Students of the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb staged a walkout in solidarity with Palestine on Friday, April 24, after reports that Iddo Netanyahu – brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of war crimes – held a secret guest lecture at the institution earlier that week.
Accompanied by Israel’s ambassador to Croatia, Gary Koren, Netanyahu’s visit was facilitated by faculty lecturer Boris Havel, locally known for his promotion of Zionism.
“Yesterday, in silence and without any announcement, as if hiding from the students he came to meet, Iddo Netanyahu walked into our faculty,” one of the students stated. “He was brought in to hold a book promotion at the course ‘Oriental Jews and Arabs in the time of Zionism’ – without any notice on the faculty’s website, without any academic transparency.”
Students expressed deep anger about the secrecy surrounding Netanyahu’s visit and disdain at the content of the conversation. “A question was raised at the lecture: is the price of peace worth more than 60,000 Palestinian lives?” students said. “To that, Netanyahu replied, ‘Yes, a simple question. It’s worth it if it means the survival of Israel.'”
Read more: The unbelievable stories about the children of Gaza
“When someone said that the number of children killed in Palestine was around 20,000, his response was: ‘Well, children die in wars,’” they emphasized. “He shamelessly replied that children had been killed here in Croatia too, among Croats, Muslims, and others; in World War II, in the bombing of Dresden; but that this is ‘the nature of conflict.’”
“That’s 1,000 school classes of children. One thousand classes that will never have the chance to set foot in college, and Iddo Netanyahu walks into ours to make statements like this.”
“Netanyahu’s words were those of an illegal occupier, of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and crimes against humanity,” another student said on Friday. “Our faculty has been turned into a testing ground for the propaganda of crime.”
Read more: Two years of savagery: how Israel normalized mass slaughter
Students demanded accountability, warning that the hosting damaged the institution’s reputation and called for an investigation into Havel’s actions and his suspension. “Open Zionism, sexism, misogyny, and the giving and spreading of absolute support for the regime that is right now, as we stand here, committing genocide against Palestine – supporting such violence means spreading it,” they said of the lecturer’s behavior.
As the walkout took place, the Faculty of Political Science issued a statement emphasizing they were not aware of the guest lecture taking place. “The organizer of the lecture, which was not announced to either the Administration or the students, did not take into account the well-being of the students and the integrity of the institution where they work, nor the broader socio-political context,” their statement said.
Students during walkout. Source: Peoples Dispatch
This action followed recent student protests against Croatia and the EU’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza. At the end of March, the group Students for Palestine organized rallies in Rijeka and Zagreb against Israel’s involvement in the EU’s Horizon program, which enables Israeli academic institutions and companies supporting the genocide to benefit from the bloc’s funding. Students warned that cooperation between Croatian research centers and Israeli companies – including those in military and communications sectors – essentially turns local scientists into enablers of crimes.
Together with academic staff active in the Initiative for Academia of Solidarity and Epistemic Justice (IZASEP), students amplified calls for an academic boycott, symbolically telling Israel to “get off their horizon.”
Read more: “No room for fear”: broad antifascist front confronts far-right violence in Croatia
While Croatian President Zoran Milanović has expressed criticism of Israeli authorities and summoned Koren over comments on Croatian foreign policy in the early phases of the illegal war waged by the United States and Israel on Iran, the right-wing government has maintained friendly relations with Israel. This continues despite public demands and dozens of protest actions since October 2023. Defense Minister Ivan Anušić recently traveled to Israel and, facing criticism upon returning, said “he would go again.”
The post Students in Croatia protest Netanyahu brother’s secret lecture: “Our faculty was turned into crime propaganda testing ground” appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.