The cancer of antisemitism is spreading. Colleges must take the right stand.
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We are, I am convinced, at a moment of moral and mortal peril in the world and in university communities like my own. I will not spend time here detailing Hamas’s evil barbarism or the malevolence of its sponsors. Many others have done that well, including President Biden.
My focus is much closer to home. For more than two decades, since I spoke of antisemitism in effect if not intent in response to the Divest Israel movement while serving as Harvard’s president, I have been alarmed. More recent developments — from Harvard’s student newspaper’s endorsements of the boycott-divest-sanction (BDS) movement, to testimonials by Israeli students regarding in-class discrimination, to vile social media posts — have only heightened my concern.
Originally published: November 15, 2023
Author: Lawrence H. Summers
Position: President Emeritus
Institution: Harvard University
Published by: The Washington Post