On November 17, in the capital city of Dublin, a University College debate on the ongoing Palestine conflict turned chaotic. Muslim students reportedly shouted down their Jewish counterparts and allegedly issued threats of widespread violence. Several videos capturing the disorderly scenes during the debate have gone viral on the internet. Numerous X users, sharing the footage of this anti-Semitic incident, claimed that pro-Palestine students threatened to replicate the horrific terror attacks of October 7 against Israel, repeatedly chanting “Allahu Akbar,” as heard in the viral videos.
It’s noteworthy that the incident unfolded during a debate hosted by the University’s Literary & Historical Society. The debate’s topic was “This House believes that the West has failed Palestine.” Originally a three-on-three debate, it devolved into a one-on-one confrontation after hours of confusion, with Richard Boyd Barrett from People Before Profit debating against Natasha Hausdorff of UK Lawyers for Israel.
In Ireland at Dublin University a Muslim student threatened Jewish students: “We will do what happened on October 7th again and again. Allah Akbar!” These fanatics cannot live in Europe, they must be expelled en masse now. pic.twitter.com/WRK0BC6U5F
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) November 17, 2023
Just hours before the debate, two individuals who were slated to argue against the motion withdrew from the event. Ibrahim Halawa, an advocate for Palestine, was supposed to debate alongside Boyd Barrett. Halawa, originally from Firhouse in Dublin, gained attention in 2013 when he was arrested during a protest for supporting Mohamed Morsi, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood (recognised as a terrorist organisation by many countries). Halawa spent over four years in various Cairo jails before being exonerated by an Egyptian court.
Meanwhile, the pro-Israel commentator Mark Humphrys withdrew to facilitate a one-on-one format for the debate, as Natasha Hausdorff declined to participate in light of Halawa’s past record.
In numerous videos circulating on social media, individuals can be heard shouting “get out,” and many attendees are seen being escorted out of the Fitzgerald Chamber, the venue for the debate.
In these videos, a man is repeatedly heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” and making aggressive gestures, leading to security intervention. An audio recording with unclear quality suggests a verbal confrontation involving him and another female student. Some individuals who shared videos related to the incident claim that the targeted student is of Jewish descent. However, due to the audio’s ambiguity, the exact nature of the verbal exchange could not be established.
Conversely, an Irish NGO supporting Israel reported, “Our speaker Natasha Hausdorff managed to give a very informative talk about Israel at a debate last night at University College Dublin before it descended into chaos when a man in the audience began to shake his fist and shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ at an Israeli student present.”
Our speaker Natasha Hausdorff managed to give a very informative talk about Israel at a debate last night at @UCDLnH before it descended into chaos when a man in the the audience began to shake his fist and shout ‘Alahu Akbar’ at an Israeli student present 👇 pic.twitter.com/CdBWf0HdhT
— Ireland Israel Alliance (@irlisrAlliance) November 17, 2023
It stated, “These are undeniably shocking images. Beyond the chaos, you can distinctly hear a man proudly shouting at a Jewish student, ‘we will do what happened on October 7 AGAIN and AGAIN, Allah hu akbar!'”
However, in response to the hecklers, she stated, “I have only love for everyone, Jews, Muslims. Do you have love for me?”
The Literary & Historical Society asserted that the event remained “controlled at all times,” but the post-debate Q&A concluded early “due to active crowd interjections at the end” as it became challenging for speakers to be heard. The L&H was quoted by Irish media The Journal, saying, “We understand that ‘chaos’ sounds better in a headline, but in reality, there were simply some crowd interjections towards the end.”
It’s crucial to note that on October 7, thousands of Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel, resulting in more than 1,200 deaths, injuries to thousands, and the taking of over 250 Israeli and foreign nationals as hostages to Gaza. This brutality marked the largest scale of violence in the independent history of the Jewish nation, coincidentally triggering a vicious cycle of anti-Semitism worldwide, especially in ‘ivy league’ universities and colleges.
In response, Israel initiated a ground operation in Northern Gaza, termed an operation to “dismantle” the terror infrastructure of Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
