Image added by website: Mr Netanyahu visits Auschwitz.

Berkeley demonstrators block speech by former Israeli prime minister

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to cancel a speech Tuesday night when hundreds of rowdy protesters blocked the entrance to the Berkeley Community Theater. More than 2,000 people with tickets waited in vain to enter the theater as the noisy mob waved signs and howled slogans through bullhorns.

The address was finally canceled at about 8:15 p.m. with organizers saying Netanyahu's safety could not be guaranteed. While Berkeley is known as the home of the Free Speech Movement, one person in the crowd said she didn't care.

"I don't believe in free speech for war criminals," Lori Berlin said. Netanyahu, a conservative and a hawk, became Israel's youngest prime minister in 1996. Critics say he was an impediment to peace and he lost his post last year to Ehud Barak. There's no word yet on whether Netanyahu will keep two other Bay Area dates, one in San Rafael and the other in San Mateo.

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