After many Arab students at Harvard joined a letter blaming Israel for the Hamas terror attacks, Harvard’s Arab Alumni Association put out a plea for donations, claiming the “relentless bullying and intimidation” they were subjected to caused damage to their “mental health.”
On October 7, the day Hamas massacred hundreds of Israeli civilians, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee issued a letter, co-signed by 33 other Harvard student organizations, stating: “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” Blowback immediately erupted, with calls for the students leading the organizations to be blacklisted from future employment.
“They have been subjected to relentless bullying and intimidation,” the Arab Alumni Association wrote. “Our ask and plea to you all is to extend your hand to these students and provide the vital assistance they need within your capacity and scope of influence. They may require legal counsel, healthcare, mental health support, financial aid or mentorship to navigate these turbulent and uncertain times.”
Despite Hamas committing war crimes, entering civilians’ homes, and murdering babies, children, women, mothers, and fathers, brutalizing the victims, the students claimed in the letter Israel was “the only one to blame.”
“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. … The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine wrote.
“31–yes 31–Harvard organizations have declared that the murders, rapes, kidnappings, and other atrocities committed by Hamas against innocent people are in no way the fault of Hamas, but are rather entirely the fault of … Israel. Something is deeply, deeply wrong in academia,” Princeton professor Robert George pointed out, adding: “As you will see, the groups include Harvard’s Amnesty International affiliate and organizations associated with the undergraduate college and many of the graduate and professional schools.”
Some also noted that the typical left-wing chant linking Israel to apartheid is quickly dispelled by a visit to the land, where one will witness Palestinians shopping, walking freely among Jews, and owning lavish homes in the areas of Judea and Samaria. Palestinians are represented in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.