What was supposed to be a celebratory dinner at a dean’s home for graduating UC Berkeley law students on Tuesday turned into an angry confrontation over the Israel-Hamas war, free speech, and accusations of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred.

Several dozen law school students were invited to the Oakland home of School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and his wife, law school professor Catherine Fisk, for the first of three dinners they planned to host. The event, which took place in the couple’s backyard garden with white-cloth-covered tables and students seated among lemon trees, was to recognize the work of law students and provide an opportunity to enjoy casual time with the two prominent professors.

But the dinner quickly devolved after a Palestinian American law student who was invited stood up in front of guests and attempted to give a speech about Palestinians dying in Gaza and her desire for the university to divest from corporations involved in Israel’s war and its occupation and blockade of Palestinian lands.

Chemerinsky approached the student with his arms folded and shouted at her: “Please leave. No. Please leave. Please leave.” Fisk grabbed away the student’s microphone, while saying, “It is not your house. It is my house. And I want you to leave.”

The student who spoke, Malak Afaneh, said that Fisk assaulted her and that her free speech rights were denied.

Chemerinsky, who is Jewish, says that the incident is the latest in antisemitic attacks on him and that free speech does not extend to his home. The university, which has been embroiled in months of protests over the Israel-Hamas war, is standing behind the dean.

“I am appalled and deeply disturbed by what occurred at Dean Chemerinsky’s home last night,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said in a statement. “I have been in touch with him to offer my support and sympathy. While our support for free speech is unwavering, we cannot condone using a social occasion at a person’s private residence as a platform for protest.”

In an interview, University of California President Michael Drake called the incident “very unfortunate.”

UC Board of Regents Chair Rich Leib said he condemned the student’s actions and called it “deplorable…. The individuals that targeted this event did so simply because it was hosted by a dean who is Jewish. These actions were antisemitic, threatening, and do not reflect the values of this university.”

The events were caught on multiple videos by pro-Palestinian activists who were present.

A video shows Afaneh, who was dressed in a jean skirt, a white “divest” shirt with a black-and-white keffiyeh around her neck and a red hijab, getting up from her table and standing in front of the seated guests. After offering the traditional Islamic greeting in Arabic and translating it to English as “peace and blessings upon you all,” she says, “Tonight we are gathered here in the name of commemorating our final few weeks as law students. Tonight is also the last night of the holy month of Ramadan where millions of Muslims around the world fast.”

“Please leave!” Chemerinsky says after the words “gathered here.” The video shows him standing several feet away from Afaneh as he shouts. “This is my house. You are my guest. You’re my guest. Please leave my house,” he says.

The clip then pans to Afaneh to show that Fisk has approached her from behind and grabbed Afaneh’s phone, from which she is reading a script, the microphone and Afaneh’s shirt. Fisk’s arm is on Afaneh’s right shoulder and at times appears to touch her neck.

“This is not your house! It is my house!” Fisk says. The video shows Fisk looking at another woman who is with the demonstrator and saying, “Get her to leave my house!”

An argument ensues among Afaneh, Chemerinsky, Fisk, and the other woman, also a law student.

“You are not welcome,” Fisk says to Afaneh, suggesting she may call the police. Afaneh replies, “You can call the police.” Fisk says, “I don’t prefer to.” She then tries to take the microphone from Afaneh, who does not let go of her grip and is pulled a few steps up a small set of stairs.

“Forty thousand people are dying,” Afaneh says at one point to Fisk in the video, which is just under three minutes long.