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January 24, 2016 4:19 pm
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London Politician Concerned Over Lack of Arrests for ‘Ugly’ Anti-Israel Protest at King’s College

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avatar by Ruthie Blum

Conservative London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, who criticized police inaction in relation to the antisemitic incident on the King's College campus. Photo: Facebook.

Conservative London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, who criticized police inaction in relation to the antisemitic incident on the King’s College campus. Photo: Facebook.

A London mayoral candidate has expressed dismay at what he considers a lack of response on the part of British authorities to an anti-Israel incident that took place last Tuesday evening at King’s College, Britain’s Jewish News reported on Friday.

In an extensive interview with the publication, Zac Goldsmith, the mayoral race’s Conservative candidate, said he was “[worried]…that no one has to [his] knowledge been arrested or charged by the police” for the attack on an event at which former Israeli Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon was invited to give a talk.

At the event – co-sponsored by the Israel Societies of Kings College London and the London School of Economics — as The Algemeiner reported on Wednesday — anti-Israel activists chanted “Free Palestine,” hurled chairs, smashed a window and even physically assaulted Esther Endfield, one of the organizers.

Goldsmith told the Jewish News that the demonstrators “weren’t just saying ugly things but they were doing ugly things. They very clearly crossed the line.”

In spite of pre-arranged security guards on the premises, and dozens of police officers subsequently called to the scene of the violence — which included the angry protesters setting off fire alarms on every floor of the building in which the lecture was held – no suspects have been apprehended. That there were several cellphone cameras shooting videos throughout Ayalon’s lecture, both indoors and outside, where the commotion was taking place, makes the lack of arrests striking to many observers.

According to the Jewish News, other political figures have been weighing in on the incident, such as Conservative Minister for Universities Jo Johnson, who called it “violent intimidation that curtails free speech,” and former Communities Minister Eric Pickles, who referred to the perpetrators as “neo-fascists.”

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