DUBLIN (AP) — A student society at Trinity College Dublin has canceled a speech by Israel's ambassador to Ireland after a group of students chanting pro-Palestinian slogans rallied outside the event.

Trinity's Society for International Affairs had invited Ambassador Ze'ev Boker to give a 15-minute speech Monday night followed by a question-and-answer session.

Before the event could start, several dozen activists from the Students for Justice in Palestine group blocked the entrance, waved Palestinian flags and chanted, "We are all Palestinians!"

Organizers opted to cancel Boker's appearance rather than have police remove the protesters by force. Nobody was reported injured or arrested.

Society officials criticized the protesters for undermining freedom of speech.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday it was "horrified" by what it called the protesters' "vicious action."