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"I faced insults, boos, and threats during the confrontation, but there was one thing I wasn’t willing to tolerate—the disgrace of our hostages," Haddad said about what occurred.
By KESHET NEEV DECEMBER 1, 2024 03:29
Footage of Yoseph Haddad being kicked out of the Oxford Union debate
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/X/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)
Arab-Israeli journalist and activist for Israel Yoseph Haddad was kicked out of an Oxford Union debate on Thursday, footage on social media showed.
The debate, which attracted pro-Palestine protesters, concluded in a vote that determined "Israel was an apartheid state responsible for genocide." This was passed by 278 votes to 59, according to a Friday Jewish Chronicle report.
Haddad posted on X/Twitter that he was kicked out because he "was not ready to accept the humiliation of the Israeli hostages."
Footage posted on X showed Haddad being escorted out of the event as people in the audience shouted in his direction.
זה מה שעשיתי כשסילקו אותי מהאירוע העוין כשאני מוקף אנטי ישראלים בגלל שלא הייתי מוכן לקבל ביזוי של החטופים הישראלים!עוד אספר בהרחבה על מה שהיה בעימות באוקספורד ועוד אעלה את הקטעים של הנאום שלי שם, אבל דבר אחד אני יכול לומר בוודאות- אוקספורד נכבשה בידי תומכי טרור. 90% מהמשתתפים… pic.twitter.com/pmHI3lLREJ
— יוסף חדאד - Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) November 29, 2024When explaining in a post on X what happened at the event, Haddad began by writing that "Oxford was occupied by supporters of terrorism. 90% of the participants are distinctly anti-Israeli."
He then continued to explain that during the "biased discussion," extreme statements were made that supported terrorism and the October 7 Hamas attacks.
"When one audience member cried over Gaza residents in an exaggerated and insincere manner, I pulled out a photo of the Muslim hostages and asked if she was crying for them, too. One participant took the photo, threw it on the floor, and others stepped on it," Haddad continued.
"I faced insults, boos, and threats during the confrontation, but there was one thing I wasn’t willing to tolerate—the disgrace of our hostages," Haddad wrote and then added that afterward, he demanded the audience members be removed.
"I wasn’t willing to let the discussion continue, even when the anti-Israel moderator, who was practically part of the confrontation, warned me. In the end, he decided to have me removed from the hall," Haddad explained.
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He also added that before he was kicked out of the event hall, he put a T-shirt over his suit that featured former Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah and had a large X marked over his face with the text, "Your hero-terrorist is dead! We did that."
Escorted by eight security guards to 'stay alive'
In an additional post that Haddad shared on X after the event, he posted a video of him in which he explained how he had to be escorted by eight security guards "in order to stay alive."
"Everyone is talking about freedom of speech, freedom of speech. That's fine, but it's freedom of speech only for one side. When it comes to the Israeli side, the freedom of speech stops, and that's why we need the security to be with me all the time."
As he waited for security to arrive, the video continued, "Waiting for evacuation from Oxford. Not from Gaza, not from Lebanon, not from a terrorist that has war. From Oxford. Because Oxford has been occupied by anti-Israel terrorist support from the Middle East."
When the security guards came to escort Haddad back to London, where he was staying, the video concluded with him saying, "We need eight security guards in order to take us back to safety. Oh UK, you are in trouble."
Additional attendees of the debate
Mossab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas co-founder and an advocate for Israel, also attended the event and made a Saturday X post writing that "Oxford Union is controlled by terrorist supporters."
"Last night, I asked the participants and pro 'Palestine' opponents during a debate at Oxford Union if they would have reported Hamas plans to authorities to prevent the October 7 massacre. 75% of the participants voted they would have chosen not to report Hamas plans to the authorities," he wrote.
Additionally, journalist Emily Schrader, who attended the debate, explained in an X post that she had never seen "such appalling mob-incited, unbridled Jew-hatred being endorsed and emboldened by one of the most respected institutions in academia."
"We should not need seven security guards with us to be proud of who we are. We should not have to scream over bloodthirsty lunatics to have our voices heard on a forum like the Oxford Union," she wrote.
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