Schools

Protesters Expected At Israel Talk By Famed Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Organizers Say

Dershowitz's talk at Columbia is expected to attract protesters, according to its organizers.

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Organizers of a talk by famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz at Columbia University, hosted by Students Supporting Israel, said they expect it to be disrupted by protesters, reports say. The talk is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 8 p.m.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Ofir Dayan, the media coordinator for Students Supporting Israel, as saying they expect the event to be disrupted by dozens of anti-Israel student activists.

Nobody involved in the suspected protest was contacted by the newspaper.

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Dayan said about 30 seats inside the venue for Dershowitz's talk have been reserved by people affiliated with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Dershowitz is a self-described centrist liberal who supports a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. "If protesters try to stop students from hearing my centrist views it shows how afraid they are of differing perspectives," he told the Free Beacon in an email.

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