Truck displaying names, faces of 'Harvard's Leading Antisemites' drives around Ivy League campus after student groups blame Israel for Hamas attack

A truck displaying the names and faces of "Harvard's Leading Antisemites" drove around the Ivy League campus this week after Harvard student groups blamed Israel for the surprise attack Israel suffered at the hands of terror group Hamas.

The Harvard Crimson reported that the truck drove through the streets surrounding Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday as it digitally displayed the names and faces of students allegedly affiliated with student groups that signed the controversial statement on Hamas’ attack on Israel. The truck also showed an internet address that listed multiple full names of students associated with organizations that had signed on to the statement, the Crimson added.

What's the background?

The controversial statement in question from the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee begins, "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence." It adds, "The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians."

Among the groups that reportedly sponsored the letter were the Harvard Islamic Society, the Society of Arab Students, the Harvard Jews for Liberation, the Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Caucus, the Harvard Kennedy School Bangladesh Caucus, the Harvard Undergraduate Arab Women's Collective, the Sikhs and Companions of Harvard Undergraduates, and the Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association.

The statement drew immediate, intense backlash.

Lawrence Summers, president emeritus of Harvard, responded, "In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today. ... Harvard is being defined by the morally unconscionable statement apparently coming from two dozen student groups blaming all the violence on Israel. I am sickened. I cannot fathom the Administration's failure to disassociate the University and condemn this statement."

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman noted that a number of CEOs asked him if Harvard would release a list of the members of the student organizations who sponsored the letter "so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members."

"If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known," Ackman added.

The Crimson reported that at least nine of the original co-signing student groups withdrew their signatures from the statement as of Thursday evening.

More from the student newspaper:

By Tuesday evening, at least four online sites had listed the personal information of students linked to clubs that had signed onto the statement, including full names, class years, past employment, social media profiles, photos, and hometowns.

As of Wednesday morning, at least two of those sites had been taken down for violating Google’s terms of service.

'Heinous intimidation technique'

Accuracy in Media, a conservative media advocacy group, sponsored the truck that displayed names and faces of students, the Crimson said.

Adam Guillette, president of AIM, declined to say when the truck would leave campus but told the Crimson in a Thursday interview it would “be here for some time.” Guillette also told the student newspaper that the truck was no longer displaying the names and faces of students.

The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee called on university leaders to “immediately and unequivocally condemn the harassment and intimidation of its students," the Crimson reported.

“The truck actively threatens students safety on campus at a time when credible death threats have already forced us to postpone a solidarity vigil acknowledging all civilian victims,” the PSC told the student newspaper.

“It is quite literally physical threat, a heinous intimidation technique, a warning sign meant to scare ideological allies into repudiating our mission — and for the Jewish members of associations linked to our own, an unjustifiable and insulting slap in the face,” the PSC's statement to the Crimson continued. “The doxxing truck is the ugliest culmination of a campaign to silence pro-Palestinian activism that the PSC has experienced for years.”

Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick wrote in a university-wide email Wednesday evening that the college “takes seriously the safety and wellbeing of every member of our community” and “does not condone or ignore intimidation," the Crimson said.

“We do not condone or ignore threats or acts of harassment or violence,” Weenick wrote, according to the student newspaper. “Officials within our Schools have been in contact with students to ensure they are aware of resources available to them if they are concerned about their physical safety or experience an immediate threat.”

The Dean of Students Office in a Wednesday email to undergraduates wrote that Harvard Yard would close its gates to non-ID holders from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. through Monday “out of an abundance of caution," the Crimson said, adding that the email also linked to information on adjusting online directory privacy settings and Harvard’s 24/7 mental health support hotline.

Harvard Hillel, the university’s Jewish center, released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying it “strongly condemns any attempts to threaten and intimidate” members of co-signatory organizations, the student newspaper reported.

“We will continue to reject the PSC’s statement in the strongest terms — and demand accountability for those who signed it. But under no circumstances should that accountability extend to public intimidation of individuals," Hillel's statement reads, according to the Crimson.

"Such intimidation is counterproductive to the education that needs to take place on our campus at this difficult time."

Harvard students behind anti-Israel letter outed | On Balanceyoutu.be

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