Harvard University – which became embroiled in numerous anti-Semitic controversies – settled two lawsuits alleging anti-Jewish and anti-Israel discrimination while one student vows to keep fighting until justice is served.
Harvard, whose campus saw an explosion of pro-Hamas protests after the terrorist group launched its attacks on Oct. 7, has settled two separate lawsuits alleging anti-Semitic discrimination filed by the Louis Brandeis Center and another filed by Students Against Antisemitism and Shabbos Kestenabaum.
A complaint by the Brandeis Center alleges that three Harvard Kennedy School students were discriminated against based on their Israeli identity during a spring 2023 course. When the students presented a research project on Israel’s liberal Jewish democracy, the professor told them the topic was “offensive” and if if they don’t change the subject, they will suffer “consequences,” the lawsuit states.
Cambridge, MA – May 10: Harvard University police walk past a pro-Palestinian tent camp in Harvard Yard. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Professor Ganz, who taught the course, compared the “Jewish state” to “white supremacy” and subjected students to further discrimination by allowing pro-Palestinian students to express vicious anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric in class, denying Israeli students the ability to respond, the lawsuit alleges. Discrimination in the classroom culminated in the professor, his classmates, and the entire class donning keffiyehs for a group photo. Israeli students, feeling targeted, refused to participate.
The Brandeis Center commissioned an external investigation into the incident, and the report concluded that students faced a “hostile learning environment” and that Harvard Kennedy School failed to protect them from a “bias-free learning environment.” Harvard agreed with the report’s findings, but the lawsuit alleges they failed to take appropriate action in response.
In another troubling claim from the Brandeis Center, an Israeli Jewish student at Harvard Business School was attacked by a violent mob of pro-Hamas radicals on campus. The student, who was wearing a blue wristband as a sign of support for the Jewish state, tried to film an anti-Israel protest on his campus when he was mobbed by “security marshals” who pushed and shoved him.
HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY RESIGNED DUE TO ANTI-SEMITISM AND PLAGIARISM CONTROVERSIES
Former Harvard President Claudine Gay has refused to say that calls for genocide against Jews are against the school’s anti-bullying rules. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The lawsuit alleges Harvard failed to properly discipline violent students and is trying to “sweep the incident under the rug.”
In the lawsuit by Students Against Antisemitism and Kestenbaum, Harvard was accused of becoming “a bastion of unbridled hatred of Jews.”
Among other incidents cited in the case, the suit involves former Harvard President Claudine Gay disastrous testimony from December 2023 before the House Education Committee where she declined to say whether calls for genocide against Jews are against school rules against bullying and harassment, instead arguing that it “depends on the context.” Kestenbaum claims he was repeatedly harassed online by a Harvard staff member and the university failed to take adequate measures to protect him.
“@ShabbosK, watch your back… I’m coming for much more than blood—I’m coming for Zionism and I have support[.] . . . We’re burying you.” Harvard Financial and Systems Studies Coordinator Gustavo Espada posted on X.
While the Brandeis Center and SAS have agreed to settlements, Kestenbaum continues to pursue his case against Ivy League school separately.
“I am happy that many of our demands have been met, however, the only way to ensure that no student is treated the way Harvard treated me is through punishment, accountability and discipline,” Kestenbaum said. Fox News Digital.
As part of the settlement, Harvard agreed to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism as part of its policies against discrimination and abuse, host an annual symposium on anti-Semitism, and cooperate with an Israeli university.
Shabbos Kestenbaum continues with his lawsuit. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
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“The recent settlement is real progress. But there is a long way to go before Jewish, Israeli and Zionist students enjoy full equality on campus. The courts and the Trump administration need to hold Harvard to the fire,” former Harvard Hillel Director Andrew Geraer said.
“This resolution is consistent with Harvard’s commitment to combating anti-Semitism and ensuring that its Jewish and Israeli students are welcome and able to thrive on its campus, and that complaints of discrimination and harassment against Jewish and Israeli students are treated with the same urgency and urgency as all protected groups,” said the Harvard press release.
