(KRON) — Leadership at UC Berkeley leadership is speaking out against a protest that happened on campus Monday night. The University Chancellor Carol Christ said protestors turned violent when they broke into a campus building to try to stop an event that was set to feature a speaker from Israel.

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The Israeli speaker and audience had to be evacuated from the Zellerbach Playhouse out of concerns for their safety. The protest was organized on social media by a group that’s calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

It was just the latest in a number of protests around the Bay Area calling for a ceasefire. On Monday, around 200 protestors rallied at UC Berkeley to stop a speech by Ran Bar-Yoshafat, an Israeli attorney and former member of the Israeli Defense Force.

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“The other night was harassment, violence and overt antisemitism,” said Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area.

Gregory heard about the protest from the main Jewish student center on campus and said there were two assaults against Jewish students during the protest.

In a letter sent to the campus community, the office of the university chancellor said protestors broke down doors to the Zellerbach Playhouse. The audience and speaker waiting inside had to be evacuated.

“Nowhere in that statement did they mention anything about Jews being harassed or use the word antisemitism once,” Gregory said. “So, I think there are a lot of Jewish students who are feeling alienated.”

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The letter called the attack on the building and event an attack on the fundamental values of the university and said the event was moved to a more secure location.

When it comes to the war in Gaza, Gregory says a permanent ceasefire can’t happen until Hamas is removed from power and all Israeli hostages return home.

“The Jewish community mourns the loss of innocent families and children in Gaza, but at the same time you can’t expect Israel to not defend its own people and try to get those hostages back,” he said.

KRON4 also reached out to the group at UC Berkeley that called for Monday night’s protest for comment. We have not yet heard back.

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