, but some students started protesting after I had said hello and I wanted to start.
"They turned their backs on me and they did not want to listen. They were not open to dialogue, I was trying to tell them 'listen to what I have to say' but they just laughed and didn't want to engage.
"At the same time, there were students in the hallway who you could hear chanting. Throughout the entire lecture, you'd hear them saying 'Yoseph Haddad shame on you' or 'Yoseph Haddad has got to go'."
But it was when leaving the university that Mr Haddad says things became dangerous. He said: "We went on to the road, were stuck in a little back of traffic and people literally jumped onto the road and were coming towards the car intending to attack me. I have had bigger protests against me at other universities but at Nottingham it was the most dangerous one because they chased the car, they were very close to me and were very close to actually stopping the car.
"At the last second the traffic light went to green, allowing the car to move, and you saw the students missing the car by seconds. I want to thank everybody from security at the university because they did as much as possible to keep me safe."
In a joint statement from the University of Nottingham and its students' union, both institutions said: "As Yoseph did not have onward transport prearranged, a vehicle was provided by the university for his journey to the train station. Whilst we understand that a small number of protestors followed for a short distance on foot, the university security team remained in control of the situation at all times and there was no risk presented.
"Both the university and the students' union are sorry if Yoseph or his fiancée felt in any way unsafe at this time. Our priority is, and always will be, to ensure that student activity is safe, inclusive, dignified, respectful and responsible."
But Mr Haddad says he is not completely supportive of the way in which the University of Nottingham handled his talk. He said: "The cancellation culture is beginning to rise more and more in the UK and I saw that through the tour.
"I'm very happy that the university did not surrender and allowed the lecture to go through, but the fact is they allowed them to chant about 20 metres from the class itself and you could hear them throughout the lecture. This is something that maybe could have been done much better."
The University of Nottingham and its students' union added: "We uphold freedom of speech and actively encourage our student community to share ideas in a spirit of mutual respect and intellectual curiosity. Our student societies cover a wide range of beliefs and provide the opportunity to agree, disagree and debate.
"We were happy to facilitate an event organised by a student society featuring Yoseph Haddad and followed our university approved speaker protocols to ensure the event could take place peaceably whilst also facilitating students' right to protest. The university's security team was thanked for their approach by National Student Security Co-ordinator from the Community Security Trust who was present at the event."
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