Watch as pro-Palestine protesters block, shun and swear as GB News host Ben Leo attempts to find out why they are demonstrating outside of an ‘Understanding Hamas and Why that Matters’ event at a London university.
The event, hosted by the London School of Economics’s Middle East Department, has faced intense scrutiny but has been allowed to go ahead in the name of free speech.
It even drew attention from Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, who wrote to LSE vice-chancellor Prof Larry Kraimer calling for a cancellation citing fears it could “provide a platform for Hamas propaganda”.
The event itself due protests from pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups, and Ben headed to central London to find out more.
Ben Leo clashed with protesters
GB NEWS
But he found himself shunned and blocked off as pro-Palestine marchers refused to provide any form of statement.
One simply responded “absolutely f****ing not” when asked if they would provide a comment to GB News.
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The event, hosted by LSE’s Middle East Department, had faced significant scrutiny in the weeks leading up to itSUPPLIEDThe People’s Channel star was met by people covering their faces and some attempting to put blankets over his accompanying camera.
Ben was joined by a Max from Stop the Hate, a counter, pro-Israel protest group, said: “The truth is, they know they support a proscribed terrorist organisation.
“The fact they want to hide their face shows they lack the conviction to put their face to it.
“It shows they know their views are illegal.”
The event, hosted by LSE’s Middle East Department, had faced significant scrutiny in the weeks leading up to itSUPPLIED/GETTY/LSE
Asked about LSE hosting the event in the first place, he said: “I think it’s shameful and it shows the decline of universities.
“Since October 7, universities have seen an outbreak of anti-Semitism, an outbreak of terrorist support. A lot of these protests are just cover for anti-Semitism.”
One pro-Palestine protester, despite being urged not to by his comrades, did offer some words to Ben.
But he proceeded to speak about the 1791 Slave Rebellion in Haiti, to which Ben said: “With respect, I don’t want a history lesson.”
The protester told Ben to “go away” shortly after.
Speaking to The London School of Economics (LSE) students and staff at the event on Monday evening, Helena Cobban – author of Understanding Hamas and Why that Matters – said: “It’s crucial for us to recognise how complicit corporate media in this country have been in the misrepresentation—and I would even say the ‘disrepresentation’—of both Hamas as a movement and its actions.”