On 9th September 2002, Palestinian and other Arab students purposely caused an extremely violent incident which resulted in the cancellation of an address by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Concordia Universtiy in Montreal, Canada. The organizers of the lecture, the Hillel Foundation and the Jewish Community Federation of Montreal, were aware of the fact that the Palestinians would attempt to interrupt the lecture, but they had not foreseen the possibility that the atmosphere would be so intensely charged that the authorities would prevent Mr. Netanyahu from entering the University. Despite an increased police presence, hundreds of Palestinian and other Arab students and their supporters succeeded in getting onto the University grounds and barred all the entrances. They engaged in severely violent activity, kicking rabbis and leaders of the Jewish Community who tried to enter the auditorium. They spat on them, cursed them, threw things about and caused general mayhem. Although the police did use tear gas, they did not succeed in dispersing the demonstrators. During all of this, some 600 people were seated in the auditorium where the lecture was to have been held, and were prevented from leaving for fear for their safety. This was the first time that Arab and Palestinian students had succeeded in preventing a representative of Israel from delivering a lecture at an academic institution.
