Harvard’s Administration isn’t listening, but we are.
A recently formed group of Jewish alumni from Harvard—The Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance (HJAA)—has released an audit that reveals, among other things, that Harvard’s education systemically planted and spread the seeds of hatred for Israel and Jews well before October 7, 2023. Jewish students at the school feel ostracized and harassed not only by students on campus but by faculty and teaching fellows there as well.
[The professor] said, ‘Where are you from?’ I said, ‘Israel.’ He looked at me and said … ‘I need to ask you to leave the class….’
Kim Nahari, Sophomore
Harvard signals that Jews are only acceptable so long as they don’t fully embrace Judaism and choose to practice their religion. The second half of the year taught me that the only hope of surviving Harvard as a Jew was not to dress “too Jewish” and not to request the university accommodate Jewish holidays, speak Hebrew, or, God forbid, actually support Israel’s right to exist.
Anonymous recent former student
HJAA, numbering 3,000 members, came together when, in the wake of Hamas’ October 7th terrorist attack, the murdering of 1200 people (mainly civilians) and the taking of 250 hostages, more than 30 student groups at Harvard signed a statement that “h[e]ld the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” Many students then rallied in support of the genocidal terrorist group Hamas which had just committed crimes against humanity while simultaneously condemning Israel as a racist colonial settler, apartheid, and genocidal state worthy of elimination.
We looked at the actions of the students and wondered: How could they be so filled with hate towards Israel and misinformation about the region. What we found was that students learn hatred of Israel and hostility toward Jews from the education itself. The problem is systemic, and it started before October 7th.
Jessica Levin, audit report author
The report – “THE SOIL BENEATH THE ENCAMPMENTS: How Israel and Jews Became the Focus of Hate at Harvard” does not purport to be a definitive examination of the problems at Harvard. However, in several months of preliminary study, its seven authors found these problems at the school – all present well before October 7th.
- Among the 42 students they spoke with, all but one reported feeling ostracized, excluded, fearful, and/or harassed because of their Jewish identity or their sympathy towards Israel
- Jewish students were bullied and harassed by other students without protection or repercussion from the Administration.
- A distorted, often false narrative is perpetrated and taught across Harvard’s departments, courses, events, and faculty advocacy. It promotes the view that Israel is the last remaining “colonial settler” power embodying the world’s worst evils: racism, apartheid, and genocide; in this narrative, known anti-Israel terrorist groups are simply “political movements.”
- Faculty and teaching fellows don’t hide their extreme bias on the topic and hostility.
- Visiting faculty and event speakers with known antisemitic views—even those associated with terrorist organizations—are invited to teach and speak.
- Few faculty provide a counter-voice or even a balanced voice to the virulently anti-Israel narrative.
Students and faculty interviewed for the report insisted on anonymity out of fear of academic, social, and even physical retaliation—only two students agreed to have their names shared publicly. For the other students and faculty, the quotes used had to be “scrubbed” at the interviewee’s request so no one could possibly identify them. That’s what it has come to. Here are some of the quotes:
- “On October 11th, the Religion and Public Life department [of the Divinity School] released a statement trying to contextualize and rationalize (Hamas’) violence… The professor offered no apologies. She is inviting a Palestinian speaker next week who publicly said that Israel made up the stories about babies being beheaded and women being raped.” – Student 1
- “Almost everybody I know, including myself, does not represent their true attitudes in the classroom.” – Student 1
- “It’s indoctrination, not education. The last place you will have a free, interesting discussion is a Harvard classroom.” – Faculty Member 3
Eric Fleiss, HJAA’s President, explained, “Harvard’s double standard when it comes to protecting its Jewish students is why HJAA insists that the Administration and Corporation ‘take swift, concrete, and public action to enforce the University’s codes of conduct uniformly and without exception, and discipline students, faculty and staff who violate them.’“
We started by examining the impact of Harvard’s education on Jewish students. As alumni, we also hope that this examination, which is ultimately an examination of veritas, will benefit the entire Harvard community.
Zoe Bernstein, audit report author
None of the seven members of the research/writing committee knew each other before collaborating on this report. All are professionals in the fields of education, executive search, medicine, social work, literature, and software.
The report concludes: As concerned alumni of Harvard University, we, the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance (HJAA), advocate for (in Harvard’s words) “a community that is open, welcoming and inclusive and that supports all community members in pursuit of the University’s mission of learning, teaching, research, and discovery.”