Illustrative 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 23, 2024. Photo: Brian Snyder via Reuters Connect

Harvard University has secured a major legal victory against one of the many lawsuits it has faced over its alleged mismanagement of campus antisemitism after the Oct. 7 massacre.

On Wednesday, a judge dismissed a suit in which ten Harvard alumni alleged that the university had cheapened their degrees during the 2023-2024 academic year by giving anti-Zionist protesters free rein to promote antisemitism, terrorism, and the destruction of Israel.

Filed in a Massachusetts federal court in Feb. 2024, the complaint claimed that Harvard has breached an informal but binding agreement to preserve the institution’s prestige in perpetuity and thereby protect alumni’s investment in a Harvard degree. That compact was violated, the former students alleged, by Harvard’s failing to correct a noxious campus environment and a negative perception of the university which has caused potential employers and prestigious law firms to reject job applicants who carry any affiliation with it.

District Court Judge George O’Toole Jr. — appointed to bench by former president Bill Clinton in 1995 — disagreed with their argument, however, ruling that they presented no evidence which proves that the university’s policies injured them personally.

“The plaintiffs do not currently attend Harvard, nor are they employed by Harvard,” wrote the O’Toole, who is an alumnus of Harvard Law School (HLS). “They graduated from Harvard many years before the central events referred to in the complaint. They are not themselves directly affected by Harvard’s recent administrative actions and/or omissions, and consequently they have no cognizable legal injury that could be redressed through this suit.”

Judge O’Toole Jr. was recently involved in another high profile legal fight. Earlier this month, he temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to restructure federal government by shrinking its workforce, a decision he walked back six days later when he ruled that the parties who challenged the initiative lacked standing. The highly regarded jurist’s career has seen him render rulings on a range of matters, from the criminal investigation of the Boston Marathon Bombing to a defamation suit filed against Barbara Walters by an alleged former associate — a claim he dismissed.

Following the decision, Harvard University said it is “committed to ensuring our Jewish community is embraced, respected, and can thrive at Harvard, and to our efforts to confront antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

Harvard recently settled two antisemitism lawsuits, which were merged by a federal judge in November 2024, in Jan. The agreement, coming one day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump — who vowed to tax the endowments of universities where antisemitism is rampant — prevented a prolonged legal fight that would have been interpreted by the Jewish community as a willful refusal to acknowledge the discrimination to which Jewish students are subjected.

According to details of the settlement disclosed by the university, Harvard will add the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to its non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies (NDAB), recognize the centrality of Zionism to Jewish identity, and explicitly state that targeting and individual on the basis of their Zionism constitutes a violation of school rules.

Harvard’s legal counsel has more litigation in its future, however, as a case brought by Harvard graduate student Shabbos Kestenbaum, who has made similar claims as the groups which agreed to settle their cases, is still pending. Kestenbaum was a member of one of those groups, Students Against Antisemitism (SAA), but declined to be a party to the settlement due to this belief that a public trial will fully reveal the extent of Harvard’s alleged transgressions and result in its being held accountable for alleged failing .

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

Reporter Debbie Weiss contributed to this story.

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Trucks carrying aid move, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri

Most Gazans reject Hamas rule post-war and question its ability to govern as tensions rise and efforts continue for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, according to a new poll.

The Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP), a Palestine-based independent research institute, conducted a representative poll in Gaza on January 22, revealing that only 6% of Gazans prefer Hamas to rule post-war, while just 5.3% would vote for the group in future elections.

As perception of Hamas in the Gaza Strip remains negative, the survey found that 70% of respondents believe the terrorist group lacks the ability to govern, and only 12.4% expect it to remain in power post-war.

Meanwhile, Gazans have shown increased support for Fatah rule, the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s ruling party, after the ceasefire, with 60% favoring its leadership.

Respondents show increased support for Fatah rule in the Gaza Strip post-ceasefire. Photo: Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP)

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

Last month, both sides reached a ceasefire and hostage-release deal brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar.

According to ISEP’s recent poll, 67.9% of Gazans credit US President Donald Trump for the success of the ceasefire deal, with Qatar following behind. Most respondents also believe the ceasefire will hold and lead to reconstruction efforts, with over 60% highly confident in its stability and another 30% considering it somewhat secure.

Two in three (67.9%) respondents in the Gaza Strip credit Trump for the success of the ceasefire deal. Photo: Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP)

Under phase one of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas agreed to release 33 Israeli hostages, including eight who are deceased, in exchange for Israel freeing over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many serving multiple life sentences for terrorism-related offenses, and withdrawing troops from some positions in Gaza.

So far, 29 Israeli hostages – plus five Thais – have been released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, with the bodies of four more hostages, initially due to be handed over on Thursday, still to come.

The initial phase of the ceasefire deal is set to end on Saturday, while negotiations for the second phase, aimed at securing the release of remaining hostages and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, are ongoing.

ISEP’s survey found that 89% of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip lack the means to rebuild their lives after the war. Housing support was cited as the most helpful form of aid, with one in three also emphasizing that housing and shelter should be the priority of reconstruction efforts.

One in three (30%) respondents believe that housing and shelter should be the priority of rebuilding efforts. Photo: Institute for Social and Economic Progress (ISEP)

After the war, Gaza’s future remains uncertain, but Israel has ruled out any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, Hamas says it does not necessarily need to stay in power but insists on being consulted.

