A university professor has vowed to continue teaching after pro-Palestinian students disrupted his lecture, made a threat to behead him and called for him to be sacked.
Michael Ben-Gad, professor of economics at City St George’s, University of London, told Sky News he was also branded a terrorist because of links to Israel’s military, after he was conscripted to serve in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the 1980s.
“It started, apparently on the same day as the start of the ceasefire [between Israel and Hamas]… which I don’t think is necessarily coincidental.
“There’s a whole industry that has developed about vilifying Israel, by extension, Jews. And they’re now looking for new targets.”
Mr Ben-Gad said it was not just his military service that protesters were complaining about.
“The other three accusations against me are that I studied at Hebrew University, this is a 100-year-old university in Jerusalem; that I’ve taught at the University of Haifa; and I’ve worked at the central bank [of Israel].
“Broadly speaking, the accusation is that I lived in the Middle East while being Jewish. And if it’s illegal in their eyes to do that, I don’t know what they think about people who might be Jewish [and] living, let’s say, in Edgware or Golders Green.”
Footage of the protest, posted online by a group calling itself City Action for Palestine, shows protesters with their faces covered, making pro-Palestinian chants and appearing to call for Mr Ben-Gad to be sacked.
He told Sky News he had been targeted again by the same group, which disrupted his lecture on Wednesday afternoon.
“As of about an hour ago, I finished my lecture. It was invaded by protesters who came right up to me and screamed in my face, called me a war criminal and a Nazi, refused to leave… they’re masked… one of them…. made a threat about having my head chopped off.”
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But Mr Ben-Gad was defiant in the face of calls for him to resign: “I’m insisting on carrying on my duties. I think that the students have a right to expect nothing less from me.”
He defended his military service, saying he was proud to have been part of the IDF, adding that Israel is a “country at war”.
“We’re besieged. And we need to defend ourselves because there are 7.5 million Jews who live there right now, and without the IDF, they would simply be exterminated,” he said.
In reference to the protesters, Mr Ben-Gad described them as part of a “very small radical element”.
“I’ve had enormous amounts of support from all over the world. Among my colleagues, we come from every possible corner of the world. I have nothing but support and friendship.
“I would also say that I’ve taught at this university for nearly 20 years. My background has never been a secret. We have a large Muslim population here. The city’s St George students are nearly all extremely polite, and they have wonderful manners. Nobody has ever confronted me about any of this until last week.”
Sky News has approached City St George’s, University of London, for comment about the latest protest.
An earlier statement, reported by Jewish News, from the university said it “fully supports and upholds freedom of expression within the law” but “the university will not tolerate the harassment of its staff and students”.
“We will continue to support and protect our staff and students, including Michael, who has the full support of the university and its senior management team, as well as colleagues of all faiths and backgrounds.”
