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☆ ADL gives Harvard and a dozen other universities failing grades on campus antisemitism
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —The Anti-Defamation League has graded 85 American universities for their policies to protect Jewish students from antisemitism on campus. The ADL said antisemitic incidents on campus have reached historic levels, leaving Jewish students feeling unsafe. The dozen schools that received failing grades from the ADL include Harvard, MIT, Stanford, University of Chicago, Princeton, University of Virginia, Tufts, Michigan State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Rockland, and Swarthmore. Harvard remains under federal investigation for potential Title VI violations, and several Jewish students have sued Harvard for failing to protect them from antisemitism. “Like all students, Jewish students deserve to feel safe and supported on campus.”Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel left 1,200 dead, and hundreds of Israelis were taken hostage.

Persons: ”, I’m, Jonathan Greenblatt, Israel, Claudine Gay, Gay, Rabbi David Wolpe, Alan Garber, Raffaella Sadun, Derek Penslar, Larry Summers, Sadun, University of Pennsylvania –, Brandeis, Justice Louis Brandeis, Greenblatt Organizations: New, New York CNN, Defamation, Harvard, ADL, “, Civil, Education Department, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University and Stanford, MIT, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, Tufts , Michigan State University , University of Massachusetts, SUNY, Swarthmore . Harvard, Harvard Faculty, Staff, Justice, Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, American Resistance Organization, Education, Harvard’s Divinity School, Harvard Business School, Columbia, Rutgers, Brandeis, Elon, Students for Justice, Foundation, Combat, Elon University Locations: New York, United States, Israel, Princeton, Tufts ,, Tufts , Michigan State University , University of Massachusetts Amherst, SUNY Rockland, Palestine, “, Gaza

☆ Harvard antisemitism official abruptly resigns from new task force
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —The co-chair of a newly formed task force fighting antisemitism at Harvard University has abruptly stepped down after barely a month at the helm. The Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance, which the Globe said is leading the campaign, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When Garber announced the presidential task force on antisemitism, he tapped Sadun and Harvard professor Derek Penslar to co-chair it. Penslar remains on the presidential task force, after receiving significant internal and external support. The rest of the antisemitism task force is being filled out by various students, professors and administrators at Harvard.

Persons: Raffaella Sadun, Alan Garber, Sadun, “, ” Garber, ”, Bill Ackman, Garber, David Wolpe, Claudine Gay’s, Jared Ellias, tapped Sadun, Derek Penslar, Larry Summers, Roni Brunn Organizations: New, New York CNN, Harvard University, Harvard Business School, Ivy League, CNN, Harvard, Harvard Crimson, Harvard’s Divinity School, Boston Globe, Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance, Globe, Department of Education, Jewish, Harvard Jewish, Alliance, Sunday . Locations: New York

☆ Opinion: The meaning of Black History Month on campus following the ouster of Harvard’s president
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Opinion Khalil Gibran Muhammad | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Black History Month, which gets underway this week, is a chance to give Americans the timely reminder that you can’t teach our history honestly without understanding Black struggle and triumph. There are few aspects of America’s past that haven’t been impacted by conscientious Black people and their resistance to systemic racism and illiberal democracy. The situation at Harvard has been made more dire by the university’s failure to push back sufficiently against broader political attacks. Another vocal critic of Penslar is the former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, who was also an outspoken opponent of Gay’s. As an academic institution, we should be leading the resistance to these assaults on higher education, not bowing to them.

Persons: Khalil Gibran Muhammad, ” Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Virginia Foxx, ” Foxx, ”, Claudine Gay, Foxx, “, haven’t, Donald Trump, Adolph Hitler, Alan Garber, Gay, —, Garber, Derek J, Harvard’s, Penslar, Bill Ackman, Lawrence Summers, Black Organizations: Ford Foundation, Harvard University, CNN, Harvard Kennedy School, Republican, University of Pennsylvania, GOP Rep, Global, Harvard Divinity School, “, Racial, Harvard, Republican Party, Equity Locations: American, United States, America, Florida, Gaza, Israel

☆ The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Long Shadow of 1948
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Emily Bazelon | A Discussion Moderated Emily Bazelon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

In 1948, Jews realized their wildly improbable dream of a state, and Palestinians experienced the mass flight and expulsion called the Nakba, or catastrophe. It’s only in 1948 that the Arabs become Palestinians and the Jews become Israelis. Many Jews became lower-level officers during World War II, and they brought their new military expertise to the 1948 war. Zoltan Kluger/GPO, via Getty Images Palestinian bombers destroyed buildings on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem in March 1948. Bettmann/Getty Images A Palestinian refugee cut off from her home by the border established after the 1948 war.

