Bill Maher rips into Harvard, UPenn and MIT over plague of antisemitism on campus and presidents' shameful Congress testimony
Maher said schools have raised 'a bunch of fucking idiots', referring to protests and anti-Semitic behavior by students
By Joe Hutchison
Daily Mail
Dec 9, 2023
The late night comedian hit out institutes like Harvard, UPenn and MIT who were grilled earlier this week in Congress
Bill Maher has branded students at Ivy League colleges as being 'fucking idiots' over anti-Semitism on campuses.
The late night comedian hit out institutes like Harvard, UPenn and MIT who were grilled earlier this week in Congress.
Addressing the ongoing issue, Maher said: 'The bigger scandal here is these are the biggest, most esteemed colleges in the country and they've raised a bunch of fucking idiots.
He added: 'Do I really think they want to wipe out the Jews? I don't. They live by buzz words and what they read on TikTok, they want to be an ally.'
College campuses have become a hotbed for angry protests and rising incidents of antisemitism since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted two months ago.
Harvard students are seen attending a pro-Palestine rally after the Hamas attacks in October
Maher had previously said Harvard students who played down the Hamas massacre in Israel were just as bad as Donald Trump.
His remarks came after Harvard President Claudine Gay spoke before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Tuesday.
Gay said then that calls for a 'genocide of Jews' on Harvard's campus would only constitute harassment 'depending on the context'.
The Committee's hearing saw testimony from Gay and the president's of MIT, Sally Kornblut, and Upenn, Elizabeth Magill, on the rise of antisemitism on their campuses since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7.
During a heated exchange Congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked Gay: 'At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment?' Stefanik asked.
'It can be, depending on the context,' Gay responded.
The remarks triggered immediate backlash and led 74 members of congress to call for Gay, and the other testifying presidents, to resign.
'Given this moment of crisis, we demand that your boards immediately remove each of these presidents from their positions and that you provide an actionable plan to ensure that Jewish and Israeli students, teachers, and faculty are safe on your campuses,' the letter led by Stefanik reads.
The committee also heard from Liz Magill, President of the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT's Sally Kornbluth.
Harvard President Claudine Gay during the congressional hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week
Adding: 'Anything less than these steps will be seen as your endorsement of what Presidents Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth said to Congress and an act of complicity in their antisemitic posture'.
The leadership of Harvard Hillel have also said they do not trust Gay to protect Jewish students at the University.
In an interview with the college's newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, Gay apologized for the remarks and said she became caught up in 'policies and procedures'.
The House Education and the Workforce Committee are now probing Harvard, MIT and UPenn following testimony earlier this week.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who quizzed the three leaders, has slammed the presidents as morally bankrupt - and swore to hold the schools accountable.
The trio all agreed that reprimanding students who call for a Jewish genocide was not paramount - but instead, they said the blatant antisemitism is 'context' specific.
Since the conflict in the Middle East started in October, campuses have seen a rise in tension over the war.
The conflict has prompted strong international reactions, ranging from peaceful protests to acts of violent anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The Anti-Defamation League reported a nearly 400 percent spike in incidents in the US between October 7 and October 23.
The University of Pennsylvania came under fire earlier this month after anti-Jewish slogans were projected onto three of the school's buildings.
One message splashed across the John M Huntsman hall said: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'.
The University of Pennsylvania came under fire after anti-Jewish slogans were projected onto three of the school's buildings
One message splashed across the John M Huntsman hall said: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'.
Slogans projected on Penn Commons read: 'Zionism is racism' and demanded UPenn president Liz Magill call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
These projections followed the school increasing security and contacting the FBI over a string of reports of threats against Jewish students.
UPenn said that several of its staff members received 'vile, disturbing anti-Semitic emails' threatening violence against Jews on campus.
University president Liz Magill also acknowledged 'swastikas and hateful graffiti' at the school.
At Harvard University the Palestinian Solidarity Committee has been condemned for issuing a letter on October 7.
Palestinian supporters gathered at Harvard University to show their support for Gaza, and their hatred for Israel, at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14
Co-signed by 33 other Harvard student organizations, stating: 'We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.'
Some of the signatories have been named and shamed, and billionaire financier Bill Ackman is demanding that companies refuse to hire them.
Harvard's president apologized for the statement, and said it does not represent the views of the university.
The prestigious institute has also been host to large scale Palestine protests from students.
At MIT, the university refused to suspend students who participated in an unauthorized anti-Israel protest due to fears agitators could be deported.
A group called the Committee Against Apartheid organized the protest and upon learning what was happening, a group of Jewish and Israeli students showed up to stage a counter-protest.
The statement issued by Kornbluth - who has served as president of the university since January - said after the confrontation between protestors erupted 'we had serious concerns that it could lead to violence.'
MIT students staged an unsanctioned anti-Israel protest in the university's main entrance hall on Thursday
As is the case with many prestigious American institutions of higher education, a significant portion of MIT's student body is international students.
Columbia University also launched an antisemitism taskforce to tackle 'terribly resilient form of hatred' after a number of Jewish-related assaults and harassment on campus.
Other incidents at campuses include Jewish students at Cooper Union, also in New York City, being forced to take shelter inside a library on campus to avoid a pro-Palestine mob.
Late last month, a group chanting 'Free, free Palestine' held a protest in the lobby of the college near Astor Place in Manhattan.
The crowd barged past a security guard and attempted to storm the library, where Jewish students had taken refuge. Those inside were later let out.
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UPenn president Liz Magill RESIGNS after disastrous anti-Semitism hearing where she refused to condemn campus protests calling for Jewish genocide; Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok tenders his own resignation moments later
Magill resigned from her post following fierce backlash to her controversial congressional testimony over antisemitism on campus on Tuesday. Scott Bok, Chair of the school's Board of Trustees, announced his own resignation just moments later
By Bethan Sexton
The president of the University of Pennsylvania Liz Magill has resigned from her post following fierce backlash to her controversial congressional testimony over antisemitism on campus
The president of the University of Pennsylvania has resigned from her post following fierce backlash to her controversial congressional testimony over antisemitism on campus.
Liz Magill, alongside the president's of Harvard and MIT, was summoned before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Tuesday by lawmakers concerned by reports of a rise in antisemitism at leading universities.
They faced heated questioning from committee chair Congresswoman Elise Stefanik but failed to assert that calls for genocide against Jews on campus would definitively constitute harassment.
Following international outcry, including more than 70 lawmakers calling for her resignation, Magill stood down on Saturday.
Pressure is now growing for the president's of Harvard and MIT whose testimony largely mirrored Magill's, with congresswoman Stefanik writing 'One down. Two to go' on X.
Scott L. Bok, Chair of the school's Board of Trustees, later announced his own resignation following Magill's decision to step down, effective immediately
'This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most 'prestigious' higher education institutions in America' Stefanik wrote on Saturday evening.
Adding: 'Harvard and MIT, do the right thing. The world is watching.'
Just minutes after Magill's statement the chair of the Upenn's board of trustees, Scott Bok, also resigned.
In a statement issued Saturday evening Magill wrote: 'It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution.
'It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn's vital missions.'
In his own resignation statement Bok defended Magill as a 'good person' who is 'not the slightest bit anti-Semitic' but had made a 'misstep' after 'months of relentless external attacks.'
'Today, following the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania's President and related Board of Trustee meetings, I submitted my resignation as Chair of the University's Board of Trustees, effective immediately,' he said in a statement.
'While I was asked to remain in that role for the remainder of my term in order to help with the presidential transition, I concluded that, for me, now was the right time to depart.'
He acknowledged that Magill had made an error during her disastrous Congressional testimony and described it as a 'dreadful 30-second sound bite'.
Bok added: 'Former President Liz Magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep—consistent with that of two peer university leaders sitting alongside her—after five hours of aggressive questioning before a Congressional committee.
'Following that, it became clear that her position was no longer tenable, and she and I concurrently decided that it was time for her to exit.'
