The wife of a Harvard professor who is also President Barack Obama’s chief economist has sparked outrage after being caught on video harassing a student for wearing a keffiyeh – calling it a “terrorist scarf.”
Jason Furman’s wife, Eve Gerber, was filmed marching after an unidentified student in the footage, which has been viewed more than 19 million times since it was posted late Tuesday.
“Hey camera,” Gerber said, explaining that he knew he was being recorded as he ranted about “people who want to kill you.”
“Thank you for walking through the neighborhood and making families feel unsafe with your terrorist scarf,” said Gerber, mother of three and editor of Five Books US.
A visibly confused student replied, “Palestinians feel very insecure when Israel occupies their country.”
“I’m glad you’re so proud of the slaughter of civilians,” said Gerber, who replied to the student: “I’m not.”
It took place on October 14, a week after Hamas attacked Israel, but went viral when it was posted Tuesday by the Sparrow Project, which describes itself as a “grassroots public interest journalist.”
Furman, a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, personally apologized to the student in an Oct. 20 text exchange obtained by the Harvard Crimson, the student paper.
Eve Gerber denounced the student about “people who want to kill” her.
He told someone who claimed to represent the harassed student that there was “absolutely no excuse” for his wife’s actions.
“I’m sorry. No one should have to go through what your friend went through,” wrote a leading economist who served in Obama’s cabinet.
Gerber also apologized on Wednesday, after a video of his rant went viral.
Furman served as an advisor to President Barack Obama. AFP via Getty Images
He claimed that he had “heard chanting that I found disturbing at a rally near my house” and then “spoke to someone on my block who I thought was from the event.”
“When the political argument escalated, I used words that could not be defended. It’s wrong of me to confront someone based on their clothing … and use divisive, accusatory language,” Gerber admitted.
“In the two months since this video, I have tried to learn more and take remedial action. I will continue to do so. Hate and inhumanity of any kind is abhorrent to me. I deeply regret what I said and did,” he added.
Still, Gerber faced widespread condemnation, including from members of Congress.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) calls Gerber’s attack “disgraceful and disgusting” while sharing a 26-second clip.
“People in our country have the right to wear whatever scarf they want to wear and for people to follow them and make them uncomfortable is wrong and discriminatory,” she wrote on X.
“The Palestinian people exist and need us to fight for their liberation,” he added.
Rep. Greg J. Landsman (D-Ohio) too repost the video on X and wrote that “this is a difficult, if not traumatic time for many people, especially Muslims and Jews.
Furman and Obama at the White House in 2013. Getty Images
“We really need to lean on our humanity, not this,” he added.
Furman, who holds a doctorate in economics from Harvard, is also a member of various organizations including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Group of Thirty and the Economic Strategy Group.
Cases involving Islamophobia and antisemitism have increased dramatically since the invasion of Hamas on October 7 and as a result of retaliation by the Jewish state in the Gaza Strip.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
