Sao Paulo | Portal
With the start of the war between Israel and Hamas at the weekend, the debates surrounding the Palestinian question have intensified again in a wide variety of areas including science. In the United States, for example, students from prestigious educational institutions published texts claiming that the brutal attack on Saturday (7) was not the direct result of terrorist attacks, but of the yearslong occupation of Palestinian territories by the Israeli government.
For example, a coalition of 34 Harvard student organizations released a statement declaring that the “apartheid regime” sponsored by Israel in the Gaza Strip was “the sole culprit” for the violence that prevailed there. Around 2.3 million people live in the enclave, which has been deprived of basic services for 16 years a scenario that many activists have described as “the largest openair prison in the world”.
At New York University (NYU), Ryna Workman, president of the law school’s student association, wrote in the organization’s newsletter that she refused to condemn the Palestinians because, in her view, they had “created” the violent regime sponsored by the state of Israel. the conditions that made resistance necessary.”
Both communiqués sparked widespread response within and outside the American Jewish community. Because of his statements, NYU’s Workman ultimately lost a job offer from a prestigious law firm. In the case of Harvard, the most influential university in American politics, the statements had even greater consequences because of the delay in the institution’s response.
On Tuesday she finally took a stand. “While our students have the right to speak for themselves, no group or even 30 of them speak for the university or its leadership,” Claudine Gay, the institution’s dean, said in a statement.
Student organizations that have signed the proPalestine letter include Muslim and Palestinian support groups, as well as movements of diverse origins, such as Harvard Jews for Liberation and the African American Resistance Organization, according to Portal.
The New York Post reported that a truck was driving across the university’s campus in the western US state of Massachusetts with plaques displaying the names and photos of students who allegedly signed the statement with the words “AntiSemitic Harvard Leaders.” . . The nonprofit organization Accuracy in Media is responsible for the vehicle.
Larry Summers, former Harvard president and former U.S. Treasury secretary, criticized the university’s current leadership for not initially condemning the Palestinian solidarity letter. He wrote on social media that Harvard appeared to be “neutral at best regarding acts of terrorism against the Jewish state of Israel.”
Speaking to the NBC News portal, 21yearold mathematics student Jacob Miller, president of one of the chapters of the Jewish student organization Hillel at Harvard, said he had never experienced such tension on campus as in the last few days. He said his classmates suffered from crying fits and had difficulty concentrating.
Meanwhile, at California State University, an action supporting the Palestinian cause was criticized on social media, leading to a student organization restricting its Instagram profile to ensure student safety.