The University of Maryland chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine can proceed with a campus demonstration on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, after a federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the group “has demonstrated a substantial likelihood that it will prevail [in its lawsuit] on the merits of its freedom of speech claim.”

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte came after the university, which had initially OK’d the rally, reversed course last month and canceled it, prompting the SJP lawsuit stating that its First Amendment rights had been violated.

In a statement, UMD, which has one of the largest Jewish student populations in the country — nearly 20% of the College Park undergraduate student body of more than 30,000 is Jewish — said that it “recognizes, and will abide by, the court’s decision, and will work with all registered student organizers of events requested for October 7.”

The statement continued, “Event organizers, campus officials and UMPD will implement a plan that allows all events to proceed in accordance with the court’s ruling. Notwithstanding today’s court ruling, the safety concerns that were raised remain a source of ongoing attention and focus for us.”

UMD said that in compliance with the court’s decision, “we will now move forward with the events, addressing those concerns and challenges with care and caution, including the implementation of a robust safety plan. This includes enhanced staffing and resources with a strong security presence.” 

SJP told the Washington Post that it will go ahead with Monday’s demonstration, with a member of the group saying they were “relieved to have the chance to actually put on this event.” In July, the UMD chapter of SJP said that it “unequivocally states that the Zionist state of Israel has no right to exist.” In a separate social media post the group said that it “openly supports armed struggle.” 

Ari Israel, executive director of UMD Hillel, told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that he is “deeply disappointed that SJP will hold an event on the university’s largest convening space on Oct. 7, the one-year mark of the largest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.” 

“We will not let this setback interfere with our plans to commemorate Oct. 7,” Israel said, noting that student leaders are finalizing plans to organize education and awareness events on campus during the day, including setting up a square to honor the 101 hostages that remain in Hamas captivity. In the evening, Israel said the “College Park mishpacha” will gather at the Hillel center. He added that Hillel is working closely with UMPD. “Now, more than ever,” Israel continued, “we will come together as a community to support our Jewish students at UMD, and the strength, courage and resilience they have displayed over the past 12 months.” 

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also condemned the court’s decision “allowing the protest to proceed,” he said in a statement to JI. Moore said that while he “deeply respect[s] the rule of law and due process, I think Oct. 7 is an inappropriate date for such an event.” 

Moore added that the state of Maryland will work with “local and university leaders to ensure” the safety of students. 

“We know that what happens around the world has direct implications on the Maryland community,” Moore continued. “I’ve been clear — everyone in Maryland has the right to peacefully protest, to voice their opinions. But no one has the right to call for violence against each other. Terrorists target civilians, and that’s what Hamas did a year ago on Oct 7. And that’s what that day should be remembered as — a heinous terrorist attack on Israel that took innocent lives.” 

The lawsuit, jointly filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Palestine Legal on behalf of UMD SJP on Sept. 17, came as a response to the university reversing course last month on its initial allowance of Oct. 7 events on campus. At the time, the UMD President Darryll Pines wrote in a university-wide letter that the decision was made following a “safety assessment.” 

UMD originally granted SJP a permit in August to hold the Oct. 7 demonstration on the campus’s central McKeldin Mall, prompting swift backlash and calls from campus groups including Hillel and the Jewish Student Union — and from former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for the Senate — for the school to reverse course. After the decision was reversed, several local lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) supported the university’s decision to “preserve this day as a day of reflection.” 

On Tuesday, asked about his reaction to the court decision, Van Hollen did not address the question in a statement to JI. “October 7th was one of the darkest days in our recent history — it is a day for solemn reflection, mourning the lives lost, and remembering the hostages seized,” Van Hollen said. 

Hogan told JI that it is “unacceptable that Jewish students still feel unsafe and face antisemitism on their own campuses.” 

“That’s why I immediately spoke out against this disgraceful anti-Israel event, and I will continue to stand in solidarity with the UMD Jewish community,” he said. 

Angela Alsobrooks, Hogan’s Democratic opponent in the Senate race, said in a separate statement to JI that it is her “understanding that the university considered the safety of its students in its initial decision.”

“And as I stated then, I agreed with that decision,” Alsobrooks said. “Oct. 7 is a solemn day. To have it as a day of remembrance, I think, is important. I know too that the right to protest is foundational to our nation and that right must be protected. And it is my hope that given this court’s decision, any such protests will be conducted peacefully.”

Brandeis University President Ronald Liebowitz, who garnered headlines last year for taking a strong stance against antisemitism after Oct. 7, resigned on Wednesday morning following a vote of “no confidence” passed by the Brandeis faculty, according to a letter he sent to the university community. 

The Tuesday faculty vote, which passed by just 10 votes, 159-149, described “a consistent pattern of damaging errors of judgment and poor leadership.” 

Liebowitz’s decision to step down comes after a chaotic year for the university, marked by some controversy over his handling of anti-Israel protests, as well as more mundane matters of university management that frustrated many in the Brandeis community. The no-confidence resolution described both, according to a draft copy published in the Brandeis student newspaper earlier this month: “The results this year include badly handled budget shortfalls, failures of fundraising, excessive responses to student protests, indifference to faculty motions, and the recent damaging staff layoffs.” 

Liebowitz banned the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine last November, making Brandeis the first private university to do so after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. He stood by that decision in an interview with Jewish Insider in February, despite receiving pushback from some on campus. 

“One thing I’m also opinionated about is selective free speech and a university cannot take selective stances on when it’s OK to do what some might describe as hate speech — I call it gratuitous speech,” Liebowitz said at the time. “The SJP situation to me was one of those examples where they were simply being a mouthpiece [for Hamas], which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S.”

In his conversation with JI, Liebowitz also leaned into Brandeis’ history as a preeminent institution catering to Jewish students. “What drew me to Brandeis,” he said, was that the school is “both a Jewish institution and very much committed to the secular nature of its founding.”

Liebowitz’s strong stance in support of Jewish students took place against a backdrop of uncertainty at the university, which is also facing major staffing and budget issues. 

“There was this sense for a long time, before the war, that the wheels were coming off the bus. And then the war [in Gaza] came along,” one Brandeis faculty member, who requested anonymity to describe university affairs, told JI on Wednesday. 

Neither Liebowitz nor Lisa R. Kranc, the university’s board chair who announced the news, offered a reason for his resignation. Kranc praised Liebowitz for his role elevating the university’s founding Jewish values.

“He has continually reminded us that we are animated by Jewish values and identity, including a reverence for knowledge, a commitment to repairing the world and openness to all,” Kranc wrote in an email to the Brandeis community. “We are proud of the role President Liebowitz played over the past year in speaking out against antisemitism in our world and on college campuses.”

In his own email, Liebowitz said he is stepping down “with mixed emotions, because this is an exceptional institution, which carries great meaning, especially at this time, due to the reason for its founding.” 

Liebowitz’s resignation is effective on Nov. 1. Arthur E. Levine, a former president of the Teachers College at Columbia University, will take over as interim president. 

Following pressure from Jewish groups at the University of Maryland, the administration reversed course on Sunday and canceled an anti-Israel rally slated for the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. 

But the policy reversal was met with mixed reactions from Jewish leaders on the College Park campus, who simultaneously applauded the decision while also “requesting a more complete response” from the university — especially a better understanding of “how to identify antisemitism.”  

UMD initially granted the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) a permit last month to hold the Oct. 7 demonstration on the campus’s central McKeldin Mall, prompting swift backlash and calls from campus groups including Hillel and the Jewish Student Union — and from former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who’s running for the Senate — for the school to reverse course. 

On Sunday, in a letter from university President Darryll Pines, the university announced it had canceled the event. Pines wrote that the decision was made following a “safety assessment,” which, he added, did not identify any threats to the campus. He did not, however, specifically address the Jewish community, which has faced unprecedented levels of antisemitism on college campuses nationwide — often related to SJP demonstrations — since Oct. 7.  

“Given the overwhelming outreach, from multiple perspectives, I requested a routine targeted safety assessment for this day to understand the risks and safety measures associated with planned events,” Pines wrote. “UMPD [University of Maryland Police Department] has assured me that there is no immediate or active threat to prompt this assessment, but the assessment is a prudent and preventive measure that will assist us to keep our safety at the forefront.”

“Jointly, out of an abundance of caution, we concluded to host only university-sponsored events that promote reflection on this day,” he continued, adding that “all other expressive events” will be held prior to Oct. 7 and permitted to continue on Oct. 8. 

The decision from Pines came following a letter, signed by tens of thousands of members and allies of the broader University of Maryland Jewish community, co-authored by Gilad Chen, an associate dean for research in UMD’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, and a parent of a sophomore at the university. On Monday, Chen co-penned a follow-up letter, addressed to Pines and Chancellor Jay Perman, expressing several concerns regarding the statement that canceled the SJP event.

“While we were relieved to learn yesterday that UMD will not allow SJP to rally on our campus on October 7, we respectfully request a more complete response to our letter from last Friday,” Chen wrote. The letter goes on to claim that Pines’ statement shows an “apparent lack of understanding by UMD regarding Jewish identity and how to identify antisemitism.” 

The letter also states that UMD is lacking in “clear guidelines for the UMD community at large as to what actions and speech contribute to a hostile environment for the Jewish community on campus,” as well as “enforceable policies and procedures for protecting the Jewish community from hate and a hostile environment on the UMD campus.” 

Chen told Jewish Insider that because the cancellation states that no events — other than university-sponsored ones — can occur on Oct. 7, it sets a standard that there is “a comparison between the Jewish organizations gathering to mark Oct. 7 and an SJP rally.” 

In a joint statement, Maryland Hillel and the Jewish Student Union echoed that “only university-sponsored events will occur on Oct. 7,” calling that decision “not an ideal situation,” but also noting that “it ensures that our physical and psychological safety is protected on this day of grief.” It has not been announced whether the university will hold its own event to mark Oct. 7, but Hillel on campus said it plans to hold an event to memorialize “the atrocities of Oct. 7.” 

Despite criticism that Pines’ language did not convey the magnitude of trauma that Oct. 7 — and the subsequent rise of antisemitism — has caused for Jewish students, Maryland Hillel and JSU, as well as Maryland elected officials, commended the restriction of anti-Israel events held on Oct. 7.

“We are reassured to learn that SJP will no longer be permitted to host their event on McKeldin Mall, or anywhere, on campus, on Oct. 7,” the groups wrote in a joint statement. 

Hogan, a Republican, wrote on X that “university officials are right to reverse their inexplicable decision to allow a major anti-Israel protest on October 7th. Antisemitic bigotry has no place in our state, and especially on our college campuses.” 

Hogan, who was the first Maryland leader to release a statement urging for the Oct. 7 event to be called off, called for “more to be done to ensure Jewish students can feel safe on their own campuses.” 

“Hogan will never hesitate to call out antisemitic hate and that’s why he condemned the despicable protest scheduled for Oct. 7,” Blake Kernen, a spokesperson for Hogan’s Senate campaign, told JI.

Angela Alsobrooks, Hogan’s Democratic opponent in the Senate race, initially didn’t provide a comment when JI reached out to her spokesperson. 

After the story’s publication, the Alsobrooks spokesperson reached out to JI with a statement in support of UMD’s decision to cancel the anti-Israel protest.

“I’m the mother of a 19-year-old daughter, so I can tell you that I agree with the parents and families who want nothing more than for all of our kids to be safe on college campuses; to feel safe and to actually be safe,” Alsobrooks said in the statement. “I know the University considered the safety of its students in its decision. I do agree with the decision. I think that October 7 is a solemn day. To have it as a day of remembrance, I think, is important.”

“I know too that the right to protest is foundational to our nation and that right must be protected. But I am unequivocal that any such protest must not call for violence or target any groups of people. Full stop,” she added.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, in a statement to JI, said that “everyone in Maryland has the right to peacefully protest, to voice their opinions, but not to call for violence against each other and it is my expectation that any demonstration at the University of Maryland follows that very ideal.”

“I’ve led soldiers in combat. I’ve seen not just the direct impacts of terrorism, but also the collateral damage it leaves. Terrorists target civilians, and that’s what Hamas did on October 7th. And, that’s what that day should be remembered as, a terrorist attack that took innocent lives.” 

Moore continued, “If you stand with Israel, you stand against Hamas. And if you stand with the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination, you stand against Hamas too. We must strive to achieve a permanent cease-fire that brings home the hostages, that ends the suffering of innocent Palestinian civilians, and leads to a permanent peace.” 

In a statement to JI, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said: “October 7th marks one of the darkest days in our recent history — we must never forget the lives that were taken and the hostages seized by the brutal Hamas terrorist attacks. I support the University of Maryland’s decision to preserve this day as a day of reflection. We must immediately bring home the hostages and end this war.”

With one of the largest Jewish student populations in the country — nearly 20% of the College Park undergraduate student body of more than 30,000 is Jewish — UMD has largely avoided egregious episodes of antisemitism that have occurred on many campuses. But Einav Tsach, a junior studying journalism and marketing who leads Mishelanu, an on-campus Israeli-American cultural association, told JI that in recent months, “SJP has taken on a larger and more noticeable presence and that is impacting Jewish students.” 

On Monday, SJP UMD wrote on Instagram that it will still “find ways to honor the martyrs of this genocide and mark one year of resistance” on Oct. 7. 

“They’ve worsened their rhetoric in the past year,” Tsach continued, pointing to the group’s July statement that it “unequivocally states that the Zionist state of Israel has no right to exist,” and another social media post that “openly supports armed struggle.” 

“Those are things that are very alienating to Jewish students,” Tsach said, adding that he is “thankful for the direct outcome of the letter, which is that SJP cannot hold a rally on a day of immense suffering for the Jewish people.” 

While Tsach said he hoped Pines’ letter would “get more into the specifics of what happened on Oct. 7 and reassure that it’s a day of mourning,” at the same time the university has “made every effort to hear from us and be in touch with us, with Pines attending our vigil on Oct. 9 last year.”

The George Washington University started the 2024-25 academic year suspending the groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, the university confirmed to Jewish Insider. 

The suspension, which was first announced in a joint Instagram post by the two groups on Monday — and has not yet been publicized by the university — is slated to run through the end of the fall semester. The groups said that university officials have told them they would remain on “disciplinary probation” through the remainder of the school year.

Under the suspension, SJP and JVP will not be recognized as registered campus organizations, are prohibited from hosting on-campus events and lose all university funding. Under probation, the groups will be required to obtain approval before hosting campus events and cannot use money from the university fund that is allocated to them.

A spokesperson for GW told JI that the school has “an obligation to address violations of university policy, and does so without regard to the content of the message those demonstrating seek to advance. It does so through a Code of Student Conduct that provides a fair review process that includes student peers.” 

The spokesperson declined to elaborate on how the groups violated university policy, but said that the school will “hold discussions with groups of students, faculty, alumni and parents about enhancing community engagement and conflict education on campus moving forward.” In a separate Instagram post on Tuesday, SJP wrote that “GW agrees to student conditions: negotiations resume.” 

“The university would not characterize [the discussions] as ‘negotiations,’” the spokesperson said, declining to elaborate on discussions that may take place with the groups. 

SJP and JVP at GW were temporarily suspended last fall after projecting anti-Israel messages — including “Divestment from Zionist genocide now” and “Free Palestine From the River to the Sea” — on the campus library weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. The suspension lasted 90 days while further disciplinary action prohibited SJP from posting communications on university property through May 20. 

The groups’ demands include divestment from all companies with ties to Israel, ending all academic partnerships with the Jewish state and dropping all charges against anti-Israel student demonstrators. In the joint Instagram post on Monday, SJP and JVP suggested that they will continue organizing, despite the suspension. 

 “So long as this university funds the companies and weapons manufacturers murdering our loved ones… we will continue to resist,” the groups wrote. 

As an attempt to shut down the anti-Israel encampment that has been on campus for more than a week, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik entered negotiations with student protestors. Among her interlocutors is Khymani James, a student quoted in national news outlets including CBS News who was described as a protest organizer in a recent interview with the Columbia Spectator.

Newly unearthed footage of James, posted on his public Instagram in January and published by The Daily Wire on Thursday, reveals a radical side of the Columbia junior. In the video, which James described as a recording of a conversation with a school official who called to discipline him after he posted a threat against Zionist students, the Columbia junior spoke at length about his hatred of Zionists and his belief that they should not be alive. (James was also recorded in a video at the encampment encouraging protestors to form a human chain to keep “Zionists” out of the camp.)

“Zionists don’t deserve to live,” James said in the January video. “Zionists, along with all white supremacists, need to not exist.”

“Be grateful,” he said, “that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists. I’ve never murdered anyone in my life and I hope to keep it that way.” A Columbia spokesperson told Jewish Insider on Thursday that such statements are “unacceptable, full stop,” but declined to comment specifically on James’ case and whether he will face disciplinary action. (At 1:30 a.m. on Friday morning, James released a statement expressing “regret” for the comments in the Instagram video. “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification,” wrote James, who added that Zionism “necessitates the genocide of the Palestinian people” and “I oppose that in the strongest terms.”)

As similar encampments have spread to dozens of universities around the country, James isn’t the only student protestor promoting violence against Zionists. A growing number of campus activists have veered into extremism — including demanding the expulsion of Zionists from their campuses, calling for the destruction of the state of Israel and promoting their messages in terrorist-aligned social media channels. At Columbia, some protestors called on Jewish students who walked by to “go back to Belarus” and “go back to Poland.”

Student organizers of campus anti-Israel encampments at several universities have taken to Telegram, a messaging app, to spread their message and elicit support, donations and advocacy from other students and outside supporters. 

A channel run by the organizers of the encampment at New York University, which was shut down by the university on Monday, posted a message on Wednesday encouraging supporters to follow another Telegram channel called “Resistance News Network,” where organizers said people could stay informed about updates on the situation in Gaza. (It is not known who sent the message, as Telegram allows users to remain anonymous.)

“Resistance News Network” is a channel that is closely associated with Hamas and other terrorist groups. Its pinned post — the post to which it directs all new members of the channel — is a message posted early on Oct. 7 with a video from Hamas’ military chief, praising the group’s terror attack in Israel and calling on supporter to take up arms. Several times a day, the Telegram channel posts messages praising Hamas attacks on the “Zionist enemy” in Gaza and quoting propaganda from other terror groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis. 

NYU spokesperson John Beckman told JI that the “matter has been referred to our Bias Response Line for investigation.” 

“NYU takes very seriously instances and allegations of antisemitism, exhortations of violence, and our responsibility to create a safe and welcoming environment for all NYU students,” Beckman said.

The “Resistance News Network” channel has cheered the anti-Israel encampments, and on Thursday it posted a message from Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — a U.S.-designated terrorist organization — calling on Arab students to “follow … the example of American universities.” 

Members of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at The Ohio State University shared a message with the “Resistance News Network” channel on Thursday asking members of the Hamas-aligned Telegram channel to support them and to stand with other SJP chapters. 

“We ask for you all to pray for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Gaza, and to support your local SJP as they combat the controlling powers that have stripped the world of any decency,” the message said. 

An Ohio State spokesperson said “there is no ongoing encampment or continuous demonstration at Ohio State,” noting that the gathering had been broken up by campus officials earlier on Thursday. But the spokesperson declined to comment on the SJP chapter seeking support in a Hamas-aligned forum.

At Princeton, a university staff member posted a photo to the social media platform X of a person at the encampment — where at least one professor has held their classes this week — holding a Hezbollah flag.

One day after 31 student organizations at Harvard University published a letter on social media claiming Israel is “entirely responsible” for Hamas terrorists’ murder of 900 Israelis, Jewish student leaders and alumni condemned the university’s handling of the incident and called for a stronger response from Harvard’s administration. 

Harvard President Claudine Gay and other university leaders said in a Monday night statement that the school is “heartbroken by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas.” But Jacob Miller, the president of the student board at Harvard Hillel and a former editorial fellow at Jewish Insider, called Harvard’s response a “weak statement [that] fails to capture the gravity of the moment.” He called for the university to “unequivocally condemn these terror attacks, a step they have been unwilling to take thus far.”

“It’s completely wrong to blame Israel for these types of attacks,” Miller told JI on Monday afternoon. “Clearly Israel is not responsible for attacks against its own civilians and it’s also deeply offensive to the Jewish community. I would say it’s antisemitic to blame Israel.” 

Two letters from Harvard students and alumni directly call on the university’s leadership to condemn the anti-Israel statement released by the student organizations, who called themselves the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups (PSG). 

One, organized by Harvard Hillel and Harvard Chabad, was signed by more than 2,000 people as of Monday night. “The statement signed by the Palestine Solidarity Committee and dozens of other student groups blaming Israel for the aforementioned attacks is completely wrong and deeply offensive,” the letter states. “There are no justifications for acts of terror as we have seen in the past days. We call on all the student groups who co-signed the statement to retract their signatures from the offensive letter.” 

Signatories include former NBC Universal President Noah Oppenheim, businessman and philanthropist George Rohr, former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, former U.S. solicitor general Seth Waxman, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Hadar President Ethan Tucker and novelists Dara Horn and Allegra Goodman. 

The Harvard chapter of alumni group Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF), is demanding in a letter set to be released today that the school’s leadership directly condemn the anti-Israel statement released by the student organizations. 

“It’s time for the administration to step up and make a statement,” Naomi Steinberg, a 1988 Harvard graduate who spearheaded the counter letter through ACF, told JI.  “Our strategy is completely alum-based to put pressure on the administration.” 

Steinberg’s daughter, Alana, who graduated from Harvard in 2018, added, “The silence is deafening. In not saying anything they are making a statement.” 

The alumni letter, which is addressed to President Gay, states that “ACF-Harvard holds Hamas and Iran fully responsible for this premeditated day of savagery, which will live in infamy. More Jews were murdered on October 7, 2023, than on any single day since the Holocaust. Hamas has killed and kidnapped babies, raped women, and paraded mutilated bodies of Israelis through the streets of Gaza, often accompanied by celebrations.”

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by JI, goes on to call the joint statement from Harvard student groups “shameful and replete with lies and should be rejected by fair-minded and informed people.” A Harvard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

“As pro-Israel alumni, ACF stands with Jewish students and faculty on Harvard’s campus during this difficult time. We call on President Gay, the Board of Overseers, and all Harvard administration and faculty to unequivocally support the Jewish and Israeli members of the Harvard community during the difficult days ahead.” 

“We believe that now is the time for the university to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which would place the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups’ statement well within the definition of antisemitism, and would give the university even more grounds for condemnation,” the statement concludes. 

The statement from Harvard’s administration, which came after pressure from several prominent alumni, including members of the U.S. House and Senate, did not condemn or mention the letter from the student groups. 

The student letter, titled “Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine,” was signed by 31 student organizations, including the Ivy League’s affiliate of Amnesty International. It condemned Israel, claiming Hamas’ attack “did not happen in a vacuum,” and that the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in an “open-air prison for over two decades.” 

“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the letter reads. “The apartheid regime is the only one to blame.” 

The letter continued, “Today, the Palestinian ordeal enters into uncharted territory. The coming days will require a firm stand against retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.”

Signatories to the letter include the African American Resistance Organization, the Harvard Islamic Society and Harvard Jews for Liberation.

The statement from Harvard’s administration, which came more than 24 hours after the student letter, said the university has “heard an interest from many in understanding more clearly what has been happening in Israel and Gaza.” 

It also said the school has “no illusion that Harvard alone can readily bridge the widely different views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but we are hopeful that, as a community devoted to learning, we can take steps that will draw on our common humanity and shared values in order to modulate rather than amplify the deep-seated divisions and animosities so distressingly evident in the wider world.” 

Naomi Steinberg told JI that “ACF-Harvard rejects the equivocating statement made by the Harvard administration, which attempts to draw a moral equivalency between Hamas terrorism and Israel’s defensive operations. The statement blatantly ignores and fails to condemn simple facts, among which are: that Hamas has slaughtered, raped, and taken innocent civilians hostage and is using them as pawns on the international stage.” 

“The administration must clearly and unequivocally condemn Hamas as an antisemitic terrorist organization in order to protect Harvard’s Jewish and pro-Israel students, as well as denounce the statement made by PSG,” Steinberg said. 

On Sunday night, more than 100 students gathered at Harvard Hillel to mourn Israeli victims.  

A vigil for “all civilian lives lost and in solidarity with Palestine” is planned for Tuesday night at the university. 

The letter from the student groups sparked almost immediate scrutiny, including from Lawrence Summers, who served as Harvard president from 2001-2006. “In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today,” Summers wrote on X on Monday.

Summers, who was the Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and advised former President Barack Obama, wrote, “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.”

“Instead, Harvard is being defined by the morally unconscionable statement apparently coming from two dozen student groups blaming all the violence on Israel,” he wrote, adding, “I am sickened.”

Lawmakers who attended Harvard also expressed disappointment in the school’s lack of response. 

Immediately after the Harvard administration released its statement, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) tweeted, “Harvard’s leadership has failed. The president and deans refuse to denounce the antisemitism of Harvard student groups. Instead of moral clarity and courage, they offer word salad approved by committee. I am ashamed of my alma mater.” 

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) wrote on X,  “Terrorism is never justified nor someone else’s fault. As hundreds of Israelis and others, including several Americans, remain kidnapped, injured, or dead, the 31 Harvard organizations that signed a letter holding Israel ‘entirely responsible’ for Hamas’ barbarous terrorism should be condemned, as should Harvard leadership for whom silence is complicity.” He added, “I cannot recall a moment when I’ve been more embarrassed by my alma mater.”

Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who graduated from Harvard in 2006, also condemned the letter and called on Harvard to respond. 

“It is abhorrent and heinous that Harvard student groups are blaming Israel for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks that have killed over 700 Israelis,” Stefanik tweeted. “Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism.

“I am calling on the leadership of Harvard to immediately publicly condemn these vile anti-Semitic statements.”

Jason Furman, head of the U.S. National Economic Council under the Obama administration, wrote on X that the letter is “getting global attention and the sentiments it expresses are egregious.”

“Blaming the victims for the slaughter of hundreds of civilians,” Furman continued. “Absolving the perpetrators of any agency. This is morally ignorant and painful for other members of the community.” 

Political scientist Ian Bremmer posted on X that he “can’t imagine who would want to identify with such a group.” “Harvard parents — talk to your educated kids about this.” 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who attended Harvard Law School, wrote, “What the hell is wrong with Harvard?”

At a Monday pro-Israel rally on the Boston Common, former Harvard Hillel director Rabbi Jonah Steinberg called out his former workplace. “We do not want to see crimson in this city become blood on the hands of those student groups who have signed on to such a despicable letter,” said Steinebrg, who is now the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in New England.

At universities around the U.S., Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters released statements similar to the Harvard student group letter, but with far fewer student groups signing on. National SJP called for a Day of Resistance on Thursday at colleges including Penn State, New York University and University of Virginia The group also praised Hamas’ “surprise operation against the Zionist enemy which disrupted the very foundation of Zionist settler society.” 

Jewish Insider’s Capitol Hill reporter Marc Rod contributed reporting.