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‘Harvard Has Caved In’: Pro-Hamas Demonstrators Celebrate ‘Student Intifada’ After School ‘Downgrades’ Punishments
Demonstrators take their “Emergency Rally: Stand with Palestinians Under Siege in Gaza” out of Harvard University and onto the streets of Harvard Square, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, Oct.14, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Harvard University has “downgraded” the disciplinary sanctions it levied against several pro-Hamas protesters it punished for illegally occupying Harvard Yard and roiling the campus for nearly five weeks, The Harvard Crimson reported on Wednesday.
The shocking development will likely erase the good will Harvard regained by appearing to embrace an approach to discipline that would deter future unruly behavior as well as the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate incidents the protesters perpetrated throughout the school year, which damaged the reputation of the institution and prompted a slew of lawsuits and federal investigations.
Per the Crimson, “The most severe probation charge will last for just one semester, a remarkable change from the initial punishments which required at least one student to withdraw from the college for three semesters. Some students who were initially placed on probation in late May also had the length of their probations reduced.”
For a time Harvard University talked tough about its intention to dismantle a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” — a collection of tents in which demonstrators lived and from which they refused to leave unless Harvard agreed to boycott and divest from Israel — protesters had set up on campus, creating an impression that no one would go unpunished.
In a public statement, interim president Alan Garber denounced their actions for forcing the rescheduling of exams and disrupting the academics of students who continued doing their homework and studying for final exams, responsibilities the protesters seemingly abdicated by essentially taking an early summer break to participate in the demonstration.
Harvard then began suspending the protesters following their rejection of a deal to leave the encampment, according to The Harvard Crimson. Before then, Garber vowed that any student who continued to occupy the section of campus would be placed on “involuntary leave,” a measure that effectively disenrolls the students from school and bars them from campus until the university decides whether they are allowed back. The disciplinary measures were levied one day after members of Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP) created a sign featuring an antisemitic caricature of Garber as Satan, and accused him of duplicity.
During Harvard’s commencement ceremonies in May, reports emerged that some students had been banned from graduation and receiving their diplomas.
However, Harvard, as well as the organization responsible for the encampment, HOOP, always maintained that some protesters would be allowed to appeal their punishments, per an agreement the two parties reached, but it was not clear that the end result would amount to a victory for the protesters.
Unrepentant, HOOP on Wednesday celebrated the revocation of the suspensions on social media and, in addition to suggesting that they will disrupt the campus again, called their movement an “intifada,” alluding to two prolonged periods of Palestinian terrorism during which hundreds of Israeli Jews were murdered.
“Harvard walks back on probations and reverses suspensions of pro-Palestine students after massive pressure,” the group said. “After sustained student and faculty organizing, Harvard has caved in, showing that the student intifada will always prevail … This reversal is a bare minimum. We call on our community to demand no less than Palestinian liberation from the river to the sea. Grounded in the rights of return and resistance. We will not rest until divestment from the Israeli regime is met.”
The news was met with disappointment from Jewish Harvard students and leaders, many of whom have met with lawmakers to discuss their experiences with antisemitism there.
“What?! Harvard reverses the very few suspensions they gave to students who harassed Jews and called for violence,” tweeted Harvard student Shabbos Kestenbaum. “Antisemitic classmates consider this a victory, declaring ‘long live the intifada.’”
The Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance added, “It’s fine to ignore Harvard’s rules as long as you’re putting Jews in their place … if you’re targeting any other group, you will be disciplined.”
The past year has been described by experts as a low point in the history of Harvard University, America’s oldest and, arguably, most important institution of higher education. Since the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas across southern Israel, the school has been accused of fostering a culture of racial grievance and antisemitism, while important donors have suspended funding for programs. In just the past nine months, its first Black president, Claudine Gay, resigned in disgrace after being outed as a serial plagiarist; Harvard faculty shared an antisemitic cartoon on social media; and its protesters were filmed surrounding a Jewish student and shouting “Shame!” into his ears.
According to the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Harvard has repeatedly misrepresented its handling of the explosion of hate and rule breaking, launching a campaign of deceit and spin to cover up what ultimately became the biggest scandal in higher education.
