The Harvard Crimson, Rachael A. Dziaba and Aisatu J. Nakoulima, September 23, 2024
A number of speakers condemned antisemitism on Harvard’s campus and called on the University’s leadership to better protect Jewish students during an event hosted by the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance on Sunday.
The event, titled “Crisis on Campus: Zionism, Antisemitism and the Future of Higher Education,” drew hundreds of people people to Sanders Theatre to listen to several high-profile speakers, including U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt.
Harvard Hillel and Harvard Chabad, the two largest Jewish centers on campus, co-sponsored the daylong event, alongside several other external organizations. HJAA organizers said they sold 887 tickets and provided another 113 tickets to people who staffed the event.
Laura E. Fein ’91, founding vice president of the HJAA and event chair, said in an interview with The Crimson before the event that it had been “a very hard year for most Jewish people at Harvard and at many campuses.”
“We wanted to gather and support each other and show each other that we’re a united community,” Fein added.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel took center stage at the event. Prior to the scheduled speakers, attendees were invited to view a photo exhibition outside of the lecture space featuring scenes of devastation and carnage in Israel following the attacks. During the event, graphic videos of Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians were shown to a tearful audience.
Avigail Gimpel, who volunteered at an Israeli burial society during the attacks, provided testimony of the death and mutilation she observed. Her son, Gavriel Gimpel, a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces, was met with standing ovations from the audience as he shared his motivations for serving in the Israeli military.
U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt also spoke to attendees on the work she has done for the government around combating antisemitism.
“In fighting antisemitism, we are fighting for what America stands for,” she said.
Eylon Levy, a former spokesperson for the Israeli government, and Einat Wilf, an author and scholar of Zionism, also discussed the rise of antisemitism on college campuses and beyond during a panel session.
Asked about his response to human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Groups condemning Israel for the high civilian death toll in Gaza, Levy questioned the credibility of their judgments.
“Sometimes the world is wrong,” he said.
“What is so painful about the current wave of antisemitism is the gaslighting — trying to make us doubt our own humanity, our own sanity,” he added.