Harvard President Claudine Gay finally condemned the “terrorist atrocities of Hamas in Israel” – contradicting the views of many of the university’s students.
In a statement posted on the Ivy League institution’s website, Gay said the 34 student groups that had pledged to support the Islamist militants “do not speak for the university or its leadership.”
The Hamas movement, which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, attacked Israel on Saturday, causing the worst breach of the country’s defenses since the Arab armies’ war in 1973. Israel responded with air strikes on Gaza.
Leaders of one of America’s most prestigious colleges remained silent as the death toll on both sides exceeded four times that number – until today.
Harvard President Claudine Gay (pictured) finally condemned Hamas’s “terrorist atrocities in Israel” – contradicting 31 student groups at the Ivy League institution that have pledged support for the militants
In a statement posted on the Ivy League institution’s website, Gay said the 31 student groups that pledged to support the militants “do not speak for the university or its leadership.”
“As the events of the last few days continue to reverberate, there is no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas,” Gay said in a statement.
“Such inhumanity is abhorrent, regardless of individual opinions about the origins of long-standing conflicts in the region.”
“In this matter, as in others, let me point out that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group – not even 30 student groups – speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.”
“Rhetoric that aims to educate rather than agitate will do us all good in such difficult times.”
“And I urge all of us in this learning community to keep this in mind as we continue our discussions.”
A coalition of 34 Harvard student organizations said that after decades of occupation, they “hold the Israeli regime solely responsible for all the violence,” adding that “the apartheid regime is the only culprit.”
Organizations that signed the letter included Muslim and Palestinian support groups, as well as others named from diverse backgrounds, including the Harvard Jews for Liberation and the African American Resistance Organization.
“The apartheid regime is the only culprit,” they said. “Israeli violence has shaped every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years.”
“From systematic land confiscations to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and forced family separation to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of slow and sudden death.”
The Hamas movement, which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, attacked Israel on Saturday, causing the worst breach of the country’s defenses since the Arab armies’ war in 1973. (Pictured: a hostage taken by Hamas)
Disturbing footage appeared to show Hamas militants showing off the naked bodies of women they kidnapped from the festival on Saturday
Hamas terrorists capture an elderly Israeli woman
Israeli police evacuate a woman and child from the scene of a rocket explosion
People mourn at the grave of Eden Guez, who was killed at a festival attacked by Hamas gunmen that left at least 260 people dead, at her funeral in Ashkelon, southern Israel
Gays and senior leaders, including 15 Harvard University deans, issued a statement Monday saying they were “heartbroken by the death and destruction caused by Hamas’ attack on citizens in Israel this weekend.” became”.
However, the statement avoided direct references to the student letter or response to it.
Harvard is the most influential university in U.S. politics and has produced eight former presidents and four of the nine current Supreme Court justices.
Harvard President Emeritus Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary under Democratic President Bill Clinton and a former university president, was one of several Harvard alumni to criticize current Harvard leadership for its lack of response.
“The silence of Harvard leadership … has allowed Harvard to appear neutral at best regarding acts of terrorism against the Jewish state of Israel,” Summers wrote on the social media platform X. “I am disgusted.”
While universities have traditionally been a bastion of free expression and radical ideas, the student letter resonated widely within the political establishment.
Elise Stefanik, a Republican U.S. representative from New York and a Harvard graduate, called the statement “vile and abhorrent” because it excused the “slaughter of innocent women and children.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Harvard Law School graduate, wrote on X: “What the hell is wrong with Harvard?”