Edited by: Fern Sidman

Harvard University has found itself in the center of controversy as more than 1,200 Jewish alumni of the prestigious institution signed a letter to the university’s president and dean, expressing their strong concern over the rise of anti-Semitism on campus, as was reported on Thursday on the Algemeiner.com web site. The Harvard College Jewish Alumni Association (HCJAA), formed in response to the October 7th Hamas terror attack in southern Israel in which 1400 Israelis and other were brutally massacred, and the subsequent wave of virulent anti-Semitism that has erupted throughout the world, is taking a firm stance against the university’s inadequate response to the burgeoning issue, the Algemeiner.com report added.

The letter, addressed to university President Claudine Gay and Dean Rakesh Kumar, emphasized the extreme gravitas of the situation and stated that Jewish alumni will no longer tread lightly when it comes to confronting any manifestations of visceral anti-Semitism, according to the Algemeiner.com report. The HCJAA highlighted the historic posture of Jewish people that has been of a conciliatory nature, but they now emphasize that the days of conciliation in the face of rising anti-Semitism are behind them, the report on the Algemeiner.com site indicated.

The HCJAA was particularly alarmed by a video showing a group of Harvard students, some wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, harassing a Jewish student on campus.

The mob’s behavior, which included shouting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at the Jewish student, has raised serious concerns about the atmosphere of hostility on campus. The Algemeiner.com reported that among the mob was Ibrahim Bharmal, the editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, a publication with a notable history that includes former President Barack Obama among its former editors. Bharmal is also the co-president of the Harvard South Asian Law Students, a group that signed a statement blaming Israel for the recent Hamas wholesale slaughter of innocents, the Algemeiner.com report said.

Also taking note of the disturbing video was hedge fund billionaire Bil Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management and a Harvard alumnus. Ackman took to his X social media account to express his concern and demand action. The New York Post reported that he called for Harvard University to suspend the students seen in the video and questioned how Bharmal could remain in his position after this incident.

“How does this man remain Editor of the Harvard Law Review? How are these students not immediately suspended? How does this not violate @Harvard’s code of conduct for students?” Ackman wrote in his X post, according to the Post report. He also posed the question, “How would Harvard respond if the affected student were Black, Latino, or LGBTQIA?”

Ackman has been actively using his social media platform to express his views and concerns about the situation, and he has garnered support from other business executives who have pledged not to hire Harvard students affiliated with organizations that blamed Israel for the barbaric Hamas attack, according to the Post report.

Harvard University has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident involving Bharmal and his fellow students. The Algemeiner.com report also indicated that the HCJAA has called for a meeting with the university’s leadership to address their concerns and discuss concrete plans to protect Jewish students on campus. They are also seeking an unequivocal condemnation of the Hamas terror attack in Israel from the university’s leadership, which has been noticeably absent so far, the report added.

In an October 30^th report on the Breitbart.com web site, it stated that on Monday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “The Record,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz reacted to Harvard President Claudine Gay establishing an advisory council on fighting anti-Semitism by stating that the creation of such a board is a move to try to keep Jewish donors from cutting off their contributions to the university. He also said that  people shouldn’t donate to Harvard unless President Gay is “willing to condemn Hitler’s youth among her students and among her faculty.”

According to the Breitbart.con report, Dershowitz said the council is “going to correct only one thing, it’s going to correct trying to get more Jewish donors to give money to Harvard. That’s what she seems to care about.”

He added, “These kids who signed these statements while people were still bleeding to death from the rapes and the murders, these are Hitler’s youth. … These are Hitler’s youth…and the president of Harvard refuses to condemn them. She’s now, finally, after a lot of pressure, [been] willing to condemn Hamas, but she’s not willing to condemn Hitler’s youth among her students and among her faculty. And until she does that, I urge everybody to stop contributing to Harvard, to Yale, to the City University of New York, to the University of Pennsylvania. Send your contributions to decent organizations that know the difference between right and wrong,” as was reported by Breitbart.com.

The HCJAA points out that there has been a steady increase in reported incidents of harassment, including physical assaults, verbal abuse, and defacement of Jewish spaces even before the recent wave of anti-Semitism on campus, the Algemeiner.com report said, They argued that the university’s response, or lack thereof, has contributed to a destructive tone of conversation that allows anti-Semitic discourse to proliferate.

The controversies at Harvard have already resulted in financial losses for the university, as philanthropic leaders and business figures are dismayed by the institution’s refusal to disavow students who signed a letter that included Bharmal’s endorsement, according to the Algemeiner.com.  The situation has prompted allegations that Harvard does not treat anti-Semitism as a significant issue.

The HCJAA is advocating for a fundamental shift in the campus culture, with the goal of allowing students to engage in informed debates, critical thinking, and moral reasoning without encountering bullying or antagonism from fellow students, the report added. They are also calling on Harvard to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, eliminate hate speech, and establish a commission to study the root causes of anti-Semitism on campus culture.

The outcome of this dispute at Harvard University will be closely watched, as it has raised important questions about responsibility of educational institutions in addressing issues of anti-Semitism and hate speech.