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Saturday, September 21, 2002

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Wherever former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes, it seems, protests follow.

	Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will open Robert Morris University's lecture series on Oct. 1. (Associated Press)

A speech by Netanyahu, who was Israel's Likud Party prime minister from 1996 to 1999, was canceled in Montreal on Sept. 11 after a protest by several hundred people turned violent, prompting police to use tear gas and pepper spray in a clash with demonstrators.

Another protest resulted in arrests earlier this year in Dallas. A speech by Netanyahu in Berkeley, Calif., two years ago was canceled for fear of violence.

Will that happen when Netanyahu comes to Pittsburgh on Oct. 1st, as the kickoff speaker for Robert Morris University's lecture series?

"We're not going to try to block Netanyahu from speaking," said Pete Shell, a spokesman for The Committee for Peace in the Middle East. "We want to emphasize that our protest is going to be peaceful and legal."

Shell says the groups object to Netanyahu's hard-line stance against Israel's withdrawal from disputed West Bank land and Israel's harsh treatment of the Palestinians.

The demonstration, which will include several groups, will start about an hour before Netanyahu's planned 8 p.m. speech in Heinz Hall.

Still, security will be out in force around the area, said Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Tammy Ewen.

"We will have appropriate numbers of police on hand," said Ewen. She said Sgt. Lavonnie Bickerstaff of the police intelligence and dignitary protection department has been working closely during the past month with Netanyahu's security team as well as the FBI, the U.S. State Department and Allegheny County police to ensure that his Pittsburgh visit goes smoothly.

Netanyahu is the first speaker in an ambitious series of seven lectures at Heinz Hall featuring major figures in government and entertainment, including veteran newscaster Walter Cronkite, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan.

Netanyahu will be on campus visiting with students and professors before his appearance Downtown, said Michael Weinstein, a spokesman for Robert Morris University in Moon.

"We're working closely with our campus security and we're very aware about security issues," said Weinstein. "We want to ensure that it's a good day for him and a good day for us."

The Pittsburgh Speakers Series is produced by the Cambridge Speakers Series of Novato, Calif., which runs a similar event in St. Louis.

The series isn't sold out, said Weinstein, but about 2,200 tickets have been sold so far.

Netanyahu, who was ousted from office in 1999, has been serving as a de facto spokesman for Israel during a series of lecture tours in the United States and Canada. He is said to be preparing a political comeback, possibly challenging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, also a member of the Likud coalition.

He has defended Israel's actions earlier this summer in crushing Palestinian militias on the West Bank after a series of suicide attacks on Israeli civilians. He also has defended Israel's claim to the occupied lands that Palestinians want, saying it has "original ownership and durability of ownership."

"Over 1,200 years, we have never given up our claim for the land," he said in a speech in Dallas earlier this year, which also featured protests. "I don't want to drive a single Palestinian out. They are perfectly free to stay there. But so are we."

But the protesters, whose demands include an end to what they call Israeli occupation of Palestinian land seized in the 1967 war and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, believe otherwise.

"To call him a 'champion of peace,' as they did in the lecture series brochure, is unacceptable," said Ken Boas, a University of Pittsburgh professor and member of Professors of Peace.

There are no plans for a counterdemonstration, said David Shtulman of the American Jewish Committee's Pittsburgh branch.

Among the groups whose members plan to protest are Zi and the Progressive Student Alliance at Carnegie Mellon University, the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice, the Arab Student Organization at CMU, the Muslim Student Association at the University of Pittsburgh, the Palestine Solidarity Committee and the International Socialist Organization.

Mackenzie Carpenter can be reached at mcarpenter@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1949.