Israeli Attorney Ran Bar-Yoshafat to Revisit Berkeley Following Disruption by Anti-Semitic Crowd

“This Goes Beyond Israeli or Jewish Concerns,” Affirms Ran Bar-Yoshafat

Ran Bar-Yoshafat, the Israeli lawyer whose speech​ at University of California, Berkeley was abruptly halted by an anti-Semitic protest​ last month, is set to deliver‍ a resolute comeback presentation on campus ⁤next week.

Bar-Yoshafat will grace Berkeley once again for a⁤ Monday event, upheld by Tikvah Students for Israel alongside various pro-Israel factions. His re-emergence follows the distressing ⁣episode where previous demonstrators ⁤resorted to physical and verbal attacks, even going as far as ​assaulting⁤ student attendees.

Addressing Free Speech and​ Intolerance

“It’s much more than an Israeli battle or a Jewish plight. ‌What we’re witnessing is the erosion of Western civilization’s core values, where ⁣open discourse is no longer a given,” Bar-Yoshafat​ conveyed to the Washington Free Beacon. Despite being⁢ a reserve officer,⁢ he underscores the gravity of silencing dialogue.

“When the very ‍bastion of the 1964 free speech movement, Berkeley, doesn’t uphold the tenet of free speech, it’s quite astounding,” ⁢he remarked pointedly.

A Follow-Up from The February Incident

Post the February debacle, Berkeley administrators sparked a hate crime investigation, signaling ‘overtly antisemitic’⁣ acts‍ and physical altercations. “Such behavior is inadmissible,” declared Berkeley’s chancellor, ⁤Carol Christ. Reports of abuse​ toward Jewish students organizing the event‌ led to a comprehensive probe.

Despite these moves, Bar-Yoshafat mentioned the absence of communication with Berkeley officials regarding the unacceptable occurrences and his ‌subsequent planned visit.

Controversy Among Faculty

Amidst these ⁣tensions, the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine have openly criticized the investigation, urging the school to ⁣halt any criminal inquiries into the protesting students. They argue⁣ that the ⁢questioning of demonstrators, asserted to be peaceful, is unjustified.

Broader Investigations Ensue

The confrontation has further‍ drawn the attention⁢ of the Department of Education, launching a federal discrimination investigation following the events that forced Bar-Yoshafat and ‌his wife​ off campus, adding another layer of ‌scrutiny to UC Berkeley’s handling of free ⁢speech and discrimination.