1 year ago
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A pro-Palestinian statement issued by Harvard University students, blaming Israel for the ongoing violence in the region, has drawn condemnation from prominent Harvard alumni, who urged the university to take action against the signatories.
A coalition of 34 Harvard student organizations released a statement assigning full responsibility to the Israeli government for the ongoing violence, citing decades of occupation and labeling it an "apartheid regime." The signatories included Muslim and
Palestinian
support groups, as well as groups representing various backgrounds, such as Harvard Jews for Liberation and the
African American Resistance
Organization. The exact number of students supporting the letter could not be verified.
Harvard President
Claudine Gay
and senior university leaders, including 15 deans, issued a statement expressing their sadness over the death and destruction caused by the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens. However, the statement did not directly address the student letter or the response to it.
Harvard, known for its influence in US politics, has produced eight former presidents and four of the nine current Supreme Court Justices. Prominent Harvard alumni, including Lawrence Summers, former US treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and a former university president, criticized the current Harvard leadership for what they perceived as a failure to respond.
Summers, in a social media post on platform X, expressed his dismay over the silence of Harvard. “The silence from Harvard’s leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups’ statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel,” Summers posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
While universities have traditionally been champions of free speech and radical ideas, the student letter resonated within the political establishment. Elise Stefanik, a Republican US Representative and Harvard graduate, called the statement "abhorrent and heinous" for excusing the harm to innocent women and children. Republican US Senator Ted Cruz, also a Harvard Law School graduate, questioned Harvard's response on platform X, asking, "What the hell is wrong with Harvard?"
Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and imposed a blockade on essential supplies in response to the violent incursion by Hamas militants. The death toll from the conflict reached nearly 1,600 on both sides. Hamas, in turn, escalated the situation by threatening to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without prior warnings.
On the war's third day, Israel continued to recover bodies from Hamas' shocking weekend attack on southern Israeli towns. In the small farming community of Be'eri, rescue workers discovered 100 bodies, constituting roughly 10% of its population, following a prolonged hostage standoff with gunmen. Meanwhile, in Gaza, tens of thousands of residents fled their homes as relentless airstrikes continued to demolish buildings.
(With inputs from agencies)
English (US)