Israel Matzav

Law student who argued Israel a rogue state faces lifetime suspension from student union for refusing to apologize to Lauren Booth

Remember Gabriel Latner, the clever Cambridge University law student who won a debate by arguing from a pro-Israel perspective that Israel is a roguish state? In an incident arising out of that same debate, Latner is facing suspension for life from the Cambridge Union Society for 'verbally abusing' the insufferable Lauren Booth (Hat Tip: Gary P).

According to Latner’s account, the incident began when he told Booth that he was Jewish and had volunteered with the Israeli Army. Latner believes this information contributed to Booth’s unease with him speaking for the proposition.

On Booth’s request, Latner was moved from first to second speaker for the proposition. Before getting up to speak, he turned to Booth and said, "I am going to nail you to the fucking wall up there."

Booth later complained about Latner’s comment to Counsell, who then confronted Latner, and requested that he apologise to Booth. When Latner refused to do so, Counsell had Latner escorted off the premises and told him he was banned for life for disrupting a Union event and verbally abusing a guest on the Society’s premises.

Speaking to Varsity, Counsell said, "Gabe had ten minutes to address an audience of 800, during which time he was representing the Union and all its membership to our guests and the wider world watching. His decision to verbally abuse one of our female guests using sexual language has done enormous levels of harm to the reputation of our Union, as well as crossing all boundaries of basic human decency.

"I should remind our members that our speakers participate for free because of our reputation, and that anybody personally connected to Lauren Booth will now almost certainly avoid us like the plague. This includes, amongst many others, Cherie Booth and Tony Blair.

"Any member who behaves in this way will be punished, let alone who does so whilst representing the Union as the President’s personal guest."

I don't know about Cherie Blair (who is Booth's half sister), but it's no great secret that Booth is nothing but an embarrassment to Tony Blair. I'd bet Tony would be happy to shake young Mr. Latner's hand.

By the way, the same people who were happy to see Latner's membership in the Cambridge Union Society suspended were upset over the debate itself.

Meanwhile, the Union has also come under criticism for the content of the debate itself, which was described in pro-Israeli media as "an important PR achievement," and has received complaints that the debate was intentionally pro-Israeli.

In particular, the Union has been criticised for allowing Latner to speak for the proposition, when he was known to have worked for a pro-Israeli think-tank, Foundation for the Defence of Democracies. The Union maintains that it does not vet speakers’ speeches.

President of the Palestinian Society, Sohail Jannesari commented, "I think that in such a divisive issue, it is important for a balanced debate to take place. Clearly, inviting Gabriel Latner to speak on behalf of what was essentially the pro-Palestinian position was not going to be conducive to a balanced debate.

"The Union president has said (in an email to one of our members) that they cannot vet the speakers’ speeches. While this is true, I am sure that the Union President is more than capable of typing Gabriel Latner into Google."

In a letter to Counsell, members of the CU Palestine society, Black student’s campaign, Arab society, and Islamic Society, among others, asked "How can the Union justify inviting a speaker who clearly lacks any credibility to speak on behalf of the proposition?"

Other students, however, applauded Latner’s speech. According to President-Elect Davidson, "I think Gabriel’s speech was really well-informed. The Union exists to provide a platform for free speech, and so we don’t check speeches in advance.

"In almost all our debates, speakers from each side twist the motion and it’s usually thought very clever and funny."

Davidson added, "The motion was not asking ‘Is this house pro or anti-Israel?’ It was asking whether Israel is a rogue state, which Gabriel argued exactly according to the motion. So, he was not arguing for the wrong side."

Mr. Latner says that his life won't be affected much if he's suspended from the Society, and that's good news. I believe he has a great future as a litigator ahead of him.

Read the whole thing.

How unfairly is Latner being treated? Here's the term card from the debate. Booth objected to Latner arguing that Israel is a rogue state, because Latner is pro-Israel and he was arguing what was deemed the 'Palestinian' position. Here's the biography of one of the debaters for the proposition that Israel is not a rogue state - allegedly the pro-Israel position:

Shiraz Maher was on the front line of British Islamism serving as a regional officer in northeast England for Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist group committed to the creation of a puritanical caliphate. Since leaving in 2005, he has worked on the character and influences of extremism.

If Maher can argue the 'pro-Israel' position, why can't Latner argue the 'pro-Palestinian' position? (Answer - Because Latner argued much more cleverly).

Why is no one sticking up for Latner? Where are the Jewish organizations and the Jewish community?

Labels: Cambridge Union Society, Gabriel Latner, Lauren Booth, rogue state

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:16 AM