On Wednesday night Britain's most notorious anti-Islam activist was hosted at the Oxford Union by a Palestinian student from Gaza who said she was upholding his right to free speech, before roundly defeating him in a debate on Islam.
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arrived at the debating society to speak in support of the motion "This House believes the West is right to be suspicious of Islam". It failed to pass.
The union is a globally famous institution. Many of its debates have gone down in history.
There is little doubt that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, will watch this debate online when it is published later this year.
But the audience inside the chamber on Wednesday night was extraordinarily small, owing to a crowd of hundreds of protestors who had prevented people - including speakers - from entering and delayed the event by hours.
