Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced an awkward moment at a top UK university, where anti-Israel students heckled her speech and called her a “warmonger”.
Addressing the Oxford Union, Pelosi advocated for peace in Gaza but was interrupted by two students who raised Palestinian flags in front of the 84-year-old California Democrat.
Despite the chaos, she tried to continue her speech while the duo stood in front of her at the podium. Stressing that “the suffering of Gaza must stop”, Pelosi asserted peace should be restored on both sides.
Following the incident, the group Youth Demand released video footage and claimed responsibility for the unwanted disruption.
“Warmongers like Nancy Pelosi are not welcome on University campuses,” the organisation wrote, with a video showing other members calling for the “end of the genocide.”
As over 33,000 Palestinians have lost their lives amidst Israel’s war against Hamas, the group said, “We will not sit down and be quiet while these people are given platforms” at a time when children are being killed and hospitals are being bombed.
Protestors accused Pelosi of ‘contributing to genocide’
An officer at the rally told The Telegraph that the two protestors were escorted away by police but were not taken into custody.
Rosy Wilson, one of the two demonstrators who interrupted the lecture, accused Pelosi and Biden administration of “contributing to genocide”.
“We went into the Union today, not to stop her from speaking, but to hold space for the 34,000 civilians, including 12,000 children, that are now dead as a direct result of the actions of her government, and those in coalition with them, right now.”
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Pelosi’s lecture at Oxford at a time when pro-Palestine protests have rocked the campuses around the United States.
Anti-Israel protestors have continued to encamp on the campuses of Columbia University and New York University.
The University of Southern California declared on Thursday that protestors had taken over the campus, forcing the cancellation of the “main stage” graduation ceremony.
The protestors are calling for schools to cut off financial links to Israel and withdraw from businesses implicated in the conflict.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the protests unfolding in US universities as “horrific.”