Jewish professors at Harvard condemn DOJ’s ‘weaponization of antisemitism’
More than 100 Jewish college and workers members at Harvard University have signed an open letter that condemns the lawsuit the Justice Department filed last week in opposition to the college that argued Harvard leaders had not accomplished sufficient to combat antisemitism in opposition to Jews and Israelis on campus.
The Jewish professors wrote that the Justice Department’s “characterization of Harvard as fostering a climate of ‘hostile antisemitism’ paints a portrait of a Harvard that we do not recognize.”
“As members of Harvard’s Jewish community, we reject the government’s false claim to act in our name during its yearlong assault on our university and our democracy,” the letter says. “We urge the Department of Justice to drop this lawsuit. And we urge the University to defend itself and its Jewish community by condemning the weaponization of antisemitism.”
Professors with various views “about Israel, Gaza, and pro-Palestinian protests on campus” signed the letter.
“We stand united in the belief that this lawsuit can only harm Harvard’s Jewish community,” the letter says.
The DOJ’s most up-to-date grievance attracts from findings by Harvard’s activity drive on antisemitism, which was printed final April. The lawsuit claims college leaders confirmed “deliberate indifference” after Jewish and Israeli college students have been “harassed, physically assaulted, stalked, and spat upon” within the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led assaults on Israel.
On Mondaythe US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened two new investigations into the nation’s oldest college, about race-based preferences in admissions and antisemitism on campusafter receiving latest complaints.
“In our view, the Trump administration does not aim to protect Jewish people at Harvard,” the letter continued. “It cynically exploits concerns about antisemitism to justify what can only be described as an authoritarian assault on institutions of higher education. Using accusations of antisemitism to attack academic freedom and free expression is reprehensible – and we want no part in it.”
The letter added that authorities assaults on greater schooling will “only harm Jewish communities, while advancing a broader agenda of censorship and persecution.”
Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton declined to remark.
Hilary Burns may be reached at hilary.burns@globe.com. Follow her @Hilarysburns.