Sen. John Fetterman on Wednesday disavowed his alma mater Harvard in protest of what he says is the university’s “inability to defend the Jewish community” by removing his crimson hood at a graduation ceremony.
The Pennsylvania senator is one of Israel’s biggest defenders in Democratic circles. He was awarded at Yeshiva University graduation with a “Presidential Medallion” for being a “Hero of Israel.”
“I was reflecting on when my last graduation was and that was literally a quarter of a century ago, 25 years ago,” he told a crowd of graduates. “I was graduating from Harvard University, but today I am deeply disappointed by Harvard’s inability to stand up for the Jewish community.”
“Personally, I don’t think it’s right for me to wear this today,” he added as he took off his crimson hood. The crowd gasped audibly before breaking out into a standing ovation.
Fetterman graduated from Harvard Kennedy School with a Master of Public Policy in 1999.
Sen. John Fetterman on Wednesday disavowed his alma mater, Harvard, in protest of what he says is the university’s “inability to stand up for the Jewish community” by removing his crimson hood at a graduation ceremony.
Fetterman (D-PA) removes his Harvard Kennedy School master’s graduation hood in protest of Harvard’s handling of the Jewish community on campus.
Queens Orthodox Jewish University in New York City graduated 1,700 students on Wednesday.
While many Democrats have more openly expressed their frustrations with Israel as the Palestinian death toll rises in its mission to eradicate Hamas, Fetterman has not.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday, Fetterman was asked if Israel crossed a “red line” by attacking a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing dozens of civilians and two senior officials. Hamas commanders.
‘Hamas, those cowards, hide behind civilians, and now it is increasingly (clear) that there was an ammunition depot that exploded. “That’s where Hamas hides them, and that also added more damage that way,” he said Wednesday.
Fetterman (D-PA) shows off a Nova Music Festival bracelet, given to him by a family member of someone taken hostage at the festival.
Fetterman poses with Yeshiva graduates who gave him a standing ovation for dropping out of Harvard
At least 45 people in the Kuwaiti Al-Salam 1 camp, built in early January, were killed by the explosion and subsequent fires, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than 240 were injured.
Israel Admiral Daniel Hagari said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not expect the bombing to kill civilians and suggested the fires could have broken out because Hamas had weapons stored in the area.
“Our munitions alone could not have started a fire of this size,” Hagari said.
Fetterman has criticized President Joe Biden for briefly halting a series of arms shipments to Israel and lashed out at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas commanders.
“I have no conditions, I never have and I can’t imagine I ever will,” he said recently of American aid to Israel.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, after some 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Oct. 7 attack.