A report generated by the committee as part of a wider investigation of the school claimed that the university formed an Antisemitism Advisory Group (AAG) largely for show and did not consult its members when Jewish students were subject to verbal abuse and harassment, a time, its members felt, when its counsel was most needed. The advisory group went on to recommend nearly a dozen measures for addressing the problem and offered other guidance, the report said, but it was excluded from high-level discussions which preceded, for example, the December congressional testimony of former president Gay — a hearing convened to discuss antisemitism at Harvard.
So frustrated were a “majority” of AAG members with being an accessory to what the committee described as a guilefully crafted public relations facade that they threatened to resign from it.
Harvard must still tend to outstanding issues which resulted from the events of this past academic year. A congressional investigation of its handling of antisemitism is ongoing and six Jewish students are suing it for allegedly ignoring antisemitism discrimination.
In April, attorneys representing the school attempted to have the suit tossed out of court, arguing that the plaintiffs lack legal standing.
“Without minimizing at all the importance of the need to address energetically antisemitism at the university, plaintiff’s dissatisfaction with the strategy and speed of Harvard’s essential work does not state a legally cognizable claim,” said the motion to dismiss, as quoted by The Crimson. “Consequently, the amended complaint should be dismissed.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, one of the plaintiffs in the case, has vowed to see the litigation through to the end.
“Harvard’s meritless motion to dismiss our lawsuit only proves our point: It has never taken the concerns of us Jewish students seriously, and has no plans to start now,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to apply maximum pressure in both the court of law and the court of public opinion … We hope that donors and prospective students follow closely.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Harvard Has Caved In’: Pro-Hamas Demonstrators Celebrate ‘Student Intifada’ After School ‘Downgrades’ Punishments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Senate Confirms Thomas Barrack as Ambassador to Turkey Amid Concern Over Ankara’s Hamas Support
Thomas Barrack, a billionaire friend of Donald Trump who chaired the former president’s inaugural fund, exits following a not guilty verdict at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, US, Nov. 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Thomas Barrack, a private equity leader and long-time supporter of President Donald Trump, as the new US ambassador to Turkey, a country which has had a tumultuous relationship with Washington in recent years despite their shared membership in the NATO alliance.
Barrack’s confirmation passed with a 60-36 vote, largely supported by Republican senators, who control 53 out of the Senate’s 100 seats.
In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month, Barrack highlighted Turkey’s strategic significance as a US ally and emphasized Ankara’s position within NATO.
“Sitting at the most strategic crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Turkey’s NATO contributions are numerous,” he told lawmakers.
While speaking to committee members, he underscored the strength and size of Turkey’s military, the second largest in NATO.
Barrack’s confirmation comes as Turkey has continued to support the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and be one of the world’s most vocal critics of Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East, amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Turkey has long hosted senior Hamas officials, such as Marwan Muhammad Abu Ras, who in recent months has spread pro-terrorist propaganda in speeches and on the country’s state-controlled media outlets.
“The Qassam Brigades [the military wing of Hamas] are at the forefront of the war and the jihad. … You must support the Qassam Brigades — with your prayers, your wealth, your politics, your weapons, with everything you have, you must support the Qassam Brigades,” Abu Ras said during a rally in southeastern Turkey earlier this month, according to the Nordic Research and Monitoring Network.
Several Hamas leaders have established residence in Turkey, often accompanied by their families. Some have acquired Turkish citizenship and passports, integrating further into the country. Many have even invested heavily in the real estate sector and now operate multi-million-dollar businesses. In addition to their commercial activities, these individuals remain actively involved in fundraising efforts that support Hamas’s international network.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been one of the most vocal anti-Israel voices during the Gaza war. In February, for example he demanded that Israel pay reparations “for the harm it inflicted through its aggressive actions in Gaza.”
Last year, Erdogan made an explicit threat to invade Israel, leading Israel’s foreign minister to call on NATO to expel Turkey. Ankara also called on the United Nations to use force if it can’t stop Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.
Turkey has reportedly blocked cooperation between NATO and Israel since October 2023 because of the war in Gaza and said the alliance should not engage with Israel as a partner until the conflict ends.
Last year, Ankara also ceased all exports and imports to and from Israel, citing the “humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories as the reason.
Erdogan has frequently defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he described as an Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. He and other Turkish leaders have repeatedly compared Israel with Nazi Germany and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler
The day after Barrack’s confirmation, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) released a report arguing that the Trump administration should keep Turkey out of the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program, calling the country a “potentially threatening regional power” and citing Ankara’s extensive ties to Hamas.
“The United States must carefully consider whether Turkey, a rising, and potentially threatening, regional power led by the authoritarian, pro-Hamas, neo-Ottoman President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, can be trusted with this advanced jet,” the report stated.
JINSA noted Turkey’s decision to acquire the Russian S-400 air and missile defense system, despite repeated warnings from US officials. Washington ultimately blocked Turkey from procuring and producing the F-35 as a result. Ankara has sought to be readmitted into the program, and the Trump administration has reportedly been working on a deal to sell Turkey the jets if it relinquishes the S-400.
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Harvard Releases Long Awaited Antisemitism Task Force Report — and an Apology From the University’s President
Harvard University president Alan Garber attending the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Harvard University has released its long anticipated report on campus antisemitism and along with it an apology from interim president Alan Garber which acknowledged that school officials failed in key ways to address the hatred to which Jewish students were subjected following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
The over 300-page document, released on Tuesday, provides a complete account of antisemitic incidents which transpired on Harvard’s campus in recent years — from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee’s (PSC) endorsement of the Oct. 7 terrorist atrocities to an anti-Zionist faculty group’s sharing an antisemitic cartoon which depicted Jews as murderers of people of color — and said that one source of the problem is the institution’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups. It also issued recommendations for improving Jewish life on campus going forward.
“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community. The grave, extensive impact of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and its aftermath had serious repercussions on campus,” Garber said in the statement that accompanied the report. “Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry. We will continue to provide for the safety and security of all members of our community and safeguard their freedom from harassment. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that the university is a place where ideas are welcomed, entertained, and contested in the spirt of seeking truth; where argument proceeds without sacrificing dignity; and where mutual respect is the norm.”
The committee charged with writing the report — the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Bias — said that Harvard should enact a slew of reforms to achieve Garber’s hopes for the institution. It recommended reforming admissions to foster an “environment where each student is in genuine community with people with whom one may disagree”; using pre-orientation programs as a time for preparing new Harvard students for the immensity of being selected for membership in an elite institution of higher learning; reforming “time and place” policies which govern expression and peaceful assembly; and requiring offices charged with investigating complaints of discrimination to appoint an official who specializes in antisemitism and anti-Zionist bias.
“It is clear to the task force that antisemitism and anti-Israel bias have been fomented, practiced, and tolerated not only at Harvard but also within academia more widely,” the report continued. “We urge Harvard’s leadership, including the president, provost, deans, faculties, and offices of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging to become champions in the fight against antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias — first at Harvard, and then as a model for institutions of higher learning everywhere.”
Further recommending that Harvard empower members of the task force to monitor the university’s implementation of its proposed policies, the report added, “We further call on Harvard’s leaders to combat, with equal resolve, all other forms of prejudice and intolerance, including anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian bias. This charge is made with particular urgency to those schools that operate in deeply politicized fields, such as medicine, public health, and education.”
Harvard’s report on campus antisemitism comes as the university prepares for a protracted legal battle with the Trump administration over the federal government’s impounding billions of dollars of taxpayer funds previously awarded to it, a measure imposed on the institution after it rejected policy suggestions proposed by the Trump administration to make it, according to the government, more meritocratic and less welcoming to left-wing extremists and antisemites. Throughout this conflict, US President Donald Trump has denounced the university as a betrayer of American values.
“Harvard is an Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institute, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart,” Trump said, writing on Truth Social on Thursday. “The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER and HATE [sic]. It is truly horrific. Now, since our filings began, they act like they are all ‘American Apple Pie.’ Harvard is a threat to democracy.”
Harvard has since taken steps towards meeting the Trump administration halfway, including by releasing the antisemitism report as was demanded of it on April 21. In March, it paused a partnership with a higher education institution located in the West Bank. On Thursday, just days after suing the Trump administration to stop its sequestration of federal funds, it moved to relocate disciplinary processes to the office of the president — a Trump administration demand. Most notably, Harvard has defunded segregated graduation ceremonies it has held for decades to legitimate a strain of identity politics which rejects racial integration and the shared destiny of the American people. Conservatives have argued for years that Harvard’s embrace of identity politics contributed to antisemitism on the campus.
More remains to be seen from the university, the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance, a group formed amid the post-Oct. 7 antisemitic outrages, said on Wednesday, writing on X.