Persons: Matson, —, Khalil Raad, Yaakov Ben Dov Delegates, Haj Amin al, Husseini, ”, It’s, Avraham Avinu, David, Fox, King David Hotel, David Ben, Gurion, “, Hitler, Hans Pinn, Abd al, Qadir al, Chalil, Zoltan Kluger, Ben Yehuda, Hugo H, Mendelsohn, John Phillips, Palestine ”, UNSCOP, Bettmann, Ruth Orkin, David Seymour, Jordan, Israel, Abdullah, Nadim, Leena Dallasheh, Abigail Jacobson, Moshe Naor, ” Derek Penslar, ” Itamar Rabinovich, Salim Tamari, Emily Bazelon, Herzl, Faisal Al, Hashemi, James Russell &, Bain, Jabotinsky, Abraham Pisarek, Weizmann, Heinrich Hoffmann Organizations: Congress, Institute for Palestine, Palestinian, . Institute for Palestine, Matson, Palestine, Getty, of Congress British, Peel, Zionist, Jewish, British Armed Forces, Allied, King, of Congress Women, Hulton, Biltmore, British, Agence France, Getty Images, Refugees, West Bank, Shutterstock, United Nations, League of Nations, United, United Nations Jewish, Madver, The, Palestine Studies, Columbia University, Columbia University , New York University, Rice University, Islamic, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University, Tel Aviv University, Birzeit University, Institute for Palestine Studies, The New York Times Magazine, James Russell & Sons, of Congress, Israel, Ben, General Photographic Agency, Society, International Affairs Locations: Palestine, City, Jerusalem, Canadian American, Israel, British, Jaffa, Damascus, Old City, Hebron, Safed, Europe, Arab, North Africa, New York City, Middle Eastern, Haifa, Cyprus, Jenin, U.S, United Nations, Iraq, Tel Aviv’s Lod, Lebanon, Eyal, el Bared, Egypt, Syria, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Palestinian, United States, Qatar, Iran, Columbia University ,, Nazareth, Israeli, Husseini

☆ House GOP threatens Harvard with subpoena, considers expanding antisemitism investigation to Cornell and Columbia
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A spokesperson for the committee provided CNN a list of the 24 documents Harvard turned over to Congress, noting that all of them were already available publicly. Asked if she has considered adding other schools including Cornell University and Columbia University to the investigation, Foxx said yes. We are quite well aware of Cornell and Columbia,” Foxx said, adding that Columbia President Minouche Shafik was invited to testify but was unable to attend. White-shoe law firm WilmerHale is aiding UPenn in the House investigation, a university spokesperson told CNN. But that had nothing to do with our investigation,” Foxx said.

Persons: Virginia Foxx, Harvard, ” Foxx, Foxx, Jason Newton, “, ” Newton, ” Cornell, Minouche Shafik, WilmerHale, UPenn, Liz Magill, Anna Rose Layden, Derek Penslar, Larry Summers, ”, “ We’re, Penslar “, Gay, Claudine Gay Organizations: New, New York CNN — Rep, House Education, Workforce Committee, Harvard University, CNN, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Columbia University, Cornell, Department of Education, House, Rep, U.S, Capitol, American Academy for Jewish Research, National, Gay Locations: New York, Washington , DC, Israel, Penslar

☆ Opinion: Elon Musk, Harvard and the art of ‘taking action’ while doing nothing
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Elon Musk, who spends much of his time on futuristic endeavors, took a step into history on Monday. Like in other entities where an upsurge in antisemitic activity started making headlines, Musk was taking performative action at Auschwitz. It was an effort to appear to be taking action while doing nothing. After his visit to the death camp, Musk appeared at a conference on antisemitism in nearby Krakow, Poland. President Claudine Gay was asked in Congress if calls for genocide against Jews violate Harvard rules against bullying and harassment.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, CNN — Elon Musk, Musk, “ Hitler, ”, ” Musk, dumbest, George Soros “, Ted Deutch, Elders of Zion, X, “, Tucker Carlson, Claudine Gay, Israel “, Israel, he’s “, Alan Garber, Garber, Derek Penslar, Penslar, Larry Summers Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Frida Ghitis CNN, Center, Twitter, Defamation, American Jewish Committee, Elders of, Media Matters, Apple, Disney, IBM, Media, Harvard University, Harvard, Jewish, Harvard’s, Jewish Studies Locations: Auschwitz, Israel, Gaza, United States, Krakow, Poland

