Thirty-five student bodies at the prestigious Harvard University in the United States signed a joint statement Monday, accusing Israel of the Hamas terror attack.
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"The apartheid regime is the only one to blame," wrote the organizations, which include a Progressive Jewish Union and a chapter of the human rights organization Amnesty at the educational institution. "We hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
The signatories, mostly Muslim, North African and East Asian student groups, wrote in the statement that "Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years… Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.”
They added, “Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison.”
In the statement, the group also addressed the Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, writing that, “the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence… We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians... The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation.
The statement from the student organizations joins comments made by Prof. Lawrence Tribe from Harvard's Law School, who, just a few hours after the onset of Hamas's surprise attack on Israel, posted on the social network X (formerly Twitter) suggesting that the attack was an attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to distract from his corruption scandals. Tribe later retracted and was forced to apologize after facing criticism from his academic peers who were disappointed with his “unfounded” claims.
Despite the extreme severity of the Harvard student statement, calls supporting Hamas have also been heard in recent days at other leading academic institutions across the United States.
At Yale University in Connecticut, the Pro-Palestinian Student Association held a solidarity rally Monday outside New Haven City Hall, expressing “support for the Palestinian resistance against the violent colonial oppression by settlers.”
The Yale Student Association stated, “We mourn the tragic loss of civilian lives and hold the Zionist regime responsible.” A student solidarity rally also took place Monday at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania.
Additionally, students at the City University of New York (CUNY) played a central role in organizing a support rally Monday night in Times Square, which drew hundreds of people.
At the University of Michigan, flyers distributed across campus accuse Israel of initiating war against the Palestinians after years of oppression and “ethnic cleansing.” It's worth noting that student organizations in U.S. universities enjoy academic freedom without interference from the institutions' administrations, some of which have voiced opposing views.
For instance, New York University (NYU) President Prof. Linda Mills distributed a wide-reaching email to all students, stating the “multi-faceted and lethal terrorist attack on Israel, which included widespread violence, injuries, and loss of life, as well as the taking of Israeli hostages by Hamas.'"
Mills warned that “The violence that is raging now will likely intensify the feelings of those on our campus who hold strong views on the conflict. Even as we confront the horrifying events that are occurring now, we must maintain hope for a different future. As a university community, we remain committed to dialogue and peaceful discourse.
In recent days, New York University's welfare personnel have also been reaching out to Israeli and Jewish students, offering mental health support. The Jewish student organization Hillel on campus has commended the initiative, though some have labeled it lip service. According to critics, the university is “paying lip service to dialogue during a brutal, one-sided attack designed to kill as many innocent Jews as possible.”