THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 24
VIGIL
GATHERING
Silent Vigil in Yard Mourns Civilians in Gaza, Israel
Students Grieve, Show Support at Hillel Gathering
| CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023
War in Israel and Gaza Reverberates Across Campus Palestine Solidarity Committee Statement Sparks Backlash BY J. SELLERS HILL AND NIA L. ORAKWUE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Harvard student groups drew intense campus and national backlash this week for signing onto a statement that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” in the wake of a deadly invasion of Israel by the Islamist militant group Hamas. Authored by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and originally cosigned by 33 other Harvard student organizations Saturday, the statement came under fire from federal lawmakers, University professors, and other students. The statement was initially released on the PSC’s Instagram page, which was later temporarily suspended by Meta, according to the group. The account was back online as of Monday evening. “Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum,” the statement reads. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have
already commenced.” “In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence. The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” it continues. The PSC’s statement quickly received widespread condemnation, including from professors and politicians who took to social media to rebuke what they said was an attempt to justify Hamas’ attack. Harvard Computer Science professor Boaz Barak called on the University to remove the organizations’ school affiliations. “I have a lot of criticisms of Israeli policies, but everyone who signed this statement is condoning terrorism, rape, and murder,” Barak wrote on the social media platform X. Former University President Lawrence H. Summers called the joint statement “morally unconscionable” in a post on X. “In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today,” he wrote. The statement was also denounced by federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including by U.S. Rep. Ritchie J. Torres (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.), the
fourth-ranking House Republican. All student organizations that co-signed the PSC’s statement declined to comment, did not respond to requests for comment, or could not be reached for comment. On Oct. 7, at around 6:30 a.m. local time, Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip invaded southern Israel — assailing neighborhoods, civilian gatherings, and military fortifications. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 1,300 Israelis were killed and at least 150 people were taken hostage, according to the Israeli government. The attack took place on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, 50 years and one day after the beginning of the Yom Kippur War, when Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. In the days since, Israeli forces retaliated with aggressive strikes on targets in Gazan cities, razing numerous buildings and killing more than 1,500 Palestinians as of Thursday, according to Gazan health officials. As of Thursday night, a joint statement by Harvard affiliates
SEE ‘STATEMENT’ PAGE 6
Thousands of Harvard Affiliates Call to Condemn Hamas BY RAHEM D. HAMID AND ELIAS J. SCHISGALL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Thousands of Harvard affiliates signed a joint statement published Tuesday condemning the deadly attack on Israel by militant group Hamas and calling for the retraction of student group signatures on a statement that held Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” The Islamist militant group Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, kidnapping at least 150 Israeli civilians and killed more than 1,300 Israelis according to the Israeli government. After the attacks, Israel declared war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a fullscale counteroffensive into Gaza — a Palestinian exclave presently controlled by Hamas. The Israeli counteroffensive has killed more than 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gazan Health Ministry. The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and more than 30 other student groups faced fierce backlash from students, prominent faculty, and national politicians for signing a statement the day of
the invasion saying that Israel’s “apartheid regime is the only one to blame” for the violence. Following the PSC statement, 17 Harvard student organizations including Harvard Hillel and Harvard Chabad joined around 500 faculty and staff members and more than 3,000 other affiliates in signing a statement in response calling the PSC’s statement “completely wrong and deeply offensive.” The response — which was primarily coordinated by Jacob M. Miller ’25, the president of Harvard Hillel and a Crimson Editorial editor — was first circulated Monday and published on Tuesday afternoon. “There are no justifications for acts of terror we have seen in the past days. We call on all the student groups who co-signed the statement to retract their signatures from the offensive letter,” read the response. In another letter published Tuesday afternoon, nearly 160 Harvard faculty members as of Tuesday night from across the University criticized Harvard’s initial response to the war and condemned the PSC statement, writing that it “can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based
only on their nationality.” After several of the student groups retracted their signature from the PSC statement, including the Harvard Islamic Society, Harvard Act on a Dream, and Amnesty International at Harvard, the statement was updated to remove the list of student organizations citing concern for student safety. A PSC representative did not respond to a request for comment for this article. In a Monday afternoon comment on behalf of the PSC, Sanaa M. Kahloon ’25 wrote that the group’s members “reject the accusation that our previous statement could be read as supportive of civilian deaths.” “To restate what should be obvious: the PSC staunchly opposes violence against civilians — Palestinian, Israeli, or other,” Kahloon wrote. While the faculty letter acknowledged varied perspectives on “Israel’s past actions,” it argued that the tactics of Hamas’ invasion — which they say constitute war crimes — leave no room for nuance. “The events of this week are not complicated,” the faculty wrote. “Sometimes there is such
SEE ‘RESPONSE’ PAGE 6
DOXXING
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
WITHDRAWALS
‘Doxxing Truck’ Shows Students’ Names, Faces
In Video Message, Gay Defends Free Expression
Amid Backlash, 9 Groups Withdraw Signatures
PAGE 6. A billboard truck drove through the streets around Harvard’s campus displaying names and faces of students claimed to be affiliated with groups that signed the Palestine Solidarity Committee statement.
PAGE 7. Harvard President Claudine Gay forcefully condemned “barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas” and rejected calls to punish and name students who signed onto the PSC’s statement.
PAGE 7. Amid continued national backlash, at least 9 Harvard student groups withdrew their signatures from the controversial statement calling Israel “entirely responsible” for the ongoing violence.