The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups released a statement that blamed the Israeli government for the ongoing violence in the Israel-Hamas war. The statement said, “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence”.
The statement also justified the actions of Hamas terrorists, saying that the events did not occur in a vacuum. The statement cited decades of occupation and labeled Israel an apartheid regime.
The statement drew widespread criticism. Some students withdrew their signatures. For example, the Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association said on Instagram, “we regret” that the decision to co-sign the statement has been “interpreted as a tacit support for the recent violent attacks in Israel”. Harvard president Claudine Gay condemned Hamas ‘terrorist atrocities’.
The statement, led by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, has since removed the names of its signing groups for safety reasons, while at least five of the organizations that originally signed the letter have withdrawn their support. Amnesty International at Harvard, Harvard College Act on a Dream, the Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association, the Harvard Islamic Society and the Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo have pulled back their original endorsement of the letter, according to The Harvard Crimson.
“As a board member of a Harvard group that signed the statement on Israel, I think it was egregious and have resigned from my role. I am sorry for the pain this caused. My organization did not have a formal process and I didn’t even see the statement until we had signed on,” said Danielle Mikaelian on X, the platform formally known as Twitter.
Mikaelian added she prevented another student-led group where she was also a board member from signing the letter after she discovered its content. Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo put out a statement on Instagram “to formally apologize” for its involvement in the letter and to “clarify that we stand in solidarity with both Israeli and Palestinian victims and families.”
“Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo strictly denounces and condemns the massacre propagated by the terrorist organization Hamas,” the statement reads. The letter also saw condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for its failure to denounce Hamas’s actions.
“Terrorism is never justified nor someone else’s fault. As hundreds of Israelis and others, including several Americans, remain kidnapped, injured, or dead, the 31 Harvard organizations that signed a letter holding Israel ‘entirely responsible’ for Hamas’ barbarous terrorism should be condemned, as should Harvard leadership for whom silence is complicity,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) before Harvard’s president released a statement on the matter. “I cannot recall a moment when I’ve been more embarrassed by my alma mater.”
The University of Virginia’s Students for Justice in Palestine also drew sharp criticism for its statement that the violent attack on Israel was “a step towards a free Palestine.” The group is participating in a “Day of Resistance” Thursday with its national organization, which said this was a “historic win for the Palestinian resistance: across land, air, and sea, our people have broken down the artificial barriers of the Zionist entity.”
And New York University Student Bar Association President Ryna Workman lost a promised job with law firm Winston & Strawn after putting a statement in the group’s student newsletter that said “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life” and refused to condemn Hamas for the attack.
“Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 students groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership,” she added.
The Presidential Blog for the University of Washington lamented the attack on Israel while pleading for calm heads on campus as fears of antisemitism and anti-Arab violence will rise in the U.S. due to the conflict.
“And at a time when we have seen increased acts of antisemitism and anti-Muslim and anti-Arab violence, I want to reiterate that we must not allow our opinions, grief or anger about the conflict to spill over into abusive behavior or harassment of anyone — civility remains a core value of our academic community,” the blog reads.
