Harvard campus hostage posters defaced with antisemitism as terrified Jewish students return to class
- Posters of baby Kfir Bibas defaced with graffiti blaming Israel for 9/11
- On another photo of 10-month-old Kfir, criminals wrote ‘evidence – head still on’
- Jewish students told DailyMail.com they did not feel safe returning to school
Worried Jewish students returning to Harvard last night for the spring semester were met with even more vile anti-Semitism plastered across posters of Hamas hostages.
The posters were vandalized with vile comments, comparing some victims to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and blaming ‘Israel’ for 9/11.
In one sick joke, the criminals wrote “evidence, with the head still one” on a photo of ten-month-old Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage, who remains separated from his family more than a hundred days later.
A defaced poster of Hamas hostage Kfir Bibas remains in downtown Harvard Yard today as students return to classes
Others were smeared with conspiracy claims that Israel was responsible for 9/11
A poster of hostage Romi Gonen has been defaced with the sarcastic pop culture slur, “sure, Jan,” commonly used to question far-fetched claims
Gad Haggai, who was murdered on October 7, is seen in this poster, defaced with pro-Palestinian students
Another poster, featuring Haggai’s wife Judith, was also defaced
The slur refers to disputed claims that Hamas beheaded babies during the October 7 massacre.
Harvard has not yet commented on the posters.
Student Shabbat Kestenbaum — who is suing the school for tuition reimbursement — said this is further evidence that Jewish students are not safe at the school.
“The night before Harvard starts a new semester, every Jewish hostage poster on campus is defaced with vile anti-Semitism.
“Jews are neither safe nor welcome at Harvard.”
He previously told DailyMail.com how his parents begged him not to return to campus.
‘There is a lot of tension, nerves, fear… I just got home for break and my parents don’t want me to go back to campus.
The Harvard ‘H’ will be changed to ‘Hamas’ on a sign in downtown Harvard Yard on Monday, January 22
A sign in the center of Harvard Yard features both the defaced posters and a call for the hostages’ release
Kestenbaum said he was shocked by Gay’s testimony in Congress. “We had no reason to doubt her leadership qualities, but literally overnight from October 7 to 8, there was a total abdication of moral responsibility,” he said.
“They are afraid for my physical safety… I wouldn’t be surprised if there are physical attacks on Jewish students when we go back.
“We have no reason to believe that the spring semester will be any better, and in fact much reason to believe that there will be increased and intensified acts of anti-Semitism given the accelerated anti-Semitic posts on social media,” he said on 13 January.
Tensions were high on campus in December following Claudine Gay’s disastrous testimony before Congress.
When she resigned, classes were out for winter break.
How the school’s new president, Alan Garber, will respond to the issue remains to be seen.
Since Claudine Gay resigned, Kestenbaum says this type of anti-Semitism has skyrocketed on the school’s internal social media
Harvard’s new president, Alan Garber, has not yet commented on the defaced posters