With the exception of Israel, most Arab states have rejected Trump’s plan to “take over” Gaza to rebuild the war-torn enclave, while relocating Palestinians elsewhere during reconstruction efforts. Trump has called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas.

Middle Eastern leaders, expected to bear much of the financial burden of rebuilding Gaza, have struggled to propose their own plan but insist on a role for the Palestinian Authority, while also advocating for a two-state solution.

This week, former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, now the opposition leader in Israel’s parliament, proposed “The Egyptian Solution” as his alternative plan for Gaza’s reconstruction after the war. The proposal, which suggested Egypt administer Gaza for 8-15 years in exchange for canceling its $155 billion external debt, was rejected by Cairo.

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The New York Times building in New York City. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A New York Times news account of the funeral of Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah refers to his “charm” and “charisma.”

“He served many roles in the lives of Hezbollah members, acting as a religious leader, political strategist and commander in chief,” the New York Times reporters Christina Goldbaum and Euan Ward wrote in a dispatch that the Times labeled as coming from Beirut, Lebanon. “His charm — a rarity among leaders in the region — was also key to unifying Hezbollah’s followers. The group’s current leader, Mr. Qassem, does not share Mr. Nasrallah’s stature or charisma.”

The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, noted, “Nasrallah deserves no reverence, only the cold judgment of history. His hands were covered in the blood of innocents, his legacy is little more than death and suffering.” Greenblatt described Nasrallah as a “murderous terrorist” and as “a fanatic who spread anti-Semitism, extremism, and violence across the Middle East and beyond. His enduring legacy is one of death – thousands of Jews, Israelis, Lebanese, Syrians, Yemenis, and others fell victim to his reign of terror.”

I emailed Goldbaum and asked her: “I noticed in your NYT story today on Nasrallah’s funeral you refer to his ‘charm.’ What did you mean by that exactly? How would you respond to families of victims of Hezbollah-sponsored terrorism who did not find it charming to have their loved ones killed by Hezbollah?”

I also inquired, “Given that you are in Lebanon with a lot of armed Hezbollah people about, are you able to write the truth about Hezbollah or do you have to write nice things, like that Nasrallah was charming, because you are afraid of being kidnapped or killed if you tell the truth?”

She did not respond.

My Webster’s Second defines charming as “pleasing in a high degree; delighting; fascinating; of attractive character and personality.” It offers as synonyms “delightful, amiable, lovely, pleasing.”

When Nasrallah was killed, President Biden issued a statement noting that “his many victims” included “thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”

The New York Times article from the funeral that discussed Nasrallah’s supposed “charm” made no mention of those victims. Nor did it mention Nasrallah’s notoriously threatening comment, as translated by Prime Minister Netanyahu, that “If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of chasing them down around the world.”

The Times did not mention the 12 Druse children killed by a Hezbollah rocket strike on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in 2024 while Nasrallah led the terrorist group.

The U.S. State Department says Hezbollah “is responsible for multiple large-scale terrorist attacks, including the 1983 suicide truck bombings of U.S. Embassy Beiruit and the U.S. Marine barracks; the 1984 attack on the U.S. Embassy Beirut annex; and the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, during which U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem was murdered.” It says the group “was also implicated, along with Iran, in the 1992 attacks on the Israeli embassy in Argentina and the 1994 bombing of the Argentine‑Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires.” Some “charm.”

The Times article misleadingly refers to “Hezbollah’s raison d’être: armed resistance against Israeli occupation.” That understates Hezbollah’s true objective, which is subjugating Lebanon to Iranian control as part of the Iranian campaign to extend fanatic revolutionary Islamist clerical rule worldwide and put America and Israel to death along the way. In fact, the Times sanitized its report of the Nasrallah funeral by omitting from the account the violent chants heard there of “Death to America, Death to Israel.” The Times deceives readers by claiming Hezbollah is all about “Israeli occupation,” when it’s actually about “death to America.”

In addition to the bylines of Goldbaum and Ward, the Times article extolling Nasrallah’s “charm” also says “Dayana Iwaza and Jacob Roubai contributed reporting.” Iwaza’s Linked In and Instagram profiles identify her as a part time or free-lance contributor also to Aljazeera, a network controlled by Qatar that Israel says has served as cover for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.

The Times article already carries one correction: “A correction was made on Feb. 23, 2025: An earlier version of this article misidentified the newly appointed president of Lebanon. He is Joseph Aoun, not Michel Aoun, a former president of the country.”

If the Times took its journalistic credibility more seriously, maybe it would add a second correction, or an editor’s note, to the effect that it was a ridiculous mistake to describe Hassan Nasrallah as “charming.” It’s one thing to quote someone as saying that, it’s quite another for the newspaper to report it as fact, unattributed, in the newspaper’s own voice. Where were the Times editors?

And what were the reporters thinking? If in fact they were intimidated by the tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters, maybe the best thing for the Times to have done on this one would have been to write the story from somewhere safe, or at least to disclose to readers that the story was affected by a threat of violence.

Ira Stoll was managing editor of The Forward and North American editor of The Jerusalem Post. His media critique, a regular Algemeiner feature, can be found here.

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