Demand Harvard Condemn Antisemitic Student Survey Questions

Under pressure from anti-Israel student groups on campus, the Harvard Undergraduate Association sent out a school-wide survey asking students to weigh in on 1) whether Harvard should divest from Israel and 2) whether Harvard should have adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

As the Election Commission noted, the survey “has no impact” on university policy — so the only thing accomplished by including these questions is increasing hostility toward Jewish students on campus. Demand the Harvard administration publicly reject BDS, reaffirm its commitment to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and condemn this hateful and inflammatory survey.

To the Administration of Harvard University:

Anti-Israel activists have hijacked the Harvard Undergraduate Association's fall survey to promote their antisemitic agenda and ostracize Jewish students on campus.

At the behest of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and Undergraduate Jews for Peace, the HUA included these three antisemitic questions in its campus-wide survey:

1) Should Harvard disclose its investments in companies and institutions operating in Israel?

2) Should Harvard divest from companies and institutions operating in Israel?

3) Should Harvard have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism?

The Election Commission acknowledges that the survey questions do not “have any impact on campus policies and procedures.” The only thing including these questions accomplishes is increasing the already alarming levels of hostility toward Jewish students at Harvard.

Furthermore, in violation of the Election Commission’s rules, the names of the PSC and Jews for Peace members who submitted the antisemitic survey questions were not included in the survey. This comes less than a month after Harvard allowed the PSC to erect an antisemitic “Wall of Resistance” on campus but censored a speech from former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers criticizing the installation. Yet again, Harvard has chosen to selectively enforce its own rules, revealing an obvious anti-Israel bias.

Hamas supporters have consistently disrupted campus life since the horrific October 7 massacre. Jewish students, Jewish spaces, and Jewish faculty have been directly targeted, and the university has failed to respond. This latest survey is another shameless attempt to weaponize campus institutions against Israel and target Jewish students at Harvard.

In response, Harvard’s administration must publicly disavow the survey, reject the antisemitic BDS movement, and reaffirm its commitment to the IHRA definition of antisemitism. It’s the least you can do to take a stand against Jew hatred and protect Jewish students from the antisemitism that has permeated the campus.

Signed,
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