More than 100 Harvard professors published an open letter condemning the 30+ student groups that signed a joint statement expressing support for Palestinian terrorists and blaming Jews for Hamas’ attack against them. The professors also called out Harvard leadership for failing to properly react to their students.
In an open letter to Harvard President Claudine Gay and the Harvard University leadership, the professors said that the recent terror attack in Israel “should not mislead us to create false equivalencies between the actions leading to this loss.”
“Hamas planned and executed the murder and kidnapping of civilians, particularly women, children, and the elderly, with no military or other specific objective,” they wrote.
KFAR AZA, ISRAEL – OCTOBER 10: A view of a house left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants on this kibbutz days earlier when dozens of civilians were killed near the border with Gaza, on October 10, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Harvard University President-elect Claudine Gay arrives on stage during the 372nd Commencement at Harvard University. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“This meets the definition of a war crime,” the professors affirmed. “The Israeli security forces were engaging in self-defense against this attack while dealing with numerous hostage situations and a barrage of thousands of rockets hidden deliberately in dense urban settings.”
The Harvard professors went on to slam the more than 30 student groups in question, stating that “While terrorists were still killing Israelis in their homes, 35 Harvard student organizations wrote that they hold ‘the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,’ with not a single word denouncing the horrific acts by Hamas.”
“In the context of the unfolding events, this statement can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based only on their nationality,” the professors said.
“We’ve heard reports of even worse instances, with Harvard students celebrating the ‘victory’ or ‘resistance’ on social media,” they added.
The faculty members then called out Harvard for “falling short” of using this moment as a teaching opportunity to reminds its Ivy League students that “some acts such as war crimes are simply wrong.”
“As a University aimed at educating future leaders, this could have been a teaching moment and an opportunity to remind our students that beyond our political debates, some acts such as war crimes are simply wrong. However, the statement by Harvard’s administration fell short of this goal,” the professors said.
“While justly denouncing Hamas, it still contributed to the false equivalency between attacks on noncombatants and self-defense against those atrocities,” the professors continued.
“Furthermore, the statement failed to condemn the justifications for violence that come from our own campus, nor to make it clear to the world that the statement endorsed by these organizations does not represent the values of the Harvard community,” they added.
The professors then asked, “How can Jewish and Israeli students feel safe on a campus in which it is considered acceptable to justify and even celebrate the deaths of Jewish children and families?”
The professors added that while “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a long and complex history,” the “events of this week are not complicated.”
“Sometimes there is such a thing as evil, and it is incumbent upon educators and leaders to call it out, as they have with school shootings and terrorist attacks,” they said. “It is imperative that our academic leadership, whose good faith we do not doubt, state this clearly and unequivocally.”
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