Harvard President Emeritus Larry Summers has said he is “sickened” by the Ivy League school’s response to Hamas’ terror attack on Israel, after 31 organizations claimed the Jewish nation was “fully responsible.”
Summers, who is Jewish and headed Harvard University from 2001 to 2006, also responded to the prestigious school’s lack of an official response to the atrocity, and to a letter claiming that Hamas’ attacks “were not in a took place in a vacuum’.
“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime fully responsible for all the violence that is unfolding,” the groups wrote.
Summers, who also served in the Obama administration, addressed the school, tweeting: “In my nearly fifty years of association, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am now.
“The silence of Harvard leadership to date, coupled with a loud and widely reported statement from student groups blaming Israel alone, has allowed Harvard to appear, at best, neutral regarding acts of terror against the Jewish state Israel.’
Harvard President Emeritus Larry Summers has said he is “sickened” by the Ivy League school’s response to Hamas’ attack on Israel.
The Palestinian Solidarity Committee holds banners outside the prestigious college
The former Treasury Secretary further noted that Harvard supported Ukraine after the Russian invasion by flying the national flag at the school.
He also cited Harvard’s condemnation of police brutality, hours after the killing of George Floyd, to call out current Harvard President Claudine Gay, who has not yet issued a statement.
“We do not have an official statement from Harvard on moral testing at this time – 48 hours later,” Summers said.
“Instead, Harvard is defined by the morally unconscionable statement apparently coming from about two dozen student groups that blame Israel for all the violence.
‘I am ill. I cannot fathom the government’s inability to segregate the university and condemn this statement.
“I sincerely hope that appropriate statements will soon be issued by the University and College condemning those who launched terrorist attacks and expressing solidarity with the victims.
“To be clear, there is nothing wrong with criticizing Israeli policies past, present or future. I have sharply criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu. But that is something completely different from lack of clarity about terrorism.’
Summer’s statement comes after 31 Harvard organizations released a letter to the public on Sunday as a “Joint Statement of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine,” condemning Israel in the wake of the violence.
‘The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years,” they continue.
“From systematic land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and forced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.”
Despite the hundreds of deaths in Israel, including at least four Americans, the groups called for an end to the brutality of the Palestinians to complete the letter.
The Palestinian Solidarity Committee has organized incendiary events related to the conflict, including protests, an ‘Apartheid Week’ and a ‘Boycott Israel Trek’
After the attacks on Saturday morning, Hamas took dozens of Israeli civilians hostage
“Today the Palestinian ordeal is entering uncharted territory. The coming days will require strong action against colonial retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the continued destruction of Palestinians.”
The Palestinian Solidarity Committee has organized incendiary events related to the conflict, including protests, an ‘Apartheid Week’ and a ‘Boycott Israel Trek’.
The group is also credited with pushing the Harvard Crimson — the school’s long-standing student newspaper — to support BDS, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel.
Groups include the school’s African American Resistance Organization, Amnesty International, Harvard Act on a Dream, groups of Muslim and South Asian students from the Kennedy and Chan Schools, the Harvard Islamic Society and Harvard Jews for Liberation .
A day earlier, a professor was forced to apologize for suggesting that Hamas’s attack on Israel was an attempt to distract from Benjamin Netanyahu’s “own corruption.”
Meanwhile, more than 700 Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed by Hamas, which mowed down some 260 innocent people at a music festival in a brutal, unexpected offensive that drew comparisons to the September 11 attacks or Pearl Harbor.
A fireball erupts during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023. Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip on October 9, cutting off water supplies as it bombed targets
A paramedic holds a little girl crying after she was taken from the scene of the Gaza bombing on Monday
In retaliation, Israel has launched a massive airstrike campaign in Gaza, and Hamas has threatened to execute hostages if the attack does not stop.
Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing the IQB, said they acted in accordance with Islamic instructions by keeping Israeli prisoners safe.
“We have decided to put an end to this and from now on we declare that any attack on our people in their homes without prior warning will unfortunately be accompanied by the execution of one of the civilian hostages we are holding,” he said.
On Monday, Israel’s Foreign Minister warned Hamas in a video statement against harming the hostages taken from Israel and held in Gaza.
Eli Cohen said Israel was determined to bring the hostages home “in the spirit of mutual responsibility.”
“We demand that Hamas not harm any of the hostages,” Cohen said. “This war crime will not be forgiven,” he added.
