Harvard President Emeritus Larry Summers said he was “sickened” by the Ivy League school’s response to Hamas’ terror attack on Israel after 31 organizations claimed the Jewish nation was “entirely responsible.”
Summers, who is Jewish and led Harvard University from 2001-2006, also responded to the prestigious school’s lack of official response to the atrocity, as well as to a letter claiming that Hamas’s attacks were “not in” a vacuum did not happen’.
“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime fully responsible for all unfolding violence,” the groups wrote.
Summers, who also served in the Obama administration, addressed the school, tweeting: ‘In nearly 50 years of affiliation I have never been more disillusioned and alienated than I am today.
“The silence of Harvard’s leadership thus far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported statement by student groups that blamed Israel exclusively, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral toward acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel.”
Harvard President Emeritus Larry Summers Says He’s ‘Sickened’ by Ivy League School’s Response to Hamas Attack on Israel
The Palestine Solidarity Committee holds banners outside the prestigious college
The former Treasury Secretary further noted that Harvard supported Ukraine after Russia’s invasion by flying the country’s flag at the school.
He also cited Harvard’s condemnation of police brutality hours after George Floyd’s killing to call out current Harvard President Claudine Gay, who released another statement.
“We still have — 48 hours later — no official Harvard statement at this time of moral testing,” Summers said.
“Instead, Harvard is defined by the morally unscrupulous statement that appears to come from two dozen student groups that blame all the violence on Israel.
‘I am sick. I cannot fathom the Administration’s failure to disassociate the University and condemn this statement.
‘I hope very appropriate statements from the University and College condemning those who launched terrorist attacks and standing in solidarity with its victims will appear soon.
‘To be clear, there is nothing wrong with criticizing Israeli policies past, present or future. I was sharply critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu. But that is very different from a lack of clarity about terrorism.’
Summer’s statement comes after 31 Harvard organizations released a letter to the public on Sunday as a ‘Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine’ to condemn Israel in the wake of the violence.
‘The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years,’ they continue.
‘From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and forced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.’
Despite the hundreds of dead in Israel, including at least four Americans, the groups called for an end to the brutalization of Palestinians to finish the letter.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee held inflammatory events related to the conflict, including demonstrations, an ‘Apartheid Week’ and a ‘Boycott Israel Trek’
After the attacks on Saturday morning, Hamas took dozens of Israeli civilians hostage
“Today, the Palestinian ordeal enters uncharted territory. The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing extermination of Palestinians.’
The Palestine Solidarity Committee held inflammatory events related to the conflict, including demonstrations, an ‘Apartheid Week’ and a ‘Boycott Israel Trek’.
The group was also credited with getting the Harvard Crimson — the school’s longtime student newspaper — to support BDS, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel.
The groups include the school’s African American Resistance Organisation, Amnesty International, ‘Harvard Act on a Dream’, groups of Muslim and South Asian students from the Kennedy and Chan schools, the Harvard Islamic Society and Harvard Jews for Liberation.
A day earlier, a professor was forced to apologize for suggesting that the Hamas attack on Israel was an attempt to distract from Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘own corruption’.
Meanwhile, more than 700 Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed by Hamas, which slaughtered some 260 innocent people at a music festival in a brutal, unexpected offensive that has drawn comparisons to the 9/11 attacks or Pearl Harbor.
A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023. Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip on October 9, cutting off the water supply as it bombed targets
A paramedic holds a crying little girl after she was taken from the scene of the bombing in Gaza on Monday
In retaliation, Israel launched a massive airstrike campaign in Gaza, and Hamas threatened to begin executing hostages if the attack did not stop.
Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the IQB, said they acted in accordance with Islamic instructions by keeping Israeli prisoners safe.
“We have decided to put an end to this and from now on we declare that any target of our people in their homes without prior warning will unfortunately be faced with the execution of one of the civilian hostages we are holding,” he said. said.
In a video statement on Monday, Israel’s foreign minister warned Hamas against harming any of the hostages taken from Israel and held in Gaza.
Eli Cohen said Israel was committed to bringing the hostages home “in the spirit of mutual responsibility.”
“We demand Hamas not to harm any of the hostages, Cohen said. “This war crime will not be forgiven,” he added.