When Galloway Comes to Speak, 'Security Concerns' Not a Factor

There were no "security concerns" when George Galloway spoke at York (a.k.a Gaza U) last night. No indeed. George got to bloviate to his Grinch-sized heart's content (and even hauled out the long time hallmark of the Jew-hater--"some of my best friends are Jewish"), and folks got to listen his bloviations because the university went out of its way to defend his right to speak. Here's the write up about it in the campus rag:

...At the lecture, Galloway insisted he never supported Hamas, an organization the Canadian government officially considers a terrorist group.

“I have been asked why I have been dealing with Hamas,” he said. “I have news for the people in Ottawa: everybody else in the world is already talking to Hamas. You don’t need university education to understand that if you want to resolve a conflict, you have to talk to the people who are engaged in the conflict.”

Some critics of Galloway also claim he promotes anti-Semitic views; however, Galloway said that could not be further from the truth.

“How could someone like me be against Jews? Nothing could be more ridiculous,” argued Galloway. “Trotsky was a Jew. Einstein was a Jew. Chomsky was a Jew. I am not against Jews. I am against the racist apartheid of the Israeli government.”

Outside the theatre during the lecture, anti-Galloway protesters equipped with homemade signs that read “from Galloway’s pockets to Hamas rockets” and “Darfur is not a lie,” chanted “peace, not hate” and “not on our campus, not on our dime.”

According to Krisna Saravanamuttu, president of the YFS, the student union is not making any kind of financial contribution to have Galloway speak on campus. Saravanamuttu, said the YFS would, however, be covering any security-related expenses.

About two dozen security personnel, including York security and Toronto police, acted as human barricades and patrolled the corridors alongside the Accolade East building.

Alex Bilyk, director of media relations at York, estimated at least five off-duty police officers must be present for high-profile events like Galloway’s. He estimated costs for five officers would be about $3,500...

Yup, York sure has George's back, alright.