University students issued a statement condemning Israel’s attacks; Businessmen say it took a long time for the institution to retract
A group of businessmen sponsoring Harvard University’s activities in the US announced the end of the partnership after students at the institution issued a statement blaming Israel for the war against the extremist group Hamas.
In the note, published on social media and signed by 30 student organizations, the students state that the events “did not take place in a vacuum” and are the result of the policies of the last two decades in which the population of Gaza lived in “an openair prison.” .
The text was published on October 8, a day after Hamas militants invaded southern Israel. At least 260 people, including three Brazilians, were killed in a Palestinian massacre at an electronic music festival.
Among the dissatisfied investors is the Wexner Foundation, which is headed by former Victoria’s Secrets CEO Leslie Wexner, the son of RussianJewish immigrants. He announced the end of the partnership with Harvard on Monday (October 19, 2023). Wexner said the university was slow to take a stand against the student demonstration.
“We are shocked and outraged by Harvard leadership’s disgraceful failure to take a clear and unambiguous stance on Israel’s barbaric murders of innocent civilians,” the foundation said in a statement sent to the university, according to CNN International.
Before Wexner, Harvard business leaders also announced cuts due to the institution’s slow response. Last Friday (October 13), Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer left the university’s board. He is the son of Sammy Ofer, one of Israel’s richest men until his death in 2011.
Former university president Larry Summers also commented on the students’ statement. On social networks he said who was “disgusted” that Harvard had “failed” the Hamas attacks.
The current president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, along with 17 other representatives of the North American university, published a note entitled “War in the Middle East” on October 10th.
The text condemns the “death and destruction caused by the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens” and blames the extremist group’s attacks “for the current war between Israel and Gaza.” It states that the institution’s students are free to express themselves as they wish, but they do not speak for the university.