Israeli physics prof escorted out by police after Las Vegas students shut down his astronomy speech

Pro-Palestine students at a public university in Nevada recently shouted down an Israeli physics professor’s speech on astronomy. 

On Feb. 27, Professor Asaf Peer of Bar-Ilan University in Israel was giving a lecture on black holes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas until 15 minutes in when student protesters entered the room with anti-Israeli banners, signs, and flags, according to The Jerusalem Post.

[RELATED: Widespread anti-Israel protests continue in months following October Hamas attack]

After the protesters continued shouting, campus police were finally brought into the room. According to Peer, the police said that they could not remove the protesters from the public event because doing so would violate their free speech rights.

Peer reportedly invited the protesters to stay for the remainder of his lecture, even offering to discuss what The Jerusalem Post describes as “unrelated issues” afterwards.

One protester was seen holding a sign that read, “DIDN’T HIGER [sic] EDUCATION TEACH US TO BE ETHICAL? WHY IS ADMINISTRATION SUPPORTING SPEAKERS WHO OPENLY SUPPORT GENOCIDE??”

Another sign accused Peer of supporting “genocide,” in addition to claiming he obtained his Ph.D. in “illegally occupied” territory. The sign also displayed the URL for “Taxpayers for Peace,” a group that opposes U.S. aid to Israel.

According to The Jerusalem Post, a spokesperson for UNLV said that university staff made a decision to end the event early due to the protesters.

“University Police then arrived and accompanied the guest lecturer to his vehicle as a safety precaution,” UNLV Director of Public Affairs Francis McCabe told the outlet.

Dr. Peer also remarked to the outlet that he did not agree with the decision to prematurely end the event.

“I did not feel unsafe, and I was surprised that the police decided to end the event, instead of removing the protestors from the room” Peer told The Jerusalem Post. 

Bar-Ilan University President Arie Zaban spoke out against the demonstration against Peer’s lecture, while also condemning the overall state of higher education.

“It seems that some of our colleagues have lost their moral compass. It’s disappointing and it’s infuriating, but we won’t be deterred,” Zaban told The Jerusalem Post. “Academia is based on the pursuit of the truth, including the distinction of who is good and who is bad, and we are here to present the truth, to tell the Israeli story of the seventh of October.”

[RELATED: Students call on Loyola to show ‘Jesuit values’ and divest from Israel]

According to Peer’s website, his research specialties involve theoretical high-energy astrophysics, X-ray emitting binaries, high-energy cosmic rays, as well as tidal disruption events.

Peer has held numerous research and fellowship positions, including the role of a research associate at the Institute of Theory and Computation at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics during 2010-2012.

Campus Reform has contacted the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.