New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tension in the Middle East, Lawrence H. Summers, a former US Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus at Harvard, criticised the university administration for its lack of response after some student groups accused Israel of being “solely” responsible for Hamas’ unexpected attack this weekend.
On Saturday morning, Hamas — the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip — launched an unprecedented aerial and ground attack against Israel from its controlled territory that has claimed over 1,500 lives in the war, according to a Reuters report.
In a post on X Monday, Larry Summers wrote, “In nearly 50 years of Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today.”
He added that, “The silence from Harvard’s leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups’ statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel.”
“I am sickened,” he said in the post, adding, “I cannot fathom the Administration’s failure to disassociate the University and condemn this statement.”
Instead, Harvard is being defined by the morally unconscionable statement apparently coming from two dozen student groups blaming all the violence on Israel. I am sickened. I cannot fathom the Administration’s failure to disassociate the University and condemn this statement.
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) October 9, 2023
After Summers’ posts, Harvard released a statement late Monday titled “War in the Middle East”, which was signed by university’s professors and current President Claudine Gay.
In the post on X, the university expressed grief over “death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted citizens in Israel this weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza now under way.”
“We write to you today heartbroken by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted citizens in Israel this weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza now under way.” Read the full statement from University leadership. https://t.co/yXS0cvADes
— Harvard University (@Harvard) October 10, 2023
The student groups that Summers referred to had issued a joint statement on 7 October, the day Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. According to a report published in news portal Politico, the students originally wrote that the Hamas-led attack “did not occur in a vacuum” and that Israel was “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
The student groups’ statement sparked outrage and, according to a report in Financial Review, several Republican members of Congress, including the most senior woman representative Elise Stefanik, a Harvard graduate, even condemned the student letter and the silence from the university’s leadership.
“It is abhorrent and heinous that Harvard student groups are blaming Israel for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks,” the report quoted Stefanik as saying on her Truth Social profile.
In the letter titled “Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine,” over 30 student organisations, including the Ivy League’s affiliate of Amnesty International, reportedly condemned Israel for the violence.
Hamas has reportedly threatened to kill hostages if Israel continues bombing and killing Palestinians. According to the Reuters report, the war so far has killed around 900 Israelis and wounded at least 2,600. Israel’s counterattacks had killed at least 687 Palestinians and injured over 3,700, it added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
Also Read: Muslim countries on Hamas attack: Condemnation & calls for ‘restraint’, but some blame Israel