Hebrew words were torn down in a multi-faith prayer room at a London university where students ‘threatened to behead’ an Israeli academic.
Michael Ben-Gad, an economics lecturer at City St George’s, has been hounded by pro-Palestine activists in recent weeks over his service in the Israel Defence Forces from 1982 to 1985.
On Wednesday his lecture was stormed by masked protesters who refused to leave – with one allegedly threatening to ‘chop’ his head off.
Posters were also distributed on campus which saw Professor Ben-Gad’s face plastered on blood-stained flyers beneath the word ‘terrorist’ scrawled in capital letters.
It has now emerged City St George’s had an incident earlier this year where the university’s chaplain was forced to intervene – because Hebrew words on a wall had been vandalised.
Reverend Ian Worsfold uploaded a video to Instagram in February where he said it was a ‘sadness’ for him to see the ‘s’ and ‘h’ of the word ‘Shalom’ had been removed, while a version written in Hebrew had been torn down altogether.
The wall, which opened in 2017, showcased a display of the word ‘peace’ in various languages.
Reverend Worsfold said: ‘It was beautiful to have the word peace in lots of different languages on this wall.’
Reverend Ian Worsfold uploaded a video to Instagram in February where he said it was a ‘sadness’ for him to see the ‘s’ and ‘h’ of the word ‘Shalom’ had been removed
Footage from last week shows protesters take over the university’s hallways chanting ‘sack him now’ – in relation to Professor Michael Ben-Gad
Distributed leaflets plaster the economics professor’s face beneath the capitalised word ‘terrorist’ on a blood-stained background alongside the slogan ‘shame on City University’
The Christian chaplain could then be seen tearing the beginnings of the word ‘peace’ in English, explaining ‘until we all have peace none of us have peace – and that for me is a sadness’.
He added: ‘If you think it’s ok to come in here and do this please remember until we all have peace none of us has peace but to target one particular group of people is unacceptable if you don’t want to engage with them face to face.’
A Jewish student at the university, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Daily Mail vandalism of the wall had been ‘disguised as anti-Zionism’.
He said: ‘On the wall, peace is written in every language. The word Shalom was torn down, both written phonetically in English, and also in Hebrew.
‘This is an attack on our native and ancestral language, a language which has connected us for centuries, no matter where we have been on the world. It was disguised as anti-Zionism as always.’
Speaking about his experience at the university the student said City St George’s has a ‘diverse community of Jews spanning all backgrounds, from Canada, the Middle East, and of course London’.
And on the subject of this week’s events, he added: ‘Seeing the news of Michael Ben-Gad is not surprising for students at this university.
‘There have been several situations of intimidation, the feeling of not being welcome at this university.
Speaking to Sky News, Professor Ben-Gad said one of his lectures earlier this week was ‘invaded’ by masked activists, who came right up to his face and threatened him
‘After the brewing antisemitism, I have let them win.
‘I do not share my Jewishness with those on my course, I do not present my Star of David, I don’t wear head coverings in general, but I have been told by those that do that they constantly get looks of discontent, like they have a magnifying glass on them as they walk through campus.
‘I am dishonest about travelling to Israel on holiday because it is not worth the tension of those around me.
‘People like to talk about Jewish privilege a lot. The only privilege that I have is that I can hide my identity, there are others that are not able to do this.’
Earlier this week, security was ramped up at City University after posters branding Prof Ben-Gad a ‘terrorist’ were scattered around campus.
It followed the launch of a petition last week by City Action for Palestine demanding the academic be fired ‘immediately’.
The group also called for an apology and that the university ‘consider such fundamental matters when hiring in the future’.
They added: ‘Shame on City for allowing a terrorist to be near and teach Arab and Muslim students despite being an active participant in murdering their people.’
One poster distributed by protesters recounted the professor’s employment history – with his ‘six years working in a genocidal society’ as a lecturer at the University of Haifa proving a particular point of contention
The group says: ‘In Palestine, Zionists expanded illegal settlements, imposed curfews, and arrested activists’
The group concludes ‘shame’ on City for: ‘Allowing a terrorist to be near & teach Arab & Muslim students, despite being an active participant in murdering their people’
But the professor told the Daily Mail he is an ‘unapologetic Israeli patriot and no one is going to intimidate me’.
He said: ‘I am a classical liberal. Students have a right to express their opinions even if personally, I find those views abhorrent. That even includes the production of inflammatory pamphlets about me.
‘However, they do not have a right to disrupt, harass, threaten or physically intimidate and today they crossed a very bright red line.’
Professor Ben-Gad has worked at the British university since 2008, serving as head of department from 2010 to 2013.
One poster distributed by protesters recounted his employment history – with his ‘six years working in a genocidal society’ as a lecturer at the University of Haifa and his three years service in the Israel Defense Forces proving particular points of contention.
The group also highlights his role working as an economist at the Bank of Israel between 1987 and 1989.
The State of Israel requires every Jewish, Druze or Circassian male citizen over the age of 18 to serve a minimum of 32 months in its armed forces – with women expected to serve for a minimum of 24 months.
Footage from last week showed protesters take over the hallways chanting ‘sack him now’ as they don keffiyehs – traditional Arab attire that has come to be associated with the Palestinian cause.
Some academics took to X to voice their opposition to the hounding of Prof Ben-Gad (pictured)
In other videos the mask-wearing students marched through the corridors with megaphones calling for his contract to be terminated.
On Wednesday Michael Ben-Gad revealed masked activists had stormed his lecture.
He said: ‘I can update on the situation as of about an hour ago. I finished my lecture and it was invaded by protesters who came right up to my face and called me a war criminal and a Nazi.
‘They refused to leave, they were masked. One of them made a threat about having my head chopped off.’
Prof Ben-Gad has maintained his ‘only crime’ is being a Jew who has lived in the Middle East.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘My main concern is for people who are far more vulnerable than I am and I mean particularly Jewish students who have been targeted all over the country.
‘The university has been fantastic, they have been supportive of me from the very start.
‘There was an offer of paid leave, I could sit at home and work on my research.
‘It was tempting but under the circumstances, I am carrying on with my duties. The students should expect nothing less from me.’
The death toll in Gaza has been reported as nearing 70,000 following a brutal war triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on October 7, 2023 – amid the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
But Prof Ben-Gad said the launch of the campaign against him had ‘coincided with the start of the ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages’.
‘Clearly these hate groups need a new cause’ he concluded.
