RSS
New York Times Lets Harvard Professor Whitewash University’s Jew-Hate
The New York Times building in New York City. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
“Harvard Derangement Syndrome” is the headline that the New York Times put over a 4,000-word article by Steven Pinker that it recently published. Pinker’s point is that “the invective now being aimed at Harvard has become unhinged.”
Yet if anyone has “become unhinged,” it is Pinker and his editors at the Times, who look silly in their eagerness to minimize Harvard’s antisemitism problem. Pinker calls it Harvard’s “alleged antisemitism,” which gives you a flavor of just how detached from reality the overall article is.
Don’t take my word for it. Here is a White House Memo in the Times from Maggie Haberman: “On substance, there are several Republicans and Democrats who share Mr. Trump’s view that Harvard and other major colleges are long overdue in addressing cultural issues. They welcome a focus on the antisemitism that was on display at some of the campus protests against Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.” Haberman writes antisemitism, not “alleged antisemitism.”
Here is a staff editorial in the New York Times: “some universities have failed to stand up to antisemitism.” Not “alleged antisemitism.”
Here is an email to the Harvard community from Harvard’s own president, Alan Garber, about a cartoon posted to social media by student and faculty anti-Israel groups: “The Antisemitic Cartoon.” Not “allegedly antisemitic.” Garber called it “flagrantly antisemitic.” The image was of a hand with a star of David and a dollar sign holding nooses around the necks of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Muhammad Ali.
Pinker goes on to write, “though the 300-page antisemitism report reviews every instance it could find in the past century, down to the last graffito and social media post, it cited no expressions of a goal to ‘destroy the Jews,’ let alone signs that it was the ‘dominant view on campus.’”
The antisemitism report was extensive, but it made no pretense of being either exhaustive or comprehensive. And even so, Pinker’s straw-man standard of a publicly expressed goal to destroy the Jews being the dominant view on campus is ridiculous. There were student groups cheering on the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas as a justified act of liberation and resistance. There were mobs chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “intifadah, intifadah, globalize the intifadah.” What does Pinker imagine is going to happen to the Jews in such a scenario? If he thinks Hamas is going to let the Jews live in peace, he’s deluding himself. The reason that members of Congress were asking then-Harvard president Claudine Gay questions about whether it was acceptable to call for the genocide of Jews on the Harvard campus wasn’t that the members of Congress were fantasizing, it was that the Jewish students at Harvard at the time and their allies perceived it as an ongoing problem.
Pinker also writes, “I have experienced no antisemitism in my two decades at Harvard, and nor have other prominent Jewish faculty members.”
Did Pinker not see the cartoon that Garber called “flagrantly antisemitic”? Did he not attend the Commencement last year when the speaker and honorary degree recipient “delivered off-the-cuff comments that appeared to echo traditional conspiracy theories about Jews, money, and power,” according to the report of Harvard’s own task force on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, which described them as “seemingly antisemitic remarks”? Does he not read the Crimson or watch social media accounts of protests with students changing slogans such as “We don’t want no Zionists here?” If Pinker really hasn’t experienced any antisemitism, he must not get out much.
And anyway, what kind of allyship is this by Pinker to students, faculty, and staff who have been targeted by antisemitism? After a spate of campus rapes, would the Times publish a piece from a professor who feels an appropriate response is asserting, I have taught on this campus for twenty years and have never once been raped?
Writing in National Review, Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center observes, “Pinker is underplaying the problems.” Kurtz sure has that correct.
Pinker teaches psychology, so he’s an expert. But it may not be only Harvard’s critics suffering from what Pinker calls “Harvard Derangement Syndrome.” Professor Pinker seems to have come down with a variant of it himself—a variety that manifests itself by writing New York Times opinion pieces that minimize genuine problems. That doesn’t help improve the situation for those Harvard Jews who have been less lucky than Pinker or who are more perceptive than he is in understanding what is happening around them.
Ira Stoll was managing editor of The Forward and North American editor of The Jerusalem Post. He writes frequently at TheEditors.com. His media critique, a regular Algemeiner feature, can be found here.
The post New York Times Lets Harvard Professor Whitewash University’s Jew-Hate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Vows to Press on with Offensive
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, August 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighborhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.
Fire lit the skies from the direction of the explosions, causing panic, prompting some families to stream out of the city. Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area.
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
Israel approved a plan this month to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas. It is not expected to begin for a few weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try and resume ceasefire talks.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas agrees to end the war on Israel’s terms and release all hostages.
Hamas said in a statement on Sunday that Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire.
It said a ceasefire agreement was “the only way to return the hostages,” holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.
The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining hostages.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 hostages – of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living – and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.
‘HUNGRY AND AFRAID’
Around half of the enclave’s two million people currently live in Gaza City. A few thousand have already left, carrying their belongings on vehicles and rickshaws.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40, via a chat app. “No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Others said they will not leave, no matter what.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation, even if they did try to leave. “We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money.”
A global hunger monitor said on Friday that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread. Israel has rejected the assessment and says it ignores steps it has taken since late July to increase aid.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
RSS
Iran Signals Willingness to Scale Back Uranium Enrichment to Ease Tensions
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iran may be prepared to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment levels in a bid to stave off renewed UN sanctions and limit the risk of further strikes by Israel and the United States, according to a report published Sunday in The Telegraph.
Citing Iranian sources, the paper said Tehran is considering lowering enrichment from 60% to 20%.
The move is reportedly being championed by Ali Larijani, the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who is holding talks with regime leaders.
“Larijani is trying to convince the system to reduce the level of enrichment in order to avoid further war,” a senior Iranian official told the paper.
The proposal, however, faces stiff resistance from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long opposed concessions on the nuclear program. Still, the report suggests Iran’s leadership may be open to greater flexibility, including the possibility of reviving engagement with Western powers.
Last month, i24NEWS reported exclusively that a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to travel to Iran. The team of technical experts would seek to resume monitoring of nuclear sites, inspections that have been heavily restricted in recent years.
The development comes amid mounting regional tensions and could represent a critical turning point in the long-running nuclear standoff.
RSS
Major Brush Fire Erupts Near Jerusalem, Evacuations Underway
A view of the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem fast train seen over the HaArazim Valley (“Valley of Cedars”) just outside of Jerusalem, Sept. 25, 2018. Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
i24 News – A large brush fire broke out Sunday in the Cedars Valley area, near Route 1 and the Motza interchange, prompting an emergency response from Jerusalem district fire services. Several water-bombing planes were dispatched, and authorities have declared a “fire emergency.”
As a precaution, residents of Mevaseret Zion are being evacuated. Access to the town from Route 1 has already been blocked, and officials are weighing a full closure of the major highway.
Fire crews from the Ha’uma station are on site working to contain the flames, while motorists in the area are urged to heed traffic updates and follow instructions from emergency services.
Eight firefighting aircraft are currently operating above the blaze in support of ground teams. The fire comes amid one of the hottest, driest summers on record, with conditions fueling a series of destructive wildfires across the country.
Officials warn the situation remains critical, as the blaze threatens a vital transportation corridor leading into Jerusalem.