Harvard students boycott Israeli diplomat's speech

An Israeli diplomat was taken aback when scores of students he was about to address  at the Harvard Law School  on Thursday suddenly stood up from their seats and walked out of the auditorium.

The students staged the walk out just as he was about to start his speech, lifting the placards that read settlements are a war crime.

"I remember doing this in kindergarten," said the diplomat sheepishly as he stood in the empty venue.

Dayan, who is a former leader of Israel settler movement was scheduled to to speak on "The Legal Strategy of Israeli Settlements" to a mostly empty venue.

The video of the walk-out went viral on the internet, with social media users heaping praise on the students for taking a stand and making the Israeli's diplomat uncomfortable.

The former leader of Israel’s settler movement, considered to be one of the major stumbling blocks to the peace process, Dayan wrote in the New York Times in 2012 that "Israel’s settlers are here to stay".

Around 650,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Settlements are illegal under international law and are considered a war crime.