The University of California’s president condemned the recent disruption of a campus event featuring two visiting Israeli soldiers.

In an open letter, Mark Yudof, the U.C. system’s president, condemned the heckling that occurred at a Feb. 27 event at U.C. Davis titled “Israeli Soldiers Speak Out.”

“I condemn the actions of those who would disrupt this event. Attempting to shout down speakers is not protected speech,” Yudof wrote in his open letter, which was issued Thursday. It is an action meant to deny others their right to free speech.”

Yudof also condemned the recent vandalism of an Israeli flag at another campus. At U.C. Riverside someone wrote the word “terrorists” in pencil on an Israeli flag that was being displayed in a hallway outside the campus Hillel’s office. The vandalism was discovered on Tuesday.

Yudof praised the manner in which the two campuses’ chancellors handled these incidents.