Harvard University’s student newspaper has slammed President Claudine Gay, saying she ‘fanned the flamed of controversy’ with her contentious statements on antisemitism.
Gay and the presidents of UPenn and MIT have been eviscerated for telling Congress yesterday that calls for the genocide of Jews do not violate their codes of conduct.
The Harvard Crimson highlighted the congressional hearing where members demanded Gay’s resignation and the ferocious backlash she has received since.
The leadership of Harvard Hillel, the University’s Jewish center, also called her remarks ‘profoundly shocking,’ expressing their distrust in the president’s ability to protect Jewish students at the Ivy League university.
The Crimson has also called out the university for allowing pro-Palestine protests led by unrecognized student groups to flourish on campus. The protests have aggressively backed Palestine using chants such as ‘from the river to the sea’ and ‘globalize the intifada.’
Harvard President Claudine Gay at the congressional hearing yesterday where she said calling for the genocide of Jews does not violate the school’s code of conduct
![The Harvard Crimson highlighted the congressional hearing where members demanded Gay's resignation and the ferocious backlash she has received since. The newspaper has also highlighted pro-Palestine protests led by unrecognized student groups](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/78703363-12838143-The_Harvard_Crimson_highlighted_the_congressional_hearing_where_-a-1_1701972297614.jpg)
The Harvard Crimson highlighted the congressional hearing where members demanded Gay’s resignation and the ferocious backlash she has received since. The newspaper has also highlighted pro-Palestine protests led by unrecognized student groups
![The university paper also exposed unrecognized pro-Palestinian student groups holding protests on campus](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/17/78703365-12838143-The_university_paper_also_exposed_unrecognized_pro_Palestinian_s-a-28_1701971298963.jpg)
The university paper also exposed unrecognized pro-Palestinian student groups holding protests on campus
After severe backlash and a donor boycott, Gay released a statement on Wednesday insisting she’d been misunderstood during her Congressional testimony.
‘There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,’ Gay said.
‘Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.’
The university paper also exposed unrecognized pro-Palestinian student groups holding protests on campus.
An article specifically calls out two groups, the African and African American Resistance Organization, an undergraduate-led group formed early this semester, and Harvard BDS, a group of graduate student union members who refer to themselves as an unofficial caucus of the union.
Despite protests by unrecognized pro-Palestinian student groups causing disruptions against university policy, Harvard has hesitated to take disciplinary action.
Even after multiple requests from members of Congress and Harvard Hillel calling on Harvard to take disciplinary action, the University’s administrators have hesitated to sanction the groups for their protests, which have caused class interruptions, according to the Crimson.
![U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) calls for Harvard University President Claudine Gay's resignation during a House Education and The Workforce Committee hearing](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/17/78655635-12838143-U_S_Representative_Elise_Stefanik_R_NY_calls_for_Harvard_Univers-a-29_1701971298970.jpg)
U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) calls for Harvard University President Claudine Gay’s resignation during a House Education and The Workforce Committee hearing
Co-founders of African and African American Resistance Organization told the Crimson the group was created in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling against race-based affirmative action as well as a ‘swatting’ last spring that saw a black student escorted out of their bedrooms at gunpoint by campus police officers.
The group has roughly 56 members, according to co-founder and student Clyve Lawrence.
In response to the university president’s congressional hearing, the African American Resistance Organization along with the Coalition Against Apartheid released a statement ‘condemning’ congress’s attempt to ‘distract’ from the ongoing ‘genocide’ in Gaza.
‘We condemn Congress’s attempt to distract from the ongoing genocide in Gaza by dangerously equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and targeting our students of color. We will keep fighting for the liberation of Palestine! From the river to the sea,’ they wrote.
The post sparked backlash with users commenting, ‘You guys are all cringe,’ and ‘Wishing safety for all Israelis.’
‘Terrorism hurts everyone. Stand against it,’ another commented.
ican and African American Resistance Organization has also hosted ‘walkouts’, ’emergency protests’ and ‘teach-ins’ on campus.
Harvard has not responded to Dailymail.com requests for comment.
The African and African American Resistance Organization has taken the mantle of leading many of the protests form the Palestine Solidarity Committee, which led many in the early days of the Hamas-Israel war, according to the Crimson.
In the weeks following the October 7 Hamas attack, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee was the primary organization holding protests in support of Palestinians.
But the group took a step back, the Crimson reported, and since then, non-registered organizations are ‘spearheading Harvard’s pro-Palestine protests’ that ‘do not have recognition to lose.’
![Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, Liz Magill, President of University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Pamela Nadell, Professor of History and Jewish Studies at American University, and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/78655633-12838143-Dr_Claudine_Gay_President_of_Harvard_University_Liz_Magill_Presi-a-28_1701974940554.jpg)
Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, Liz Magill, President of University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Pamela Nadell, Professor of History and Jewish Studies at American University, and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
![UPenn President Liz Magill is yet to apologize for her comments or retract them](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/78659137-12838143-UPenn_President_Liz_Magill_is_yet_to_apologize_for_her_comments_-a-30_1701974940632.jpg)
UPenn President Liz Magill is yet to apologize for her comments or retract them
It was revealed in October that perfume tycoon Jo Malone’s son helps lead a pro-Palestinian Harvard group behind a letter that blamed Israel for Hamas’ massacre of Jewish people.
Josh Willcox, 22, is listed as one of three students who run the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, according to Harvard’s directory of student groups.
His mother, Jo, a British perfume giant founder who sold her eponymous company to Estee Lauder in 1999, refused to address her son, simply saying the war in the Middle East had left her ‘heartbroken’ as she branded the attack by Hamas as ‘abhorrent.’
