Connect with us

RSS

More Antisemitism: UK Paper Cites Role of ‘Jewish Donors’ in Harvard President’s Resignation

Then-Harvard University President Dr. Claudine Gay delivers remarks on Dec. 5, 2023, during the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on the recent rise in antisemitism on college campuses. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

On Jan. 2, Claudine Gay resigned as president of Harvard University, amidst mounting evidence that she committed plagiarism throughout her academic career, and in the aftermath of her damaging testimony to Congress last month, where she refused to say whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s code of conduct. Gay, the first Black person to lead Harvard, will continue to work as a professor at the university.

The Congressional hearing, which also included the testimony of University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill, a white woman, who also wouldn’t say if calling for Jewish genocide violated university rules, and who resigned shortly thereafter, was held in response to a surge in antisemitism at these campuses following the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. The discrimination against Jews at Harvard made national headlines, and prompted an official investigation by the US Department of Education.

Within 24 hours of Gay’s resignation, The Guardian found the culprit responsible for her resignation. It wasn’t her reported plagiarism or the antisemitism on her campus, but, rather, wealthy Jewish donors. The op-ed, (“Powerful donors managed to push out Harvard’s Claudine Gay. But at what cost?”, Jan. 3), was written by frequent Guardian contributor Robert Reich, a former US Labor Secretary and currently a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

After claiming that he’s not in a position to comment on the dozens of plagiarism allegations, Reich gets to the heart of his argument, writing that the particularly troubling aspect of Gay and McGill’s resignation concerns the clout of wealthy alumni, who were angry with both presidents for “not coming out more clearly against Hamas and in defense of Israel.”He then proceeds to list a few such alumni and donors who, he claims, called for their resignation. Three of those he named, including Bill Ackman (an alumni and former donor, but not a Board member), are Jewish.

Ackman was reported to have made a donation to Harvard worth $25 million. To put that into context, Harvard’s overall assets are $51 billion. So, though the hedge fund manager has been extremely vocal over the Gay controversy, his influence appears to have been minimal.

Moreover, as even a detailed piece on Gay’s resignation in the New York Times makes clear, “For weeks the [Harvard] board had stood by its embattled president as she dealt with withering criticism of her tepid response to antisemitism on campus, her disastrous testimony before a House panel and mounting allegations of plagiarism in her academic work,” noting a Dec. 12 statement by the corporation expressing support for Gay.

It wasn’t until Dec. 19, when “new allegations of more than 40 examples of plagiarism in Dr. Gay’s academic work emerged,” that the sentiments of the Board began to change, purportedly, according to the Times due to the influence of Timothy R. Barakett, Harvard’s treasurer, as well as Board member Paul J. Finnegan. A Wall Street Journal article also cited the influence of Tracy Palandjian, a member of the Harvard Corporation. None of these three are Jewish.

Though the religious affiliation of Board members, donors, and alumni who sought Gay’s resignation shouldn’t matter, the timeline of the Board’s changing views on whether Gay should remain president, as well as the religious background of those who influenced the Board’s evolving views, undermines Reich’s suggestion that she was forced out due to Jewish Harvard influencers upset about her position on Israel.

This fact is even more pertinent given how Reich ends his Guardian piece:

…until now have major donors so brazenly used their financial influence to hound presidents out of office for failing to come out as clearly as the donors would like on an issue of campus speech or expression.

As a Jew, I also cannot help but worry that the actions of these donors — many of them Jewish, many from Wall Street — could fuel the very antisemitism they claim to oppose, based on the age-old stereotype of wealthy Jewish bankers controlling the world. [emphasis added]

Reich’s wording is curious to say the least.

He purports to oppose the antisemitic stereotype of “wealthy Jewish bankers controlling the world” while simultaneously going out of his way to highlight the Jewish background of a few Harvard Board members, alumni, or donors who he claims (falsely) were instrumental in bringing down Gay. But, even if “many” of the donors instrumental in Gay’s resignation were “Jewish,” why would that matter?

One of the most fundamental truths about antisemitism is that Jewish behavior doesn’t cause antisemitism — just as, for example, white racism towards Black Americans isn’t caused by Black behavior. It’s a shame that this even needs to be stated, but antisemites — and antisemites alone — are solely responsible for their racist attitudes towards Jews, even if they’re “wealthy Jewish donors.”

Adam Levick serves as co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.

The post More Antisemitism: UK Paper Cites Role of ‘Jewish Donors’ in Harvard President’s Resignation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.

Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.

The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.

The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.

At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.

Mass prayers were later held in the square.

State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.

In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.

“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.

There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.

Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.

Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

TRUMP THREAT

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.

Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.

A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.

According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.

Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.

Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.

The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival

Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

i24 NewsChants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.

One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.

This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.

The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News