Gaza vote sees Natasha Asghar targeted at Cardiff University

A politician had protesters chant "shame on you" and "you support genocide" as she spoke in front of students.

Natasha Asghar, Member of the Senedd for South East Wales, was talking to Cardiff University's politics society when a group began banging the door.

Ms Asghar, along with other Tory and Labour politicians, did not support calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

A Cardiff University spokesman said it was reviewing what happened on Monday.

"Despite repeated attempts to explain my point of view following last week's vote, and answer their questions, many of the protestors simply would not listen and engage and instead continued disrupting the event because they didn't like my answers," Ms Asghar said in a statement.

"I am not prepared to be bullied and intimidated into not attending important events like these and I would like to say a huge thank you to my team, the police and the university's security team for keeping me safe."

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A video posted on X, formerly Twitter, shows Ms Asghar talking about the demise of HS2 and funding for transport routes in north Wales, when protesters begin banging the door and shouting.

It follows a motion in the Welsh Parliament last week where Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said both Hamas' attacks on Israel and the "collective punishment" of Gaza were unjust and inhumane.

Natasha Asghar was speaking to students at Cardiff University when she was targeted

His call for a ceasefire in Gaza was backed by a total of 24 MSs, while 19 voted against.

The Welsh Conservative group and four Labour members opposed the ceasefire calls.

Ms Asghar said, while she accepted people had the right to protest, the scenes at the university were "totally unacceptable".

She said: "Chanting all sorts of hateful messages, including calling me a murderer, ramming doors to try and gain access to the room I was in, and pounding on the walls from start to finish is absolutely uncalled for."

Adam Johannes from campaign group Cardiff Stop the War Coalition said: "Polls show that the majority of people in Britain favour an immediate ceasefire, but the majority of politicians want the slaughter to continue."

He said there was "anger and pain and trauma" at Ms Asghar's vote in the Senedd, adding: "Students picketed the meeting outside to show the level of anger, many also attended the talk to challenge the Tory politician."

Cardiff Students' Union said it was dedicated to providing a space where students could engage in discussions, express their opinions and advocate for change.

It said union leaders attended the event to ensure it could go ahead and protesters could express their opinion.

Cardiff University said security staff were also there and it went ahead with "minimal disruption" but would review the events and "adapt our procedures, if necessary".

It added: "It is important to stress that universities are places where a range of ideas can be considered, examined and dissected both in academic programmes and in the wider university life.

"This means differing views can be brought forward and listened to. As a result, we will continue to take all reasonable steps to ensure that - within the law - freedom of speech is secured on our campus."

South Wales Police said officers attended after reports of a protest, but no arrests were made.

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