Harvard has been sued, investigated and lost a college president in connection with a wave of anti-Semitism on campus. It began immediately after the 10/7 attack on Israel when a campus group put out a statement saying Israel was completely responsible for the massacre of its people by Hamas.
Now we finally seem to have reached a point where even the pro-Palestinian activists agree the anti-Semitism has gone too far. At least two groups posted an image on social media which the school immediately condemned.
“Such despicable messages have no place in the Harvard community,” the University wrote in a statement posted on Instagram. “We condemn these posts in the strongest possible terms.”
The Ad Board — an administrative body responsible for the application and enforcement of undergraduate policies — will review the posts, a sign that Harvard might look to take disciplinary action against the groups that published the antisemitic image.
While the post originated from two student organizations — Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and the African and African American Resistance Organization, most of the initial criticism was directed at a Harvard faculty and staff pro-Palestine group that reposted the image in an Instagram story.
Here’s the image in question which was posted on X by Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student who sued Harvard last month.
— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) February 19, 2024
The image was initially posted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee and the African and African American Resistance Organization. But from there it was reposted by Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, which as the name indicates is made up of Harvard employees. All three groups have since pulled it down and apologized.
Sunday’s post, which explained the history of Black and Palestinian solidarity, was taken down and reposted Monday afternoon without the antisemitic image by both AFRO and the PSC. The groups wrote that the earlier version of the post “shared an image that was not reflective of our values as organizations.”…
Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, the newly formed group of pro-Palestinian faculty and staff, also apologized on Monday for resharing the original post.
But Jewish groups at Harvard aren’t settling for an apology. They rightly point out that this is classic anti-Semitism.
Members of Harvard *faculty* posting old-school classic antisemitic posters.
Note the $ sign placed in the star of david depicted below.This should be called what it is.
Reprehensible. Bigoted. Hateful. https://t.co/t9jE78XyRq
— Harvard Chabad (@HarvardChabad) February 19, 2024
This is probably not the kind of attention Harvard was looking for right now.
Old anti-Jewish tropes recycled at @Harvard no less. What will new administration do about the latest poison canard? https://t.co/1HMHUyyWzO
— Simon Wiesenthal Center (@simonwiesenthal) February 19, 2024
The fact that this happened after these same groups were put on notice by the lawsuit and the congressional investigation suggests they feel invulnerable, or at least they did until this incident caused them to pull back in what one can only hope is genuine shame.
This is grim. https://t.co/2YU0ZKaZIG
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) February 19, 2024
It makes me wonder what else Harvard is hiding from congressional investigators.