Activists of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement demonstrated against disabled IDF veterans who were giving a lecture at Stockton University in Atlantic City, New Jersey earlier this week.
The lecture featured two disabled IDF veterans who shared the story of their military service, injury in battle and rehabilitation as part of a cross-U.S. tour of pro-Israeli advocacy group Belev Echad.
Pro-Palestinian BDS activists interrupt IDF veteran's lecture at Stockton University in Atlantic City, New Jersey
(Video: Belev Echad)
One of the speakers was Or Porat who served in the elite Duvdevan undercover counterterrorism unit and was severely wounded from an explosive charge that was thrown at him by a terrorist during a joint operation with the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service in October 2016.
After a long and hard rehabilitation process, Porat decided to continue to fight for Israel through advocacy.
Alongside Port was Ofir Anidjar who served in the Combat Engineering Corps and was wounded in the 2014 Gaza War, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge.
The activists tried to block the two from entering the conference room and waved Palestinian flags and photos of those they say were killed in violence in the region while shouting "free Palestine."
Campus security ensured the safety of the event, with protesters surrounding the conference room where Or and Ofir met with campus students.
"They had Palestinian flags and signs claiming we are child murderers. The activists tried to interfere through the entire lecture and spread their lies across campus. Of course, that didn't stop us, and it only showed us how important it is to fight for the truth about Israel against the hatred and the lies that are spread around the world," Porat said.
"We had no fear or concern, nor were we surprised by the hatred, we prepared for this kind of scenario in advance.