“We appreciate the report’s identification of 3 problematic academic frameworks fueling campus antisemitism: denying Jewish connection to our ancestral homeland, embracing a distorted settler-colonialism framework, and refusing to recognize Jews as a historically vulnerable group,” the group said. “We now await concrete action plans from deans and meaningful implementation from President Garber, particularly regarding oversight of academic programs, accountability measures, and clear responsibility with metrics and public reporting.”
It added, “We remain concerned that the report retreats to comfortable academic parlance about ‘balance’ and ‘constructive dialogue’ in the face of factually incorrect narratives. Let’s hope Harvard isn’t burying a serious problem in the spectacle of academia.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Argentina Releases Trove of Documents Detailing Nazi War Criminals’ Activities After World War II
Argentina’s President Javier Milei attends a commemoration event ahead of the anniversary of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Martin Cassarini
The Argentine government has released nearly 2,000 previously classified secret service documents detailing the arrival of hundreds of Nazi war criminals who escaped to the country following the collapse of Nazi Germany during World War II.
“Starting today, anyone can access and download these documents,” Argentina’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement on X.
Previously declassified in 1992 under a decree by then-Argentine President Carlos Menem, the documents could only be accessed in a specially designated room at Argentina’s National Archives (AGN).
On Monday, government officials announced the completion of restoration and digitization work, making more than 1,850 reports and nearly 1,300 previously classified decrees accessible online. These documents shed light on the activities of prominent Nazi war criminals who took refuge in Argentina after World War II, including Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann and the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele.
El Archivo General de la Nación hizo públicos documentos desclasificados sobre actividades nazis en Argentina y decretos presidenciales secretos.
Gracias a un extenso trabajo de restauración y digitalización, ahora podés acceder a más de 1850 informes y casi 1300 decretos… pic.twitter.com/4Ijs7fGqk0
— Vicejefatura de Gabinete del Interior (@vicejefaturaint) April 28, 2025
The published records show, for example, how Mengele — who was a physician and Nazi SS officer, nicknamed the “Angel of Death” for his inhumane medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz — entered Argentina in 1949 under the name Gregor Helmut and lived undisturbed in the country for decades.
Walter Kutschmann, a former Nazi official, also evaded justice for nearly 40 years. Despite being denounced to authorities in 1975, the records released by AGN show that he was not arrested until 1985. Instead, under his false identity, he worked in a hardware store, then as a taxi driver, and later as a purchasing director for the Argentine branch of the Osram lighting firm.
According to the previously classified documents, it is estimated that more than 10,000 Nazis used so-called “ratlines” to flee Germany as the Axis powers collapsed, with around half of them believed to have sought refuge in Argentina — known for its reluctance to grant extradition requests.
Titled “Documentation on Nazi Presence in Argentina,” these files include intelligence reports, photographs, and police records, compiling the results of investigations by federal authorities and the country’s leading intelligence agency from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Las autoridades de Argentina han revelado más de 1.850 documentos secretos sobre nazis de alto rango que huyeron a Sudamérica después del Holocausto !!!
Entre ellos: Josef Mengele, Walter Kochmann y Eduard Roschmann.
Gracias Milei !!! pic.twitter.com/I0Q0Iy7ax8
— Isaac (@isaacrrr7) April 29, 2025
Argentine President Javier Milei ordered the records to be released and digitized following a request by the Simon Wiesenthal Center — a California-based Jewish human rights organization — and a meeting with its representatives in Buenos Aires earlier this year. The organization is currently investigating ties between Swiss bank Credit Suisse and Nazi Germany.
“We commend the release of declassified archives to the public,” the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Latin American office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Since taking office over a year ago, Milei has been one of Israel’s most vocal supporters, strengthening bilateral relations to unprecedented levels and in the process breaking with decades of Argentine foreign policy tradition to firmly align with Jerusalem and Washington.
Milei, who won Argentina’s November 2023 presidential election, has also been outspoken in his support and appreciation for Judaism. His presidency has come amid an economic crisis, soaring inflation, and longstanding corruption scandals that have burdened the country.
The Latin American leader will visit Israel in June, where he is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jewish State against terrorism and antisemitism. He is also scheduled to address the Israeli parliament and meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In February 2024, on his first international trip as president, Milei visited Israel in a show of wartime solidarity and reiterated his pledge to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem. During his visit, he also traveled to Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Negev, where Hamas-led terrorists kidnapped several Israelis from their homes, including the Bibas family, on Oct. 7, 2023.
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