- A controversy erupted at Harvard after about thirty student groups distributed a letter in support of the Palestinians, calling Israel an “apartheid regime.” Conservative groups announced the names of the signatories and accused them of anti-Semitism.
- Harvard management reacted cautiously in an initial press release, triggering criticism. But freedom of expression is a strong concern at American universities, and professors are also calling for the protection of bullied students.
- 20 Minutes takes stock of the issue as elected officials and Harvard financial supporters fuel the controversy and several patrons threaten to withdraw their donations.
In the office, with your friends or at family dinner this weekend, you will have noticed: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most sensitive topics of discussion. Between international support for Israel, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the designation of Hamas as “terrorists,” it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a consensus position. Certain personalities and institutions are violently attacked due to a lack of reaction or after a clumsy press release.
This is particularly the case at the renowned American University of Harvard, where donors, teachers, alumni and students are torn apart between harassment, accusations of anti-Semitism and accusations of “genocide”. Where does this controversy come from? How is the university management trying to calm the crisis? Why do financial supporters and alumni get involved? 20 minutes takes stock.
Where did the controversy start?
It all started on October 8, the day after the Hamas attack and after the first Israeli bombings. Some thirty student groups and clubs have co-signed and distributed a letter on campus denouncing “the apartheid regime of Israel,” which is “responsible for all the violence” that has characterized “all aspects of Palestinian life for 75 years.” “I was very proud and touched by the accuracy and courage of this letter,” Josh, an activist with a pro-Palestinian Jewish organization and recent Harvard graduate, told Libération. “But the backlash was crazy. »
The matter quickly took a media turn when a former director and several elected officials (Republicans Elise Stefanik and Ted Cruz, a graduate of Harvard Law School, Democrat Jake Auchincloss) called for a decisive response from the university’s leadership. The campus is also enthusiastic, with a second text backed by professors and several thousand students describing the pro-Palestinian press release as “completely false and deeply offensive.” Worse still, doxxing takes place, revealing the names of the signatories of the first text. A van paid for by a conservative group drove across campus and showed the photos and names of the signatories on a screen, labeled with the adjective “anti-Semitic.” “I threw up in Harvard Garden,” one of the targets told the New York Times.
How did Harvard management react?
Prompted to respond, the university office issued an initial press release on October 9, proposing to “deepen the knowledge” of the conflict in the name of “our common humanity and our shared values” and “the fear, the sadness, the anger “emphasized that it could run through the students. Much too soft, say some critics.
Harvard President Claudine Gay then spoke in first person the following evening: “There is no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities of Hamas.” (…) Allow me also to emphasize that our students on this and others Subjects certainly have the right to speak on their behalf, but no student group—not even thirty student groups—speaks on behalf of Harvard University or its leadership. »
Why is the most prestigious American university in danger?
In the United States, free speech is strongly protected by the Constitution and is a topic of attention on campuses where resistance to the Vietnam War was forged. At Stanford and Columbia, university presidents who tend to encourage diversity of opinion have also been criticized for not speaking out “quickly enough or loudly enough” about similar facts on their campuses, the American Association of Universities (AACU) president quotes. . ), Lynn Pasquerella. A collective of Harvard professors is calling for the protection of students who are “harassed” online.
Because donors and alumni continue to put pressure on Harvard. Bill Ackman, a Wall Street figure who attended Boston University, called for the names of the signatories of the first text to be made public so as not to “accidentally” shut them down. The Wexner Foundation, which supports the education of elite members of the Jewish community in the United States, has ended its partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School. In response to “the abject failure of Harvard leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stance against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians,” wrote billionaire Les Wexner, founder of Bath & Body Works (Victoria’s) retail chain Secret.
According to American media, Kenneth Griffin, CEO of the Citadel investment fund and one of Harvard’s largest donors ($350 million in 2023), also made his displeasure known. If this is not enough to threaten the “economic model” of the university, one of the richest in the world, the phenomenon will weaken the smaller campuses, fears Lynn Pasquerella.