Dean Was “Kissing the Feet of Zionist Power,” Harvard Scholar’s Account Contended
Plus, Schumer faults “wealthy, out-of-touch” Republicans
Social media posts from accounts apparently of Harvard faculty and staff call Jews “the most powerful people on the planet,” accuse Harvard administrators of “kissing the feet of Zionist power,” and assert, “any academic who supports Israel, drown in shame forever.” Another contends that she “cannot understand” and “cannot forgive” colleagues who “support the crimes of Israel.”
The social media posts, which appear to be by some of those who signed a “statement by Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine,” are included in a 88-page Harvard student complaint dated March 24, 2024, a copy of which has been obtained by The Editors. The complaint said the posts violate Harvard’s non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies and “other Harvard norms by promoting discrimination against Jewish and Israeli Harvard affiliates and against those with different political beliefs.”
The Harvard Office for Equity Diversity Inclusion and Belonging replied to the student that “we will review your concerns and take any appropriate action,” but it also referred the student to lower-level Harvard bureaucrats and cautioned that any “formal complaint” would require the identity of the complainant to be disclosed to the respondent, suggesting that it wasn’t treating the complaint as a formal complaint.
News of the complaint and of the social media posts comes as Harvard faces a threat of disruptive protests from anti-Israel activists at its commencement Thursday. The university’s interim president, Alan Garber, while attempting to please both pro-Israel and anti-Israel factions, has managed to leave both sides feeling betrayed, in some ways similar to President Biden.
The university’s official Jewish alumni group, the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance, wrote to the administration to complain that anti-Israel protesters were being treated with “leniency, supported by legalese, that would not have been afforded transgressors against any other university community.”
“Scores of students, faculty, and administrators appear to be getting a free pass/slap on the wrist for behavior that would result in immediate administrative action including expulsion were any other minority or ethnic group targeted,” the HJAA board statement said. “This episode looks like a continuation of massive moral failure on the part of the university.”
A former Harvard president, Lawrence Summers, says “substantial change” in the membership and procedures of Harvard’s governing Corporation are needed, given what he calls the “failure” and a “double standard between anti-semitism and other forms of prejudice.”
The “statement by Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine” contends, “As a group, we advocate for the right to freely teach and discuss the interlocking systems of oppression underpinned by militarism, settler colonialism, and racial capitalism.”
Among the social media posts included in the complaint: An account that appears to be from a visiting scholar at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Saswan Abdulrahim, posted a cartoon of a paraglider on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas terrorist attack. The cartoon “glorifies terrorists and serves to intimidate Jewish and Israeli members of the Harvard community,” the complaint says.
Ms. Abdulrahim also apparently posted on October 20, 2023, accusing a Harvard dean of “kissing the feet of Zionist power.”
The account of one Harvard professor, Vijay Iyer, posted on November 20, 2023, about “the most powerful people on the planet doubling down on their evil, deranged state-sponsored terror.” The complaint notes, “Israel is far from the most powerful country on Earth; the insinuation is not the current Israeli government, but the Jewish people.”
Another Harvard professor, Nasrien Ibrahim, apparently retweeted a post that said, “Explain to me again the difference between Hitler exterminating the Jews and the Jews exterminating the Palestinian people.” The complaint says, “holding all Jews responsible for perceived actions of the Israeli government is antisemitic, rather than expressing a political opinion.”
An account of Harvard’s librarian for Islamic art and architecture, Amanda Hannoosh Steinberg, apparently retweeted a post that said, “Any academic who supports Israel, drown in shame forever.” The complaint says the tweet “exhibits intolerance for viewpoint diversity, as well as promotes hostility toward Jewish and Israeli colleagues.”
Another signer of the Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine letter, Elizabeth Fieg, apparently stated in a November 29, 2023, social media post, “I cannot understand how…healthcare providers support the crimes of Israel, which include killing hospital staff and patients, and I cannot forgive.” In a December 21, 2023, post she said “anyone who works at a hospital and is not outraged about this should probably not work at a hospital (or with patients, or with students, etc).”
The Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine group attracted attention earlier for posting to its own social media account a cartoon that Dr. Garber described as antisemitic. As Dr. Garber described it in a letter headlined “the antisemitic cartoon” it “depicted what appeared to be an Arab man and a Black man with nooses around their necks. The nooses are held by a hand imprinted with the Star of David, and a dollar sign appears in the middle of the star.”
Harvard’s lawyers from WilmerHale, who at considerable expense lost a high-profile case about Harvard’s discrimination against Asian-Americans, are scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday May 30 to argue for the dismissal of a civil rights complaint by Jewish students at Harvard. A court filing from Harvard in the case insists the Jewish students “fail to plausibly allege severe and pervasive harassment.”
Schumer’s war on wealth: A campaign fundraising email from Senator Schumer for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee makes a pitch for donations on the grounds that “Republicans are lining up behind wealthy, out-of-touch self-funding candidates.”
That is pretty humorous coming from Schumer, whose Democratic colleagues in the Senate over the years have included such notable non-paupers as Jay Rockefeller, Edward Kennedy, John Forbes Kerry, Mark Warner, Michael Bennet, and Jon Corzine. It also underscores how much of American politics these days is just crude class warfare. The Democratic campaign donors—Reid Hoffman, Fred Eychaner, Donald Sussman, Barbra Streisand, etc.—are also not exactly paupers themselves. In many cases they got rich by creating something that provided value, that people voluntarily paid for. Instead of praising successful entrepreneurs, Mr. Schumer manages to find a way to bash them for being “out of touch.”
One nice thing about capitalism is that keeping paying customers happy is a push toward keeping in touch, perhaps even more reliably in touch than incumbent senators who face once-every-six-years elections.
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