BDS activists surrounded by a dancing and singing group of Jews and Israel allies at Wits. Photo: Video Screenshot.

Anti-Israel BDS activists at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa were prevented on Tuesday from attacking an Arab member of an Israeli delegation by students dancing and chanting in Hebrew, the head of the delegation told The Algemeiner.

Gilad Kabilo, the leader of the group, brought to Wits by advocacy organization StandWithUs to observe and counter Israeli Apartheid Week events, said that the confrontation occurred during a speech on the quad by Yahya — whose full name was withheld to ensure his safety — about the merits of being an Arab citizen of the Jewish state.

The BDS supporters “freaked out and rushed at us to get to him,” Kabilo said. “Two of the main instigators were immediately surrounded by Jewish students and Israel allies, who sang ‘Am Yisrael Chai.’  The singing made them even crazier, and at a certain point, they finally backed off.”

Yahya, a StandWithUs educator, told The Algemeiner that when the audience noticed the activists beginning to rush at him, they created a “human barrier” to protect him.

“The BDS people came waving their flags, screaming and cursing me, giving me the middle finger. They cut the electrical cord to our area, so we lost power. They were very violent and unethical,” he said. “When I finished my speech, one person approached me and started telling me all my personal information and that of my family to intimidate me. Feeling very unsafe, I have involved campus security.”

The incident occurred a day after BDS activists violently attacked pro-Israel students countering IAW efforts at Wits. “They ripped down our posters, tried to steal our tables and pushed us around because they refused to share the campus square with us,” Kabilo told The Algemeiner. “The Jews on campus decided they would hold their ground should something else happen, and we did.”

IAW is a series of anti-Israel events held every February and March at universities around the world.

Watch students at Wits dance and sing around BDS activists in the video below: