Excuse me if I don’t applaud Harvard’s antisemitism report

Harvard continues to reward student activists who directly harassed Jewish students.

Please forgive me.

I know I’m supposed to be generous and appreciate how hard Harvard’s Presidential Task Force on Combatting Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias worked to draft its 311-page, 631-footnote opus. But after the chaos of the last two academic years with very little improvement, I’m feeling more critical than conciliatory.

The report was supposed to be published last fall. Instead, it was buried all year, delayed again and again, and even now only released due to government pressure. The extensive documentation of over a century of antisemitism at Harvard represents a massive effort and exposes serious prejudice. And to its credit, the university included original research providing devastating new proof of the hostility Harvard’s Jews have endured. But it does not apply any definition of antisemitism, even though Harvard committed to adopting the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition in settlement of a lawsuit.

The long-awaited report begins with a sanctimonious cover note, warning that the task force’s work might be “undermined” by “external parties” and that Harvard should be left alone to “fix itself.” For how long? Given how deeply impactful antisemitism at Harvard has been, and how long these problems have been allowed to fester, Harvard’s Jewish community should not have to wait any longer or cultivate “buy-in” from those who have ostracized and attacked Jews and their homeland. Before more dialogue, we need apologies, expulsions and firings.

The report also glosses over one of the root causes of pervasive antisemitism on campus, namely, the ever-increasing funding from foreign governments, anti-Israel foundations and tuition from the dramatically expanded proportion of foreign students.

Releasing the report simultaneously with the report of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias suggests a false equivalence between these issues. The Harvard Crimson even called them “twin task forces.” It is time for this pairing to end. The situations are not the same and everyone knows it. They deserve to be examined separately.

Though it purports to be comprehensive, the report entirely ignores what may seem to be a minor issue, but adds insult to injury — namely, the decades-long history of Harvard charging kosher-keeping students full board, but only serving weeknight dinners, in only one location, and sticking Hillel with the bill for kosher supervision. A suggestion in the Presidential Task Force’s preliminary report to expand kosher dining finally resulted in service of hot kosher lunch only last year, though Hillel remains the only location to have a mashgiach, and there is still no hot dairy food. The university manages to satisfy every other dining requirement, from vegan to gluten-free to halal, which is in every dining hall.

Actions speak louder than words. The university has demoted some bad actors, but then allowed them to remain in the classroom and stay on the payroll, even allowing them to teach new propaganda-based courses such as “Palestine: 1000 Years.”

Likewise, Harvard’s partnership with terror-supporting Bir Zeit University was allowed to expire, but was not canceled, and the report states that “individual faculty collaborations remain possible.” The report does not mention Bir Zeit’s terror ties, but notes that the university “maintains an official policy of academic boycott” of Israeli universities. Still, the task force does not condemn the relationship and instead suggests that Harvard require inclusion of an Israeli partner university as “a more constructive approach.” Seriously? Time to cut ties.

Meanwhile, Harvard continues to reward student activists who directly harassed Jewish students. As reported by Ira Stoll in The Editors Substack, Harvard Law Review recently awarded a $65,000 public interest fellowship to Ibrahim Bharmal, an anti-Israel student charged with assault against an Israeli student, a video of which went viral. The university has supported other pro-Hamas students for prestigious Rhodes, Marshall or Truman fellowships. It strains belief, but their photos, sporting keffiyahs, are prominently featured in Harvard’s own publicity materials. At least this time they aren’t covering their faces.

Given this flood of evidence, President Alan Garber’s approach at an alumni webinar the day after the report’s release was infuriating. After briefly acknowledging that “we are not flawless” (seriously?), he proceeded to take a victory lap, congratulating himself for saving higher education by “resisting” the government’s demands to fix things with all due speed. Having served as provost since 2011 and president for the past 16 months, he should be hanging his head in shame at the revelations of what took place on his watch, not acting like a hero for higher education, pausing for the applause.

I’d like to see President Garber make a sincere, strong statement acknowledging the extent of the Jew-hatred and committing to tear it out, root and branch. Then announce a brief, practical plan to begin applying normal academic rigor standards to scholarship across all fields. No more pretending Jews have no connection to the land of Israel, or tolerating false charges of “genocide” and “apartheid.” No more demonizing Israel and calling it scholarship.

Until then, please forgive me while I hold my praise. PJC

Laura “Lori” Fein is a Harvard alumna and parent. She is vice president of events for the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance and a board member at Harvard Hillel. Her views are entirely her own. She is a practicing attorney and hosts the podcast “Mommash: The Oy & Joy of Family.” This article first appeared on the Jewish Standard and was republished by The Times of Israel.