Israel war: GOP alumni rip Harvard for ‘heinous’ anti-Israel post and demand firing

Republican lawmakers who graduated from Harvard are demanding the Ivy League university do more to combat antisemitism amid fallout over a student statement that sympathized with Hamas terrorists.

In a letter to Harvard president Claudine Gay, Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Kevin Kiley (R-CA), and Brian Mast (R-FL), along with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), expressed dismay at the university’s response to a coalition of student groups that blamed Israel for the recent terrorist attacks by Hamas.

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The attacks and Israel’s subsequent military response in the Gaza Strip have claimed the lives of more than 2,800 people, including more than two dozen U.S. citizens.

“It is sickening that students at Harvard University have such a deep hatred for Israel that they have chosen to ignore reality, celebrate ruthless terrorists, and blame innocent civilians,” the lawmakers wrote. “This heinous statement and the support it received from over thirty student organizations across Harvard University should raise immediate concerns into Harvard’s curriculum regarding the State of Israel. This type of unified hate and ignorance cannot be allowed at Harvard University, and you must investigate its origins.”

The statement in question was signed by 31 student groups, but amid intense international backlash against the school, a number of student groups have since withdrawn their support.

The abrupt disavowal of the statement by the groups came after billionaire Bill Ackman, a Harvard alum, asked that the names of the students who signed the statement be publicly released “so as to ensure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members.”

The threat of professional retribution became quite real after Ryna Workman, a law student at New York University and the president of the student bar association, lost an employment offer from the law firm Winston & Strawn after supporting a similar statement that said: “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.”

Amid the retreat from the Harvard students’s statement, Gay released a video statement Thursday saying the university “rejects terrorism,” “rejects hate,” and “rejects the harassment or intimidation of individuals based on their beliefs,” while asserting the university’s support for free expression.

“Our university embraces a commitment to free expression,” Gay said. “That commitment extends even to views that many of us find objectionable, even outrageous. We do not punish or sanction people for expressing such views. But that is a far cry from endorsing them. It’s in the exercise of our freedom to speak that we reveal our characters, and we reveal the character of our institution.”

Stefanik, unimpressed, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Gay should resign.

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“Harvard continues to disgrace itself on the global stage,” the Republican congresswoman said. “Antisemitism should be condemned and NEVER defended as ‘free expression.’ Claudine Gay should resign.”

Harvard did not respond to a request for comment.