Nearly 60 student groups at Harvard University signed a statement over the weekend that blames Israel for the recent and ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel by Hamas that have killed at least 700 people so far.
“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” begins the four-paragraph statement signed by a parade of progressive student groups.
Among the signatories are several Harvard Muslim student groups and the Harvard Islamic Society as well as organizations such as the Harvard Arab Medical and Dental Student Association, Harvard Act on a Dream, Amnesty International at Harvard, Neighborhood Program Cambridge, and Harvard Prison Divest Coalition.
The statement argues Israel has kept Palestinians in an “open air prison” for two decades and that the “apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” adding “Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.”
The statement concludes by declaring: “We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.”
The statement has gone viral on social media, prompting outrage and concern from some observers.
“This is the final crack in my broken heart – a joint statement from @Harvard students. I could be sitting in class with these students, watching children brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped and their mutated bodies torn apart by a jeering crowd – and hear why it’s justified,” wrote Yael Bar tur on X.
“Even Hamas doesn’t believe these talking points. These are the same students who think words are violence. I’m so ashamed. I’m done. Sick to my stomach.”
This is the final crack in my broken heart – a joint statement from @Harvard students. I could be sitting in class with these students, watching children brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped and their mutated bodies torn apart by a jeering crowd – and hear why it’s justified. pic.twitter.com/UTi60Y2omJ
— Yael Bar tur 🎗️ (@yaelbt) October 8, 2023
Aviva Klompas, whose X bio states she is co-founder of Boundless Israel, denounced the students’ statement, writing they “are so steeped in hate for Israel, they they are cheering on terrorists and denouncing the victims.”
A group of @Harvard students released a statement that begins, "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."
The statement continues, but that’s all you need to know.
Israelis – young and old – were… pic.twitter.com/h2hHJuBaou
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 8, 2023
“Israelis – young and old – were slaughtered in their homes. Entire families were butchered in cold blood. In one home, a terrorist shot the parents dead, took a child’s cellphone and livestreamed the horrors on the child’s Facebook account. Elsewhere, dozens of young people were massacred at a music festival. Grandmothers were snatched from their homes and taken hostage. They took mothers’ carrying babies. Hamas is currently holding over 100 hostages, most of whom are civilians. Some are babies and children,” Klompas wrote.
Some on X have called on Harvard administrators to act, including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, who said Harvard leadership should condemn the statement.
“It is abhorrent and heinous that Harvard student groups are blaming Israel for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks that have killed over 700 Israelis. Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism,” she posted on X.
“I am calling on the leadership of @Harvard to immediately publicly condemn these vile anti-Semitic statements.”
At least one Harvard student who has been associated with some of the groups said she is shocked by the statement.
“As a Harvard undergrad and now a graduate student, I have been a member of a couple of these organizations and I am livid that they are taking this insane, cruel, and ultimately morally repugnant position,” Namrata Narain posted on X. “Not in my name. I stand with Israel.”
MORE: Rice U. LGBTQ club cuts ties with Jewish group over its ‘invalidation of Palestinian experience’
IMAGE: Jorge Salcedo / Shutterstock
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