Notice that the BSJP press release (which seems to have been the source of the JPost coverage of the event) only mentions the names of 3 of the 5 MKs who visited.On Monday, March 26th 2012, members of Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine (BSJP), together with Waltham and Boston area Palestine solidarity activists, disrupted a Town Hall Meeting with 5 members of the Israeli Knesset (MKs) at Temple Emanuel in Newton, Massachusetts. The event, whose sponsors included Brandeis University, the Ruderman Foundation, and a number of Boston-area Zionist organizations, was aimed at strengthening relations between Israeli political leaders and the American Jewish community. The activists mic-checked the panel, protesting the undemocratic nature of the Israeli apartheid state and notified the offending officials that until their government ceased its discriminatory policies they were not welcome by students at Brandeis University community events. The activists were pushed outside the hall by police officers and private security guards. One Brandeis student was arrested and another was injured while being thrown to the floor by a police officer.
The panel included Knesset members Ofir Akunis (Likud), Lia Shemtov (Yisrael Beitenu) and Faina Kirshenbaum (Yisrael Beitenu).....
The activists wore blue T-shirts with the word “apartheid” written in Hebrew across the chest. They stood up before MK Ofir Akunis began speaking at the event and shouted:
Israel is an apartheid state and the Knesset is an apartheid parliament!
We will not welcome Israeli officials to any Brandeis University event until apartheid ends!
The reason?
Because one of the others was Ilan Gilon, from the far left Meretz party.
And the other was Raleb Majadele, of Labor - who is an Arab!
Yes, the hypocritical protesters were yelling "Knesset is an apartheid parliament" in front of an Arab member of Knesset! (UPDATE: After I posted this, BSJP added the other two names.)
If you want to protest the Jewish state, just check your brain at the door.
It is to Brandeis' credit that they sponsored this event, and my understanding is that BJSP is a tiny fringe group that no one at Brandeis pays any attention to. Which is probably why they feel they must resort to hysterics like this. In the end, they just want to feel like they aren't irrelevant crybabies.
Here's a shaky video that BJSP proudly put up, showing the brilliant ability of a few college students to disrupt a roomful of mostly older Jews at a synagogue. It is the audio equivalent of graffiti. I'm sure their parents are so proud.
(h/t Benjamin)