Haifa University has announced its decision to call off a conference marking the third anniversary of the murderous Gaza invasion, know by the Israeli public as “Operation Cast Lead”, which was planned today by the Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel) student’s faction.

Organizers wrote in the invitation to the event that Israel had committed a massacre as part of a fascist operation. The invitation, which was distributed around campus, reads: “In marking the third anniversary of the fascist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed without any distinction, and in a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians who have lived for years under the inhumane siege in Gaza, Hadash students are honored to invite you to the big event marking the war and massacre in Gaza.”

Hadash demonstration at Haifa University (Photo: Al Ittihad)

Several hours after, right-wing students reported the press on the conference on Tuesday evening, the university explained that the decision to cancel the event was made after an “essential discrepancy was found between the original request and the content of the conference, as expressed in a leaflet handed out on campus on Tuesday”

Uri Weltmann, a member of the university’s Hadash faction, said in response that “canceling the event is giving in to the aggression of right-wing activists and the Student Union, which created a tempest in a teapot because of their objection to our stance. The opinions presented at the conference are legitimate. In Israel it is legitimate to oppose an operation launched by the government and speak out against it harshly. Anyone denying our right to do so does not understand the meaning of freedom of expression or the meaning of democracy”