"Profoundly embarrassing for American academia": Harvard sparks outrage over antisemitism as Claudine Gay faces resignation calls

Harvard University President Claudine Gay is receiving backlash across social media platforms following her appearance at Tuesday’s congressional hearing. The academic leader, alongside the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was questioned about her responses to alleged antisemitic incidents that took place on their campuses. This comes amidst the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

Trigger Warning: The following article discusses antisemitism. Reader’s discretion is advised.

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik questioned Claudine Gay at the House Education Committee hearing:

“At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?”

Gay replied- “it can be depending on the context.”

When Stefanik questioned Gay a second time out of surprise, Gay said:

“Antisemitic rhetoric when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying and harassment, intimidation, that is actionable conduct and we do take action.”

When asked whether hateful terms like ‘intifada’ and ‘globalize the intifada’ were contrary to Harvard’s code of conduct, Gay responded:

“It is at odds with the values of Harvard but we embrace a commitment to free expression even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful.”

For those uninitiated, ‘intifada’ has been frequently used in pro-Palestine demonstrations. The Arabic word translates to “uprising.” The phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ has been used to call for aggressive resistance against Israelis, those who support the country, and Jews worldwide.

When Stefanik asked what action had been taken against students who were calling for the genocide of Jews on Harvard’s campus, Claudine Gay refused to detail the specifics about the same.

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“No wonder Harvard has become hot bed of Jew hatred”: Claudine Gay comes under fire following a congressional hearing

The Ivy League university is being heavily scrutinized especially after Claudine Gay took days to issue a statement that condemned Hamas’ assault on Israel on October 7. As she remained silent, a section of the university’s students blamed Israeli for the attack that was instigated against them as well.

Gay has since then issued multiple statements that condemned Hamas. However, when she was asked why she did not address the same much earlier, she said that she believed it would be “wrongfully attributed to the university.”

With her delay in addressing the attack on Israel and her statements at the hearing, several netizens took to the internet to relentlessly fire at her and the prestigious university online. A few tweets read:

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UPenn and MIT presidents raise eyebrows after congressional hearing's statements

Liz Magill and Sally Kornbluth, the presidents of UPenn and MIT respectively left netizens disturbed after seemingly denying that calling for the genocide of Jews in their universities would go against their institutions’ bullying and harassment rules.

When asked about the same, MIT president Kornbluth said:

"I have heard chants which can be antisemitic depending on the context when calling for the elimination of Jewish people."

When asked whether the aforementioned chants would go against the university’s rules of harassment and bullying, Kornbluth said that they would be investigated in “severe” cases.

Magill also refused to state that calling for the genocide of Jews in the university can go against the institution’s rules of bullying and harassment. She went on to add that, “if the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment.”