Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was speaking at the Oxford Union on Thursday when pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her speech.
Video of the speech shows students facing Pelosi’s podium and holding a Palestinian flag in front of her. The protester stood there silently as she continued her speech, and a security guard approached him.
Outside the building, about 250 demonstrators chanted “Liberate Palestine” and “End Genocide,” according to a video picked up by Mediaite.
The group was led by Youth Demand, which had condemned Pelosi’s Benazir Bhutto memorial speech at the Oxford Union.
“Warmongers like Nancy Pelosi are not welcome on college campuses.” the group posted online. “When children are being murdered and hospitals are being bombed, we are not going to sit back and remain silent while these people are given a platform. Because we are not fooling around anymore. , we must stand up and take action.”
The Oxford Union’s “founding principles are free speech and the open exchange of ideas,” the group told The Hill in a statement.
“In this spirit, we support the right to peacefully protest. An incident occurred indoors and security personnel responded,” the statement said.
Pelosi did not comment further on the confusion.
Benazir Bhutto served as Prime Minister of Pakistan in the late 1980s and again in the mid-1990s. Bhutto was the first female prime minister of an Islamic country. assassinated In 2007, a gunman opened fire and set off a suicide bombing after a political rally. The Oxford Union hosts a commemorative lecture in honor of Bhutto every year.
The protests came as similar pro-Palestinian rallies have broken out across U.S. college campuses. Arrests have also been made at Columbia University and the University of Texas at Austin as pro-Palestinian sit-ins continue and schools grapple with freedom of expression while maintaining order on campus.
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