Pro-Palestine protesters shut down Czech foreign minister's speech at British university accusing him of 'genocide'
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Pro-Palestine protesters have shut down the Czech foreign minister's speech at a British university.
Jan Lipavsky was forced to abandon his speech about the war in Ukraine at UCL yesterday after pro-Palestine protesters disrupted the event.
The minister's address, organised by the Places, Identities and Memories research centre in collaboration with London's Czech Embassy and the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies Society, was cut short following a 15-minute protest.
A small group of demonstrators interrupted the speech with continuous chanting, leading to the cancellation of both the remainder of the address and a planned question-and-answer session.
A small group of demonstrators interrupted the speech with continuous chanting (stock pic)
PA
Protesters stood up and clapped during the minister's address, repeatedly chanting "free Palestine" and "from river to the sea".
The demonstrators also accused the minister of "genocide", whilst other attendees urged them to stop so they could hear the remainder of Mr Lipavsky's speech.
The disruption continued for approximately 15 minutes, making it impossible for the minister to continue with his planned remarks about Russia's war in Ukraine.
Security teams at UCL managed the situation, with police also being called due to the high-profile nature of the speaker.
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Jan Lipavsky was speaking on the Ukraine-Russia war (stock pic)
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The Czech Republic has been a prominent supporter of Israel in recent diplomatic affairs.
Last month, the nation took a significant stance by blocking a joint EU statement that called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The blocked EU statement had also aimed to condemn the rising civilian death toll in Lebanon.
Following security recommendations, Lipavsky left the university premises early.
Protesters stood up and clapped during the minister's address, repeatedly chanting "free Palestine" and "from river to the sea" (stock pic)
PA
"I was ready to finish my lecture and answer questions in the discussion," he said in a statement.
UCL expressed strong disapproval of the incident, with a spokesman saying: "We are deeply disappointed that a public talk by the Czech minister of foreign affairs at UCL was disrupted by a small group of protestors and had to end early."
The university confirmed they are investigating the incident: "We are looking into what happened and will take appropriate action as necessary."
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