A Harvard rabbi has launched a scathing attack on the Ivy League college, warning antisemitic students not to face consequences for their actions.
Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting professor at his divinity school who was asked by its embattled president Claudine Gay to advise on antisemitism, told The Post that Jewish and pro-Israel students were the targets of “deliberate attempts” for intimidation on campus.
And he said he felt compelled to quit Gay’s high-profile panel on antisemitism because Harvard considered the crisis for Jewish students a “bureaucratic snafu.”
Harvard has been rocked by antisemitic protests on campus since Hamas terrorists killed up to 1,200 Israelis on October 7 — then plunged into further crisis with Gay’s handling of the situation.
He was forced to apologize for bad testimony to Congress earlier this month, which also cost the president of the University of Pennsylvania his job.
Harvard President Claudine Gay has come under fire from one of the college’s most prominent rabbis who quit an antisemitism panel she set up over its failure to act. Reuters
Wolpe quit the antisemitism panel after Gay’s appearance before Congress and told The Post he was surprised by Gay’s failure to say that students who called for the genocide of Jews would be disciplined.
“I want to pull my hair out,” Wolpe told The Post. “At that time I felt that the crisis needed to be addressed.
“I see it as an urgent crisis. They talk as if it’s a bureaucratic snafu that needs to be fixed. No rush, no anger, no disgust.”
Rabbi David Wolpe, who is a visiting professor at Harvard divinity school, was asked to advise the college on dealing with antisemitism after the October 7 terrorist attacks. He also advised Hollywood bosses after the massacre. Getty Images Wolpe said he wants to see public consequences for students who use antisemitic attacks in protest against Israel, such as calling it an “apartheid state” or comparing Jews to Nazis. Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee
His attacks increased the pressure on Gay, who has also been accused of plagiarism in his academic work. The Post revealed how the college shut down a weeks-long investigation into whether he used another researcher’s work without crediting it and hired a bulldog law firm to help shut it down.
Wolpe, 65, a visiting professor at Harvard, has been called “the most influential rabbi in America” and is both the longtime leader of Temple Sinai in Los Angeles — he retired in June — and the inaugural Rabbinic Rabbi of the Anti-Defamation League.
He is one of nine members of Harvard’s Antisemitism Advisory Group, which Gay convened in October and is made up of so-called “trusted voices,” from faculty, alumni, students and leaders of Harvard’s Jewish community.
Harvard students held several pro-Palestinian rallies after Hamas’s attacks on Israel, creating a tense environment for Jewish students and other members of the Harvard community. AFP via Getty Images
It includes former Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow and author and former Harvard professor Dara Horn, who wrote the 2021 essay collection “People Who Love Dead Jews.”
Wolpe told The Post that he greatly admires his former panelmates, saying “I still talk to everybody.”
He has urged Harvard University to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism but feels the school “lacks a sense of urgency.”
A poster highlighting the plight of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and placed near Harvard was torn down by anti-Israel protesters. Reuters
The Berlin-based group works with governments around the world to promote education about the Holocaust and defines antisemitism as including “claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of that state. Israel.”
Anti-Israel demonstrations at Harvard included a man in a Palestinian keffiyeh who called Jews “Nazis” and “pigs” in the days after the Oct. 7 attacks, and students repeatedly waved banners calling Israel an “apartheid state.”
Adopting the proposal would put pressure on Harvard to discipline students who participate in anti-Israel demonstrations.
Martha Minow, former dean of Harvard Law School, was named to the Antisemitism Advisory Group by the school’s president after the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. TNS
Harvard has not adopted the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, and a spokeswoman for the school did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
“I want a public disciplinary process for those who violate Harvard’s rules, and I don’t see any consequences,” Wolpe said.
“There are so many incidents of antisemitism. There is a climate of intimidation. This is not a matter of freedom of speech. It is a deliberate attempt to intimidate Jewish and pro-Israel students.”
Author Dara Horn is a member of the Antisemitism Advisory Group at Harvard. Dara Horn.com
Harvard is being investigated over the Department of Education’s handling of antisemitism under Title VI, the law that prohibits discrimination based on race, religion or national origin in institutions that receive federal funding.
Wolpe said he was not surprised that the Ivy League president sought legal advice for his Congressional appearance from WilmerHale, a prominent law firm whose attorneys charge upwards of $1,500 an hour.
“Sometimes you have to put your principles aside and do the right thing,” Wolpe said. “This is the best institution in the country. Where is their anger?”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
