Video footage captured the moment a huge crowd began banging on the glass doors of a University of California-Berkeley theater after an IDF soldier was invited to speak.
Jewish attendees were forced to evacuate and go to an undisclosed location after hundreds of rioters stormed the event Monday night, when a student said he was spat at by someone who shouted, “You Jew.”
The event, ‘Israel at War: Combat the Lies’, was intended to be organized by IDF soldier Ran Bar-Yoshafat, who was serving in Gaza but was interrupted by protesters before it could begin.
The footage shows students violently banging on the glass doors, chanting “intifada, intifada” and accusing Bar-Yoshafat of “genocide.” School security then ordered those present to immediately evacuate through a back door.
The rioters were members of UC Berkeley’s “Bears for Palestine,” a group that had previously expressed support for Hamas’ actions and denounced “the framing of Israel as a victim,” hours after the terrorist organization’s attack .
“Berkeley is on the wrong side of history and it is no longer a safe place for Jews,” Bar-Yoshafat told the newspaper. The daily thread.
Video footage captures the moment a huge crowd bangs on the glass doors of the University of California-Berkeley theater after an IDF soldier was invited to speak
Jewish attendees were forced to evacuate and move to an undisclosed location after hundreds of rioters stormed the event Monday night
Bar-Yoshafat, who was asked to enter the school wearing a hat to conceal his identity, said this was a matter of protecting freedom of expression – regardless of politics or religion.
“I don’t think this is about the IDF, the Jews or even Israel, but about those who lack Western values such as freedom of speech,” Bar-Yoshafat told The Daily Wire. “To them, I am guilty until proven guilty.”
Ahead of his arrival, Bar-Yoshafat said he was confident security would allow him to speak despite those protesting the event – which has been rescheduled several times for security reasons.
But hundreds of violent protesters, many of them members of ‘Bears for Palestine’, forced the event to stop. One of them said he was spat at while being called ‘Jew’.
Despite the chaos, Bar-Yoshafat told the Daily Wire he planned to go ahead with the event, but school officials told attendees to evacuate.
“Instead of giving us more security, they gave a prize to those who were violent,” he said. “They actually said that those who bang on doors and spit on Jews could continue, but I had to leave even though I was only speaking peacefully.”
The footage shows students violently banging on the glass doors, chanting “intifada, intifada” and accusing Bar-Yoshafat of “genocide.”
School security then ordered those present to immediately evacuate through a back door
The University of California, Berkeley’s ‘Bears for Palestine’ group expressed support for Hamas’ actions on Saturday
“I just felt really bad for these kids because they were scared,” Bar-Yoshafat told the outlet. “Girls were crying because they were being attacked and I think the child being spat on was so shocked.
“I don’t think the students expected so many people to be violent, they thought they would just sing outside.”
“Bears for Palestine,” an anti-Israel group on campus, announced on their Instagram on Sunday its plan to shut down the event.
“Shut it down: Genocidal killers from Berkeley,” the image read, along with a photo of Bar-Yoshafat with Photoshopped red eyes.
“In October 2023, Ran Bar-Yoshafat served in the IOF and participated in the destruction of Gaza and the extermination of Palestinians,” the caption read, referring to the IDF as the Israeli occupation force. “This person is dangerous.”
“Ran Bar-Yoshafat has Palestinian blood on his hands,” the report continued. “He has committed crimes against humanity, denies genocide and we will not allow this event to continue.”
In October, UC Berkeley’s “Bears for Palestine” group expressed support for Hamas’ actions and “denounced the labeling of Israel as a victim” hours after the terrorist organization’s attack left more than 1,400 dead, including 25 Americans.
The group was founded by Hatem Bazian, a controversial Asian American and Asian diaspora studies lecturer who has repeatedly justified terrorist attacks against Israel and the Intifada (uprising) in the US.
The group then organized a vigil for ‘martyrs in Palestine’, promoting Student for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) call for a ‘Day of Resistance’.
Bears for Palestine, named after the school’s mascot, issued a statement saying the school “unequivocally denounces the occupation and its military rule” and “supports the resistance, the liberation movement, and unquestionably supports the uprising.”
The group will organize a vigil for ‘martyrs in Palestine’ and has promoted SJP’s call for a ‘Day of Resistance’ on university campuses in support of the Hamas attacks
Bears for Palestine, named after the school’s mascot, issued the statement
Organizations from other schools in the state that also signed the letter include several groups at UCLA
The statement was signed by several other groups on the notoriously left-wing campus, including Koreans for Decolonization and Central Americans for Empowerment.
‘We consistently reject the position of Israel as a victim. While demonizing and condemning indigenous resistance is tantamount to overshadowing the decades of oppression, ethnic cleansing and destruction of the Palestinian people,” said their letter, signed by 50 other groups.
“We reiterate the call to action for all Arabs and Palestinians in the diaspora to rise up in support of the liberation of our occupied people. From the river to the sea, we will continue to support the resistance until we can return home to a united Palestine. Glory to Palestine, glory to the resistance, and glory to our martyrs.’
The statement was signed by a total of 51 student organizations, from colleges across the country, including several other groups on the notoriously left-wing campus, such as Koreans for Decolonization, Jewish Students for Palestine, the Iraqi Student Association and Central Americans for Empowerment.
Organizations from other schools in the state that also signed the letter include several groups at UCLA, such as the Arab Student Union and the Asian Pacific Coalition.
Several SJP chapters from other schools in California and other states also supported the statement. Students for Justice in Palestine was founded in 2001 at UC Berkeley and has more than 200 chapters in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.