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Harvard president will remain in office despite criticism of her response to antisemitism
(JTA) – Harvard University’s board of directors will keep Claudine Gay as the school’s president despite pressure to force her out after she declined to say outright that calls for the genocide of Jews violated campus rules.
The Harvard Corporation, the school’s board, met behind closed doors for hours Monday night before formally announcing it would “reaffirm our support for President Gay.” The board said its decision was unanimous, and the statement was signed by all 11 members, including its senior fellow and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who is Jewish.
The board’s decision stood in stark contrast to the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill on Saturday, along with that school’s board chair. Magill appeared alongside Gay last Tuesday at a congressional hearing, where both — along with the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — were asked whether “calls for the genocide of Jews” would violate their schools’ codes of conduct. All replied that it depended on context.
MIT’s board has also issued a statement of support for its Jewish president Sally Kornbluth, who is also facing calls to step down.
Gay has been under fire since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which some Jewish and pro-Israel critics said she did not condemn forcefully enough. Harvard’s board also criticized Gay’s initial response to the attack, especially as a coalition of Harvard student groups asserted that the attacks were entirely Israel’s fault.
“So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, and the University’s initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation,” the board’s statement read. “Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values.”
Gay, who was appointed the first-ever Black president of Harvard in July, has condemned Hamas and reaffirmed support for the school’s Jewish community multiple times since Oct. 7, which the board noted. But her testimony during the Dec. 5 House hearing received widespread bipartisan condemnation.
Harvard alum and Jewish activist investor Bill Ackman, who has pushed Jewish Harvard donors to withhold donations in protest of Gay’s handling of campus antisemitism, had been among the more prominent voices calling for Gay’s ouster. Following the decision to keep Gay, Ackman claimed on the social network X that the board had been “concerned it would look like they were kowtowing to me.”
Ahead of the board’s decision, hundreds of Harvard faculty spoke up in support of Gay, including Black faculty, who said in a letter that attacks on her were “specious and politically motivated.”
Also under dispute in Gay’s appointment were accusations of plagiarism in a handful of academic papers, which came to light after she was criticized for her initial response to Hamas. The board said it had reviewed the allegations and determined that Gay had not violated Harvard’s academic code, but that she would be requesting corrections to the disputed articles.
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The post Harvard president will remain in office despite criticism of her response to antisemitism appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital
Illustrative. Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
i24 News – Israeli forces concluded an operation to dismantle a Hamas terror headquarters in Gaza’s Kamel Adwan Hospital. Some 240 terror suspects were arrested, including the hospital’s director and some 15 terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre.
The post 240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem
Illustrative. Rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel, in Gaza May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammd Salem
JNS.org – The Israeli Air Force on Saturday downed two rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip towards Jerusalem.
The attack triggered air-raid sirens in the capital, the Western Negev and the the Judean Foothills (the Shfela).
There were no reports of injuries.
Following the rocket fire, the military again called on Palestinians to evacuate parts of the northern Strip.
“Urgent warning to all those who have not yet evacuated the area specified in the map, and the Beit Hanun area [in the Strip’s northeast] in particular,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, posted to X.
“This area has been warned many times in the past. The IDF is operating in this area with force. You must evacuate the area immediately and move south towards Salah El Din Road. Moving via another road exposes you to danger,” he added.
On Dec. 11, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired four rockets at southern Israel, setting off sirens in several towns and villages along the border. The Israel Defense Forces intercepted two of the rockets, with the others impacting in open areas, causing no damage.
On Dec. 3, the IAF intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza.
The IDF’s year-plus-long offensive against Hamas in the enclave has greatly curbed rocket fire from the Strip, although Palestinian terrorists still intermittently target the Jewish state.
The post IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The post Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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