My talk last night at the University of California-Irvine, on the topic of"The Threat to Israel's Existence," was disrupted just over 15 minutes into my lecture by what appear to be goons of an Islamist persuasion. Three videos on the internet document my remarks, then their response:

• http://video.google.com/ (anonymous) covers all 53:29 minutes of my talk, from beginning to end. The disruption begins at 15:09 with the calling out of my name. I resume speaking at 17:25.
• http://video.google.com/ (posted by Reut Cohen) offers 5:42 minutes of me, then the disruption, and follows the disrupters outside as they chant"anti-Israel" in conjunction with other slogans, such as"anti-oppression,""anti-racism," and"anti-hate." At one point, at 12:00, the leader predicts that"it's just a matter of time before the State of Israel will be wiped off the face of the map," in response to which the crowd, self-exiled, standing in the dark and the cold, yelled out"Takbir" and"Allahu Akbar." In response, those who remained in the auditorium chanted"Am Yisrael Chai."

• http://video.google.com (anonymous) starts with the disruption, then jumps several minutes my replies to questions. For the wonderful standing ovation that followed on my conclusion, go to the 32:48 minute mark.

Michael A. Baker provides an account of the evening at"Daniel Pipes ? in The Arena at UC Irvine." For reactions to the videos, see those at LittleGreenFootballs.com and JihadWatch.org.

Comments:

(1) I had been forewarned that such a staged exit was in the works, so I frontloaded my comments, to insure that the Islamist contingent got a full dose of my thinking; specifically.

(2) This is the first campus disruption I have experienced in nearly two years, since the Rochester Institute of Technology in April 2005. I don't know if it's the specifically awful environment at UCI (what one of the chaplains terms a place where"hate and bigotry grow and spread like a cancer") or the moment we are in that accounts for this particular agitation; I tend to think the former factor counts most.

(3) I second the observation by"waterdragon52" posted at JihadWatch.org:"All these thugs have managed to do is to prove Pipes's thesis that we are witnessing a crash between civilization and barbarism" ? a reference to my recent talk in London,"Radical Islam vs. Civilization." (February 1, 2006)