Pro-Palestine students harassed Jacob Rees-Mogg and hurled foul-mouthed abuse at him after speaking at Cardiff University.
Cardiff University’s Conservative Society hosted the Tory MP on Friday for a speech.
But shocking footage posted on X/Twitter shows him being escorted by eight security guards to a campus vehicle as students surrounded him shouting shouting ‘Tory c**t’, ‘shame on you’ and ‘Free Palestine’ and waving Palestinian flags.
The students, who were banging drums and shaking tambourines, were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and shouted ‘shame on you’.
Two students even attempted to get closer to the vehicle carrying the North East Somerset MP before being dragged backed back by security staff.
Jacob Rees Mogg was escorted out of the university by campus security and was immediately heckled by a group of students
The students can be seen waving Palestinian flags as Mr Rees-Mogg is escorted to a security vehicle
Students attempt to get close to the vehicle with placards and even attempt to climb on it
Security staff can be seen dragging students off the vehicle to allow it to depart safely
The protest was organised by Welsh Underground Network and Cardiff Communists, who claimed Mr Rees-Mogg was a ‘zionist’.
They said: ‘Mogg, and his ilk, are never welcome in Wales. No zionist politician should be able to walk our streets in peace, they shouldn’t be able to open their mouths without being shouted down.’
Conservative Party Chairman Richard Holden, branded the protesters ‘morons’ and said: ‘How silly of these morons – whatever they think their cause is, they do it a disservice I’m sure will have taken it in his stride but no elected politician should have to put up with this shrill intimidatory idiocy.’
Responding to Mr Holden, the Conservative Association said: ‘Quite right. Thank you for sharing and highlighting this important issue. Absolutely disgusting to see this happen after our event this evening.’
It comes just weeks after Tory Senedd Member Natasha Asghar was confronted by students calling for a ceasefire whilst giving a talk at the university.
Ms Asghar, who said she was also called a ‘murderer’, voted against a motion in the House of Commons in November which called for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
In videos shared on social media, a student standing inside the room questioned her on why she didn’t support a pause in hostilities.
The politician could be heard replying: ‘If you aim for the moon, you will land amongst the stars, have you heard that saying before? Why can you not aim for peace; a ceasefire will naturally occur.’
Footage shows students chanting and banging as Tory Senedd Member Natasha Asghar spoke to Cardiff University’s Politics Society last year
In a statement on X/Twitter at the time, Ms Asghar said: ‘Whilst I accept people have the right to protest, the scenes which unfolded at Cardiff University last night were totally unacceptable… chanting all sorts of hateful messages including calling me a ”murderer”, ramming doors to try to gain access to the room I was in, and pounding on the walls from start to finish is absolutely uncalled for.
‘Despite repeated attempts to explain my point of view following last week’s vote, and answer their questions, many of the protesters simply would not listen and engage and instead continued disrupting the event because they didn’t like my answers.’
She said she felt sorry for the students in the room who had a ‘passion for politics,’ adding: ‘It was an absolute joy to speak to students from the Politics Society, who asked me some fantastic questions, and I have no doubt many of them have bright careers ahead of them in the political arena.’
Ms Asghar is of Pakistani descent and the first ethnic female member of the Senedd.
She hoped to stand for the Conservatives in the London mayoral elections but failed to make the shortlist.
She hosts a Bollywood music show on TV and is the author of the novel Me, Myself And My Arranged Marriage.
Ms Asghar, who said she was also called a ‘murderer’, voted against a House of Commons motion in November which called for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza
In a statement on X, Ms Asghar complained about being called a ‘murderer’
Meanwhile, a pro-Palestine march which organisers claim could attract ‘hundreds of thousands’ of protesters is to take place in London on Saturday.
However, police said the risk of disorder was not high enough to seek a ban.
The march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) will assemble at Parliament Square from 12pm and set off half-an-hour later on a route ending at Hyde Park, where speeches will be given.
The group said it expects ‘hundreds of thousands of people’ to attend the event in response to Israel’s ‘brutal attack’ on Gaza.
A static demonstration organised by pro-Israel group Enough is Enough will take place at the same time in Pall Mall, along the route of the pro-Palestine march.
The PSC march will be its 13th national protest since the first was staged on October 9.
The Metropolitan Police said these kinds of protests since October 7 had cost around £38.4 million and required 44,722 officer shifts as well as 6,399 officer rest days to be cancelled.
People take part in a pro-Palestine march in central London on April 13
The march in London on April 13 was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the force aimed to police ‘without fear or favour’, adding that protests in London had ‘been a particular cause of fear and uncertainty in Jewish communities’.
He said the events had caused some Jewish people to stay away from central London on protest days, avoid the Tube, hide their identities or otherwise change their behaviour.
A third demonstration organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) was due to take place on Saturday from 12pm until 2pm but was cancelled the day before.
The organisation said it cancelled the ‘walk together’ event – expected to attract thousands of people – after receiving threats and identifying ‘hostile actors’ who posed a risk to the safety of Jews.
Mr Twist added: ‘I know there are people who feel the solution is to see these protests banned.
‘The bar for such a decision is incredibly high – it requires a risk of serious public disorder of the sort we simply haven’t seen either in this period of protest or for several years.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist from the Metropolitan Police
‘But while we cannot apply for protests to be banned in the current circumstances, we can use powers under the Public Order Act and other legislation to impose conditions on marches and assemblies in an effort to prevent serious disruption, to keep those with opposing views apart and to ensure wider public safety.’
The PSC march must stick to a pre-agreed route via Whitehall, Piccadilly and Park Lane, the force added – as it stressed that areas in the vicinity of the Israeli embassy, near Hyde Park, were not to be entered.
The smaller Enough is Enough demonstration is restricted to an area in Pall Mall.
Both protests must have concluded by 5pm, the Met said.
The now-cancelled CAA event had been arranged after the organisation’s founder, Gideon Falter, was threatened with arrest at a pro-Palestinian demonstration earlier this month, with one officer describing Mr Falter, who was wearing a kippah, as ‘openly Jewish’.
The Met said it understood the event may be held at a later date. The force said 415 arrests had been made during protests – including 193 for antisemitic offences and 15 terrorism arrests, mostly for the alleged support of Hamas, which is a proscribed group in the UK.
Ben Jamal, director of the PSC, said the march was ‘fuelled by love for the principle of the dignity and rights of all human beings’.
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