☆ Israeli hostage posters at Harvard vandalized with antisemitic messages
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Israeli hostage posters that were hung up at Harvard University had been vandalized with antisemitic messages just as students returned from winter break. Footage shared with CNN by Harvard student Alexander Kestenbaum shows a handful of hostage posters defaced with messages such as “Israel did 9/11.” A poster of a four-year-old Israeli hostage was defaced, while “LIES FAKE” was scrawled over another hostage poster. Photos and videos geolocated by CNN indicate the vandalized posters were hung just outside Holworthy Hall, a first-year student dorm located on the northern edge of Harvard Yard. The Harvard spokesperson said the vandalized posters near the Thayer Gate have been removed and the Harvard University Police Department is investigating the incident. “Instead, they were confronted with vandalism, the defacement of hostage posters, and vile antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Persons: ”, Alexander Kestenbaum, Israel, “, It’s, Kestenbaum, Claudine Gay’s, Jonathan Greenblatt, ” Greenblatt, Getzel Davis, ” Davis, Alan Garber, ” Garber, Larry Summers, Derek Penslar, Summers, Penslar, nauseous, Celina Tebor, Michelle Watson, Nic, Anderson Organizations: New, New York CNN, Harvard University, Harvard, CNN, Harvard Yard, Harvard University Police Department, Cambridge, Visitors, Harvard’s, Equity, Diversity, Defamation, Harvard Hillel, American Academy for Jewish Research, Columbia University, NYPD, Columbia Locations: New York, Harvard’s, Holworthy, Cambridge , Massachusetts, Israel

☆ Larry Summers blasts Harvard over antisemitism: ‘I have lost confidence’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Famed economist Larry Summers slammed Harvard’s top leaders on Sunday over concerns about how the Ivy League school is fighting antisemitism. Summers, a former president of Harvard, strongly criticized the selection of Harvard professor Derek Penslar as the co-chair of a newly-formed presidential task force on antisemitism. “I have lost confidence in the determination and ability of the Harvard Corporation and Harvard leadership to maintain Harvard as a place where Jews and Israelis can flourish,” Summers said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The task forces will be charged with examining bias, determining root causes and compiling recommendations to combat hate. “As things currently stand, I am unable to reassure Harvard community members, those we are recruiting or prospective students that Harvard is making progress in countering anti-Semitism,” Summers said.

Persons: Larry Summers, Harvard’s, Summers, Derek Penslar, “, ” Summers, Claudine Gay, Clinton, Obama, Penslar, ”, ” Penslar, Israel, Israel’s, Bill Ackman, “ Harvard, Alison Frank Johnson, Steven Levitsky, stnd, ” Alan Garber, ” Garber, Penny Pritzker Organizations: New, New York CNN, Ivy League, Harvard, Harvard Corporation, Twitter, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, CNN, American Academy for Jewish Research, North America ”, The Corporation Locations: New York, Israel, Gaza, North America

☆ Critics Protest Harvard’s Choice to Lead Antisemitism Task Force
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Anemona Hartocollis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Harvard task force on antisemitism has gotten off to a rocky start, with complaints that the professor chosen to help lead the panel had signed a letter that was critical of Israel, describing it as “under a regime of apartheid.”Harvard’s new interim president, Alan Garber, announced the formation of two “presidential task forces” forces on Friday, one to combat antisemitism and the other to combat Islamophobia. The move came less than a month after his predecessor, Claudine Gay, was forced to step down over plagiarism accusations and criticism that she was weak on reining in antisemitism. Dr. Garber’s choice for co-chair of the antisemitism task force, Derek J. Penslar, a professor of Jewish history at Harvard, met with immediate opposition from Lawrence H. Summers, a former Harvard president, and Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager whose relentless criticism of Dr. Gay helped bring about her downfall. Dr. Penslar was among nearly 2,900 academics, clergy members and other public figures who signed an open letter in early August, before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, condemning the Israeli government and saying it was determined to “ethnically cleanse all territories under Israeli rule of their Palestinian population.” The letter said that “Meanwhile, American Jewish billionaire funders help support the Israeli far right.”

Persons: Alan Garber, Claudine Gay, Derek J, Lawrence H, Summers, Bill Ackman, Gay, Penslar, ” Organizations: Harvard Locations: Israel

☆ Fact Check: Palestinian official flag in 1939 did not show Star of David
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The image of the flag, which is half white and half blue with the Star of David in its centre, is spreading on Facebook (archived) with claims that it shows the official 1939 Palestinian flag. “The 1939 flag of Palestine shows that it was recognized as a Jewish entity even then,” one Facebook account wrote (archived). According to academics who spoke to Reuters, the flag seen in circulating images is not an official flag of historical Palestine. An example of a mandate-era official flag from 1946 can be seen on the British Imperial War Museums website. The official flag of mandate Palestine in 1939, during which Palestine was administered by Britain as a League of Nations Mandate, was a Union Jack.

Persons: David, Shay Hazkani, Joseph, Rebecca Meyerhoff, Jack, ”, Salim Tamari, Tamari, Sharif Hussein, Derek Penslar, William Lee Frost, “, Union Jack, Penlsar, Tamir Sorek, Read Organizations: Zionist, Palestinian, Jewish, Star, Larousse, Reuters, Center for Jewish Studies, University of Maryland, League of Nations, Institute of Palestine Studies, Birzeit University, British, Harvard University, Union, Penn State University, Society, International Affairs, Britain, League of Nations Mandate, Thomson Locations: Palestine, Larousse French, Israel, Ottoman Empire, Union

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