One of Britain’s top universities has been accused of racism after a Jewish student leader was threatened at his own event by a member of staff. Sami Steinbock was left shaken and visibly upset after the King’s College London Students’ Union (KCLSU) staffer ‘squared up to him and pointed at him’ outside an event he organised for the Israeli Society.
The member of staff concerned, Sital Gandesha, is officially listed as “Safe Space Officer” by KCLSU. Despite his limited role, Mr Gandesha established his own security position at the door, against the wishes of Mr Steinbock. He then denied access to supporters of the event, instead favouring protesters.
Steinbock had requested formally accredited KCL security, but they instead waited on a nearby stairwell. The event descended into chaos as members of the Israeli Society were prevented from entering the lecture theatre until pro-Palestinian groups decided to walk out.
The talk was being given by Lt Hen Mazzig, an Army Officer who had worked on humanitarian missions for the Israeli Defence Force. The Israeli Society had hoped to organise a debate between Mazzig and students interested in Middle Eastern affairs.
Emails seen by Breitbart London show that as the date of the event grew closer University staff made efforts to stop the event following pressure from anti-Israeli groups.
Sami Steinbock, President of King’s College London Israel Society: “We spent days negotiating with the University, but in the end it did no good. Their ‘Safe Space Officer’ was on the door, denying access to Jewish people but allowing in people who were clearly anti-Israeli.
“In the end my members witnessed shouting, abuse and a walk-out from people who never cared what Hen had to say in the first place. Whilst at the same time people who did want to be there were waiting outside, literally in the cold.
“When I negotiated they ignored my requests, when I reasoned they shouted and in the end I was threatened by university staff. The wise thing to do was get out of there and allow my own event to go on without me. I felt I had let people down by getting out, but the truth is my university let me down. They only care about racism if the people being threatened are on the list of ethnic groups they approve of.
“This event was a sad indictment not just of the British university system, but of this country as a whole. Whichever way you like to look at it they operated a racist door policy.”
Lt Mazzig said: “My role in the IDF was purely humanitarian so it was very odd to be accused of being a murderer. The man on the door was pretty unpleasant and at one stage he threw me out even though I was the speaker.
“I came to KCL to help people understand the humanitarian problems in the Middle East but actually all the event served to do was show how little tolerance some people have for speakers they disagree with.”
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