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Harvard Graduate Union Sees Wave of Resignations Over Hamas Massacre Response, Jewish Student Concerns
Pro-Hamas students rallying at Harvard University. Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder
Dozens of members of Harvard University’s graduate student union have resigned in protest of its response to the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and what they described as the union “repeatedly ignoring” concerns voiced by Jewish and Israeli members.
Since Thursday, more than 30 members resigned, according to the Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper. The members were joined by over 70 other Harvard students who signed on “in solidarity” a letter that circulated social media explaining their decision to leave the union.
In the letter, the students said they were “profoundly disappointed” with the union’s actions since Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, invaded Israel on Oct. 7, massacred over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped over 240 others as hostages. It was the deadliest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Rather than pursue a “shared agenda of solidarity,” the union has “repeatedly ignored and derided the concerns of many of its Jewish and Israeli members,” according to the letter. “Despite becoming increasingly vocal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, [the union] has at no point acknowledged, let alone condemned, the horrific attacks on Israeli civilians on and since Oct. 7. This refusal to extend empathy to Israeli and Jewish students at a time of escalating antisemitism is a shameful failure of solidarity.”
The students also cited the body’s delay in issuing a statement condemning antisemitism and Nov. 10 endorsement of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination. Beyond endorsing the BDS movement on Nov. 10, the union also voted to sign a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza — a move that critics argue would allow Hamas terrorists to regroup to target Israel.
“Jewish and Israeli members and allies seeking to raise concerns in union meetings about campus antisemitism have been dismissed as ‘privileged,’ told they had ‘nothing at stake, unlike those students with family members now under attack,’ and accused of wielding ‘white supremacist power’ and being ‘complicit in genocide,’” the letter read.
The students noted that the graduate union recently signed a letter that referred to Israel as “the murderous Israeli regime” and accusing it of “ongoing genocide.”
Amid such hostility, the resigning students wrote, they have tried to “engage in good faith” but have reached their limit.
“For the last month we have engaged in good faith,” the letter continued. “At this point, however, it has become abundantly clear that HGSU-UAW [Harvard’s graduate student union] has no interest in supporting the safety and wellbeing of all students impact by the conflict. We are therefore left with no choice but to announce our resignation from the union.”
The graduate union is affiliated with the United Auto Workers labor union (UAW), which represents about 400,000 members including some graduate students and academic workers.
In a statement to the Harvard Crimson, HGSU-UAW Trustee Max Ehrenfreund responded to the resignations.
“These resignations are not merely symbolic, but materially limit the union’s capacity to advocate for its workers,” Ehrenfreund said. “For that reason, we will be reaching out to all of the resigning members to hear from them individually to understand how the union can better serve them and to figure out what we might be able to do to convince them to sign a card again.”
The union’s unofficial “BDS caucus” recently issued a statement deriding efforts to get the union to issue a more thorough statement condemning antisemitism, saying it “feeds into a right-wing narrative that paints the recent wave of protests and consciousness-building in the Palestinian struggle as ‘incidents of incitement and calls for violence against Jewish and Israeli students.’”
Harvard has been a hub of controversy since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, with the school coming under fire for what Jewish and pro-Israel voices have described as allowing antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred to proliferate on campus since Oct. 7.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Harvard Graduate Union Sees Wave of Resignations Over Hamas Massacre Response, Jewish Student Concerns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.
“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.
Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.
Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi: We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Just Zionism; Westerners Patronize Us with Their Aid, They should Shut Up When We Talk; They Will Give Us Aid, Whether They Like It Or Not, and We Will Not Thank Them; I Wish for a Nuclear WWIII, So the Whole World… pic.twitter.com/NNn5Jf7TD6
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 15, 2025
“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”
Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”
“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”
These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”
Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”
Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.
Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.
She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.
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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program
A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.
“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read
The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.
Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.
In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.
The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.
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Israel Responds to Norway Donating Profits From World Cup Qualifying Matchup to Aid Gaza
Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The Israel Football Association has issued a statement in response to a decision by its Norwegian counterpart to give profits from their mutual World Cup qualifiying match to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Norway will host Israel on Oct. 11 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in the next round of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Association said it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, and announced that it will donate profits from the Oct. 11 game to aid humanitarian causes supporting Gaza.
“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been exposed to for a long time,” said Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness. “Israel is part of FIFA’s and UEFA’s competitions and we have to deal with that. But we want to give the profit to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Norwegian Football Association said it will reveal at a later date which humanitarian organization it will donate to. The association added that it is working with local police and UEFA to ensure the safety of players and fans at the Oct. 11 match in Oslo and will be taking “some extra security measures,” such as limiting capacity at the game. Tickets go on sale next week.
The Israeli Football Association responded on Wednesday in a statement to Telegraph Sport. It urged the Norwegian association to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” for which Norway has been criticized internationally. Israel also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association would condemn the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time: it would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. It also said it aims to gain 3 points at the October match.
Israel has been unable to host matches on its home soil for international competitions because of security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It competed in a qualifying match against Norway in Hungary in March, which Norway won 4-2.
The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is demanding that Israel be suspended from international competitions ahead of Italy’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Jewish state that are set for September and October. Italy is set to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting Israel in Udine on Oct. 14.