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Protests that caused cancellation of a lecture by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Community Theater last week have sparked heated debate around free speech issues. 

Mayor Shirley Dean, the Anti-Defamation League, friends and relatives of the late Free Speech Movement hero Mario Savio and others have weighed in asserting that all persons, no matter what their views, should be free to speak. 

While contending that demonstrators blocked the gates to the theater spontaneously, rather than following a deliberate plan to shut down the lecture, organizers of the demonstration defend the action. They point to the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East and the rights of Palestinians which they say have been trampled upon. They argue that the deaths in the Middle East merit a “no business as usual” response. 

Former School Board Director Barbara Lubin, director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance and one of the demonstration’s organizers, points to other protests, such as those against the former regime in El Salvador that shut down the federal building in San Francisco, the demonstrations where people blocked the gates of Livermore Lab and the free speech protests of the ’60s where hundreds of people sat in the administrative offices at UC Berkeley, stopping work there for days. 

“When it comes to the issue of demonstrations against Netanyahu and the state of Israel, everyone says ‘free speech,’” she said. Then turning to the hostilities of the last few weeks in the Middle East, Lubin, who recently returned from a trip there, asked, “What about the free speech rights of the Palestinians, what about their right to go to school and to work? Their roads are blocked off and their houses are demolished.” 

Similarly Palestinian Maad Abu-Ghazalah, board member of the American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee, said he had attended the organizing meetings in preparation for the demonstration, but no one had proposed shutting down the event. 

He explained the demonstrators actions like this: “People feel really strongly about Netanyahu, with all the killing going on in Palestine. This is an issue of human rights.” 

It becomes a question of weighing the right of Netanyahu to speak at one event and people’s right to demonstrate and have their voices heard. “It’s a balancing act,” Abu-Ghazalah said. 

As for those who see the cancellation of the lecture as muffling the voice of the former (and perhaps future) prime minister, “Netanyahu gets on TV any time he wants,” Abu Ghazalah said. On the other hand, the Palestinian side of the debate is lost. “We have no access at all.”  

Bruce Vogel, who scheduled Netanyahu to speak in place of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger when Kissinger had a heart attack, defended his choice. Asked if he did not realize how controversial the man is, particularly in the light of the volatile Middle East situation, Vogel responded that was precisely a pressing reason to bring him to speak. 

“What better time is there to bring people?” he asked. “We invite people who make news.” 

Vogel argued that it was unfair for 500 demonstrators to prevent 2,000 ticket holders from hearing Netanyahu speak. “They were deprived of their free speech. The demonstrators won the day.” 

It was Vogel’s call to cancel the speaking engagement. “Whatever our rights are, our obligations were to Netanyahu’s safety,” he said, further noting that he feared the demonstrators might wreck property or that people would be hurt. 

He added that he was “sure the organizers (of the demonstrations) did not want to do damage, but you get a mob in motion in a state of emotion – I don’t want to be left holding the bag.” 

Quoting former United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, one of the speakers in the 1991-92 series, Vogel asserted, “‘Your right to punch in the air ends with my nose.’” 

Mayor Shirley Dean also weighed in on the side of permitting Netanyahu to speak. 

Reflecting on a recent visit to Israel, Dean said she had the opportunity both to talk to the mayor of Jerusalem then to hear from the Palestinian side. She was able to “sit down in a Palestinian refugee camp with the leaders.” 

She said listening to both sides of a question is important and contended it is crucial for people to hear Netanyahu as part of the debate. “It’s not the point whether I agree with this guy,” she said.  

The public can read books by controversial figures such as Netanyahu, she said, but it is important “to be able to see them face to face.” 

A video of the demonstration produced by John Lionhart and David Landeau can be seen on TV-25 Monday at 9:30 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m. and Dec. 16 at noon. 

SIDEBAR: Lecture series provides intellectual entertainment 

Bruce Vogel’s been putting on a lecture series for 10 years. “I’m in the business of providing people with intellectual entertainment,” he said. 

The lectures began in San Mateo 1990 and expanded to Marin four years later. He attempted a further expansion of the series to San Francisco, but found that ticket sales lagged, probably because there is so much to do in the city, he said.  

So this year he moved the third arm of his operation to Berkeley. 

Subscribers buy a series of eight lectures by a wide range of people. This year’s lecturer’s include Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes, Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander, Beck Weathers, who climbed Mt. Everest, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Benjamin Netanyahu replaced him when he had a heart attack). Lily Tomlin and Neil Armstong are among those scheduled to speak in 2001. 

Vogel describes the speakers as people demonstrating “lifetime achievement.” They are chosen by the interest of ticket holders, who are presented with a list of 100 possible names. They indicate a first, second and third choice for a group of speakers. 

“We stay away from sports and motivational speakers,” he said. 

Most people are drawn to the series by one or two speakers, then “they get hooked. They hear others they would not have heard,” he said. 

Vogel said he was taken by surprise with the “extent and intensity” of the demonstration, which he credited, to a degree, with the announcement that day, calling for new elections in Israel. 

“It’s my first time dealing with demonstrators,” he said. 

The Peninsula-Marin-Berkeley Lecture Series website can be accessed at: http://www.speakerseries.net/home.htm