Last Thursday, Justice Richard Goldstone and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold discussed Mr. Goldstone's eponymous report on war crimes committed during the Gaza conflict at an event in the Levin Ballroom. Two weeks ago, this page emphasized that the event would be a rare and valuable opportunity for students to attend a serious discussion of international importance. While the event did serve as a meaningful forum for discussion, we are nonetheless disappointed with the actions of several attendees of the forum.

Firstly, the protest staged by a group of students that intentionally interrupted Gold during the first moments of his presentation was inappropriately timed. Their supposedly silent protest was only nominally such, as their coordinated efforts constituted a distraction to the speaker and, even more unfairly, to the audience, which included fellow students and University faculty.

We wholly respect and defend the students' right to protest the absence of a Palestinian speaker to provide his or her perspective on the report at the forum. Yet such a protest should have occurred outside the room in which the forum was held. The disruptive effort was a drain on the event for the community at large; the protesters have a right to freedom of speech but should not have used that freedom to block the speech of another party.

However, we do not condone the physical harassment the protesters reported suffering after they returned to their seats. The protesters said that their chairs were shoved and that they were in some cases physically assaulted; such a violent response to a nonviolent protest is completely inappropriate. Such a physical response should not have occurred within the confines of this campus, and we hope that no Brandeis students in attendence took part in these attacks.

Despite the setbacks that occurred during this past Thursday's forum, the successful and interesting discourse at the event lead us to hope that the University will continue to bring politically significant events to this campus for the continued benefit of its entire community.