U.S. Department of Education Launches Investigation into Antisemitism Allegations at Harvard University
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has initiated an investigation into allegations of growing antisemitism at Harvard University. This announcement comes after the university faced numerous claims of antisemitism following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7.
The Office of Civil Rights has announced that it will be investigating the filed complaint and will “take aggressive action to address the alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment on college campuses and in K-12 schools since the October 7 Israel-Hamas conflict.” While the individual or group that filed the complaint remains confidential, the Department of Education has stated that the complaint accuses Harvard of discriminating against students based on their Jewish or Israeli ancestry.
Harvard most recently faced allegations of anti-semitism after a number of student groups co-signed a letter that attributed blame for the terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians solely to Israel. The statement, signed by at least 33 student organizations, labeled Israel as an “apartheid regime” and claimed it was “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
This letter, along with the university’s “hands-off” approach towards pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus, who seem to applaud terrorist efforts, prompted wealthy Israeli donors to resign from Harvard University’s board and withdraw millions of dollars in donations.
“We resigned as a protest against the shocking and insensitive response of the university president who did not condemn the letter of the student organizations that held Israel solely responsible for the massacres,” said Idan Ofer, an Israeli Harvard donor.
This complaint towards Harvard comes at a time when various college campuses across the country are facing similar allegations of promoting antisemitism. The University of California, Berkeley recently encountered a lawsuit by Jewish organizations accusing the school of allowing the “longstanding, unchecked spread of antisemitism” on its campus.
