The elite academy of the United States has been under storm in recent days following the support of many students for the Hamas terrorist campaign. University donors and owners of giant American companies are calling for the students' names to be disclosed in order to cancel employment contracts with them and put them on a "blacklist" that will prevent them from getting jobs in the American market.
After the massacre and fierce battles: Israel Hayom commentator Yoav Limor on a tour of the communities near the Gaza Strip
The incident began last Sunday when the Palestinian Solidarity Organizations issued a statement at the prestigious Harvard University in Boston. Among the signatories of the petition are over thirty student organizations from various university schools, including the Amnesty International branch of Harvard, the Islamic Social Cell, the Arab Social Cell, and a cell with Jewish students.
The statement said the Hamas attack "did not take place in a vacuum because for the past two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an 'open-air prison' while Israeli officials promised to 'open the gates of hell' to them." The statement added that "only the apartheid regime should be blamed" and that it was responsible for Hamas' terrorist attack. The organization also called on the Harvard community to act to "stop the ongoing extermination of the Palestinians."
Blame Israel for the terrorist attack. A building set on fire by terrorists in Kibbutz Be'eri,
A number of CEOs in the American economy condemned the statement and called for the disclosure of the names of students who are members of the organizations. Pershing Square hedge fund manager Bill Ackman tweeted, "I have been asked by several CEOs whether Harvard will publish the names of the students who are members of the organizations behind the statement to ensure none of us hire them." Ackman added that "students cannot hide behind the companies they will work for when they support acts of terrorism."
Ekman, a Harvard graduate whose fortune is estimated at billions of dollars, has been donating to the university alongside Jewish centers in the United States for years. His tweet was publicly endorsed by industry executives such as Jonathan Newman, founder of the Healthy Food Network Sweetgreen, and CEOs of major financial institutions.
'They won't be able to hide from their support for terrorism', Bill Ackman, Photo: Reuters
Many students did not expect the intensity of the criticism against them, and some were quick to disavow the organizations they are members of, apparently for fear of losing employment contracts. Four of the thirty-four organizations have already withdrawn their support for the declaration. At the same time, some of the board members of the organizations also resigned from their positions as a result.
On Tuesday, 17 other student organizations joined 500 Harvard faculty and staff in a counterstatement attacking support for Hamas' actions as "completely wrong and offensive."
Danielle Michelain, a student who was a member of one of the organizations behind the anti-Israel statement, said she had resigned from her position in the organization and was "sorry for the pain the statement caused."
Not far from Boston, at the prestigious New York University, a similar event took place. A leaflet sent to members of the Bar Association of the Faculty of Law published an opinion column by Rina Workman, the organization's president, who wrote that she "condemns the violence of the apartheid regime and that Israel bears the blame for the loss of many lives." She concluded her column with the sentence "Palestine will be free."
In response, Dean Troy McKinsey issued a statement to the faculty students, stressing that "we unequivocally condemn the terrorist acts carried out by Hamas in Israel. We say loud and clear to our community: Any statement that does not recognize this brutality does not reflect the legal values of the Faculty of Law."
"It's time to take back control of the narrative from Israel-haters", Jason Greenblatt (archive), photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Following complaints sent to New York University and outrage from students, including the undersigned, Workman was impeached from the organization's presidency. At the same time, the prestigious law firm Winston Westron announced that it had terminated the employment contract signed with Workman due to its remarks "contrary to the firm's values."
Jason Greenblatt, the White House envoy to the Middle East and a graduate of New York University's law school, told Israel Hayom: "It's time to take back control of the narrative from Israel-haters, Jew-haters and those who claim to represent the Palestinians but actually support savages like Hamas who murder, rape, and kidnap Israelis and Jews, including babies. Workman's words hide behind a cloak of justice, but in fact they call for the murder of Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel. These are things that do not help the Palestinians, but create enormous damage for them. We must not give up and take every opportunity to expose these people's lies. I thank people like Ekman, Mark Rowan, and firms like Winston-Strawn who fight to get what it takes."
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