Apartheid week was bigger than ever

The Telegraph

By Ben Harris · March 12, 2009

Or so Golda Shahidi, a spokesperson for Students Against Israeli Apartheid, told the Jerusalem Post:

Forty-four international cities held IAW events, which is twice as much as last year, and in Toronto thousands of people attended events. Almost every building was filled to maximum capacity.

Good for them. But the activities are causing worry, as we reported last week, because the anti-Israel rhetoric is becoming more heated and, in some cases physically aggressive. The Post reports:

In one example of such violence, Isaac Apter, a Jewish alumnus of the University of Toronto, attended an Israel Apartheid Week event on the campus and was assaulted. According to Apter, one of the paid speakers evaded a difficult question regarding Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel, prompting him and his friends to yell, "Answer the questions!"

A private security guard hired by Students Against Israel Apartheid then approached Apter from behind. He turned around, only to be grabbed by the neck and pulled face to face with the guard, who repeatedly yelled, "You shut the f*** up!"

Another Jewish student was threatened with beheading.