More than 30 Harvard student groups signed the letter saying: ‘We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.’
The PSC group issued a further statement in which it said it was ‘proud to stand steadfast against Israeli apartheid.’
He has published at least three articles on Palestine for the Harvard Crimson, writing ‘To the Editor: When Will You Stop Silencing Palestine?’
Willcox has tried to distance himself from the Harvard University letter written by a student group he ran – which blamed Israel for the Hamas terror attacks.
Willcox is now claiming that he had nothing to do with the letter written by his organization and said he was away from campus when it was written.
After a week of mounting anger and widespread revulsion, Willcox finally insisted he was not involved in its drafting.
‘In contrast to the PSC open letter, I believe that anyone who inflicts violence on civilians is solely responsible for their actions,’ he wrote on Instagram.
‘I therefore do not support the letter’s attribution of blame for Saturday’s attacks to Israel.’
![Josh Willcox (left) son of perfume mogul Jo Malone (center) is listed as one of three Harvard students who run the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. He is also pictured with his father Gary Willcox at a ritzy London party in 2017](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/76443077-12838143-Josh_Willcox_left_son_of_perfume_mogul_Jo_Malone_center_is_liste-a-26_1701974940548.jpg)
Josh Willcox (left) son of perfume mogul Jo Malone (center) is listed as one of three Harvard students who run the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. He is also pictured with his father Gary Willcox at a ritzy London party in 2017
![Billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman wrote another message on X today expressing his views on Claudine Gay after slamming her in an earlier post and calling for her resignation](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/78686449-12838143-Billionaire_hedge_funder_Bill_Ackman_wrote_another_message_on_X_-a-29_1701974940580.jpg)
Billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman wrote another message on X today expressing his views on Claudine Gay after slamming her in an earlier post and calling for her resignation
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/78686929-12838143-image-a-27_1701974940550.jpg)
After the Congressional testimony, students from Harvard, MIT and Penn, along with some of the shocked Republicans present at the hearing, say it is clear the universities’ leaders must resign.
The boards of each school – which ultimately decide whether the leaders will remain in their positions – are yet to make their positions clear.
While donors including Bill Ackman have expressed their disgust with the remarks, other prominent alumni and donors like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg remain silent on the issue.
The Harvard Board of Overseers is yet to respond to inquiries on Dr. Gay’s remarks, as is its Alumni Association. UPenn and MIT have been equally silent.
While donors including Bill Ackman have expressed their disgust with the remarks, other prominent alumni and donors like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg remain silent on the issue.
The Harvard Board of Overseers is yet to respond to inquiries on Dr. Gay’s remarks, as is its Alumni Association. UPenn and MIT have been equally silent.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who was the most aggressive in questioning the trio yesterday, slammed the ‘moral depravity’ of their answers.
‘I’ve been in a number of very high-profile congressional hearings over the years and the pathetic moral depravity on display by the witnesses, the three universities presidents from Harvard, Mitt and Penn, I haven’t witnessed anything like that.
‘I asked the question in such a way it was an easy yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews in fact does violate their policies and code of conduct when it comes to bullying and harassment.
‘Their answers were pathetic. I was so shaken, Harris, and what was probably the most tragic aspect of the hearing to me was there were a number of Jewish students from those schools in the audience sitting behind them and to watch just the fear as they are listening to the presidents of these universities fail to answer a basic question of moral clarity was abyss mall.’
Jewish students from UPenn have also spoken out against the testimony.
They say they had been begging for leadership for months before October 7, and were ignored.
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman has continued to slam his alma-mater Harvard University, accusing the school and its president of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of Hamas’ barbaric assault on Israel in October.
![Palestinian supporters gathered at Harvard University to show their support for Gaza, and their hatred for Israel, at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/76715079-12838143-Palestinian_supporters_gathered_at_Harvard_University_to_show_th-a-31_1701974940637.jpg)
Palestinian supporters gathered at Harvard University to show their support for Gaza, and their hatred for Israel, at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14
![Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee triggered fury by writing - on October 7 - that Israel was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.' President Claudine Gay has been heavily criticized for failing to appropriately condemn the students who backed the statement](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/07/18/76324649-12838143-Harvard_s_Palestine_Solidarity_Committee_triggered_fury_by_writi-a-32_1701974940718.jpg)
Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee triggered fury by writing – on October 7 – that Israel was ‘entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.’ President Claudine Gay has been heavily criticized for failing to appropriately condemn the students who backed the statement
Ackman, 57, posted a video showing a pro-Palestinian student disrupting a class with a bullhorn, ranting about protests and chanting: ‘Free free Palestine.’
‘This is what you get for $73,600/year at @Harvard,’ Ackman wrote in the caption. The Pershing Square Capital Management founder, who has a net worth of $3.8 billion, graduated with a degree in social studies from Harvard in 1988 and later attained an MBA in 1992.
In 2020, The Crimson revealed Harvard’s foreign donors, reporting that over $30 million come from donors in Saudi Arabia, which ranked 10th on the list of Harvard’s top donor nations.
Saudi Arabia’s funding made up nearly five percent of the country’s donations to all American universities at the time.
The paper also reported five donations from Qatar, totaling about $6 million.
Both countries have been directly linked to illicit terror financing –
Qatar is one of the key supporters of Hamas. Qatar has provided more than $1.8 billion to the terrorist organization and hosted the terrorists when Hamas leaders relocated from Syria to Qatar in 2012.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk