HARVARD HAS A LONG HISTORY OF ANTISEMITISM

Frustrated Jewish Harvard alum plan MASSIVE audit of classes and claim entire programs 'are built on anti-Semitic lies' as university allowed hatred to fester with little intervention by administrators

The Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance was established after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel , which brought anti-Israel protesters out on the Harvard campus

 

By Rachel Bowman 

 

Daily Mail

Feb 25, 2024

 

112 Harvard faculty and staff claiming to support Palestine reposted an antisemitic cartoon on Feb. 19 after it was shared by two student groups. 

 

Jewish Harvard alumni are reportedly planning an audit of the university's course offerings to root out what they believe is causing anti-Semitism to fester at the Ivy League.

Documents viewed by The Boston Globe show members of the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance are launching an effort to intervene with university leadership who they say administrators have let the hatred grow undeterred.

The alumni group was established after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which brought anti-Israel protesters out on the Harvard campus and forced former President Claudine Gay to resign from her post after disastrous testimony to Congress that failed to condemn campus anti-Semitism.

Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance held a meeting with interim university president Alan Garber last month requesting to 'launch a transparent inquiry … to review and revise the objectives and practices' of Harvard's diversity, equity and inclusion offices. 

'[W]e were very, very clear how frustrated our group was and the wide range of emotions from anger to disappointment,' the groups president Eric Fleiss said in a WhatsApp channel viewed by the Globe.

 

Members of the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance are reportedly launching an effort to intervene with university leadership who they say have let anti-Semitism grow undeterred

The alumni group was established after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel , which brought anti-Israel protesters out on the Harvard campus

Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance held a meeting with interim university president Alan Garber last month requesting to '[l]aunch a transparent inquiry'

 

'We think it is fair to say that they clearly recognize they have a problem, and that it is part of/related to the broader issue on campus of free speech and institutional neutrality.'

The group wants Harvard to '[t]ake swift, concrete and public action' to discipline community members who are '[d]isrupting classes, occupying buildings and inciting violence.'

The audit is intended to identify sources of anti-Semitism within the university’s courses, events and programs.

In messages viewed by the Globe, some members said anti-Semitism has been inflamed by professors teaching worldviews that divide people into the 'oppressors' and 'oppressed.'

Members of the group expressed hope to identify sources of anti-Jewish sentiment on campus, according to messages that has been labeled as 'unendorsed' by the official Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance.

Dana Horn, a Harvard graduate who served on an anti-Semitism advisory board organized by former President Gay said in a messages viewed by the Globe: 'There are entire Harvard courses and programs and events that are premised on anti-Semitic lies.' 

'The real question, in my opinion, is whether we can win the proverbial "war" at Harvard,' Antony Gordon, a 1990 Harvard Law School graduate said in the forum.

 

'[W]e were very, very clear how frustrated our group was and the wide range of emotions from anger to disappointment,' the groups president Eric Fleiss (pictured) said

The group wants Harvard to '[t]ake swift, concrete and public action' to discipline community members who are '[d]isrupting classes, occupying buildings and inciting violence'

 

Roni Brunn, a spokesperson for the alliance, said, 'I want to be clear that writing or insinuating that this group or its content represents HJAA is factually inaccurate.'

'Harvard holds a cherished place in our hearts, serving not just as an academic institution but as a symbol of excellence and truth.'

'We joined together for one simple reason — a shared concern about growing anti-Semitism at Harvard,' she said. 

Last week, a faculty organization claiming to support Palestine posted an anti-Semitic cartoon depicting a Jewish person hanging black and Arab men on Instagram.

The cartoon dates back to 1967, according to Tablet Magazine and was originally published in a magazine linked to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

It was reposted on Instagram by the group 'Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine,' which was formed weeks after Gay's departure and features a letter signed by 112 members of staff. 

The image includes a hand with a dollar sign inside a Star of David - the symbol of Judaism. Linking money to the religion is a deeply offensive anti-Semitic stereotype.

In January, Jewish Harvard students filed a lawsuit demanding tuition refunds from the pricey school over its 'abject failure' to protect them from rampant anti-Semitism.

 

Last week, a faculty organization claiming to support Palestine posted an anti-Semitic cartoon depicting a Jewish person hanging black and Arab men on Instagram

In January, Jewish Harvard students filed a lawsuit demanding tuition refunds from the pricey school over its 'abject failure' to protect them from rampant anti-Semitism

 

Six students led by Shabbos Kestenbaum are demanding that anti-Semitic professors be fired, and students who troll them disciplined.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Kestenbaum - whose legal name is Alex - said he and the other students are also seeking reimbursements. For some students enrolled in the prestigious law school, that amounts to more than $75,000 a year.

He said Harvard 'hasn't lived up to its end of the deal' in protecting Jewish students from discrimination, and the families have a right to ask for their money back.

'Whatever the cost of tuition is per year at Harvard Law School, that should be refunded. Harvard has breached the contract it enters into with students.

‘Harvard has not lived up to its end of the bargain – Jews are excluded from the code of conduct that should protect them.'