He wished Magill 'well in her future endeavors' and praised her as a 'good person and a talented leader who was beloved by her team'.
He continued: 'She is not the slightest bit anti-Semitic. Working with her was one of the great pleasures of my life.
'Worn down by months of relentless external attacks, she was not herself last Tuesday.
'Over prepared and over lawyered given the hostile forum and high stakes, she provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that was wrong.'
Magill was slammed for her testimony, in which she said that reprimanding students who call for a Jewish genocide was not paramount - but 'context' specific.
She was asked a 'yes or no' question on whether calls for the genocide of Jews counted as hate speech, and repeatedly said it depended on the context.
On Wednesday she attempted to clarify her comments, but the damage was done: a wealthy alumnus withdrew a $100 million donation, and her remarks were roundly condemned by the ADL, the White House and politicians across the board.
Magill issued a groveling video statement attempting to explain her failure to condemn calls for the genocide of Jewish people on campuses.
She said she was not 'focused' on the issue, and said she wanted to 'be clear' that calls for genocide were 'evil, plain and simple' - although she said the blame lay with her university's policies and the constitution, rather than with her.
Magill said: 'There was a moment during yesterday's Congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked if a call for the genocide of Jewish people on our campus would violate our policies.
'In that moment, I was focused on our university's long-standing policies - aligned with the U.S. Constitution - which say that speech alone is not punishable.
The former president will remain a tenured faculty member at Penn Carey Law
'I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It's evil, plain and simple.'
Magill said she hoped to draw a line in the sand, and clarify her position.
'I want to be clear: a call for genocide of Jewish people is threatening, deeply so,' she said.
'It is intentionally meant to terrify a people who have been subjected to pogroms and hatred for centuries, and were the victims of mass genocide in the Holocaust.
'In my view it would be harassment or intimidation.'
But, Magill said, it was not officially classed as harassment - a policy she said was outdated and needed review.
Magill pledged to work to update the existing rules.
'For decades under multiple Penn presidents and consistent with most universities, Penn's policies have been guided by the Constitution and the law,' she said.
'In today's world, where we are seeing signs of hate proliferating across our campus and our world in a way not seen in years, these policies need to be clarified and evaluated.
'Penn must initiate a serious and careful look at our policies.'
She concluded that she was 'committed to a safe, secure and supportive environment so all members of our community can thrive. We can, and we will, get it right.'
On Thursday, as the House Education Committee said they were investigating the issue further, the board of Wharton - the world's first business school, founded in 1881 at the University of Pennsylvania - said Magill needed to resign.
In a letter addressed to her, they said leadership of the university needed to change 'with immediate effect'.
'As a result of the University leadership's stated beliefs and collective failure to act, our Board respectfully suggests to you and the Board of Trustees that the University requires new leadership with immediate effect.'
The board, in a letter first obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, describes their concern about 'dangerous and toxic culture' at Penn that they said the University leadership has allowed to exist.
The letter added that the University leadership 'does not share the values of our Board.'
The House Education and the Workforce Committee said it will probe the elite schools with the 'full force of subpoena power,' after presidents Claudine Gay, Sally Kornbluth, and Magill's astonishing words and actions.
Her resignation comes after crisis talks where 'nothing' happened were held earlier in the week.
The Board was due to meet again Sunday to discuss Magill stepping down before she offered to go.
At the time of her resignation, a petition calling for her to be sacked had received more than 26,000 signatures.
Magill had been in post since July last year, but her and it appears her poor stewardship of clashes between Pro Palestine and Israel supporters will become her legacy.
Several high profile donors threatened to withdraw or have already removed their funding amid the controversy.
Among them was Ross Stevens, the founder and CEO of New York-based Stone Ridge Asset Management, who said he withdrew his $100 million donation in disgust over Penn's handling of anti-Semitism.
1 comment:
Bill Maher is in many ways on old-school liberal. He believes in free speech, freedom of expression and critical thinking. That makes him anathema to modern woke liberalism, which is actually fascism of the left.
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