Amidst severe backlash and criticism over refusing to condemn the calls for the genocide of Jews on their respective campuses, Harvard and UPenn Presidents have sought to ‘clarify’.
In a video message posted on the X profile of the University of Pennsylvania on December 7, its president Liz Magill said, “In that moment, I was focused on our University’s long-standing policies, aligned with the US Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil plain and simple. I want to be clear, the call for genocide of Jewish people is threatening, deeply so. It is intentionally meant to terrify people who have been subjected to pogroms and hatred for centuries and were the victims of mass genocide in the Holocaust. In my view, it would be harassment or intimidation.”
A Video Message from President Liz Magill pic.twitter.com/GlPE3QZU4P
— Penn (@Penn) December 6, 2023
Moreover, the UPenn president said that she and Provost John Jackson would initiate a process to evaluate and clarify campus policy, saying, “We can and will get this right.”
It is rather ironic that Magill was focused on the university’s policies upholding free speech while she was asked about calls for genocide of a religious community. However, Magill was more concerned about contextualising calls to kill Jews. If speech alone in this context calling for the genocide of Jews is not punishable, would not give a free pass to the Jew-hating elements to harass and attack the Jewish students on the university campus. What also requires attention here is that the UPenn president has not apologised or had a sudden sense of realisation that calling for the genocide of Jews should be punishable and restricted, rather it came after global condemnation.
Meanwhile, Harvard University president Claudine Gay also rushed to ‘clarify’ the varsity’s position on the issue and said, “There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students. Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
Interestingly, the Harvard president’s statement posted on varsity’s X profile on December 6 got community-checked with a note reading, “While under oath before Congress, the President of Harvard stated that condemning antisemitism and calls for genocide of Jews “depends on the context” as opposed to being simply wrong.”
Statement from President Gay: There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students. Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic…
— Harvard University (@Harvard) December 6, 2023
While Claudine Gay after the outrage is saying that the genocide calls against Jews have no place at the varsity and those who threaten Jewish students will be held accountable, she had blatantly tried to bring in ‘context’ when asked about deeming calling for genocide of Jews as a violation of Harvard’s rules regarding bullying and harrassment.
Replying to Harvard’s post, social media users posted the video clip from the Congressional hearing where Claudine Gay was seen refusing to identify calls for genocide of Jewish individuals as a violation of campus policies, instead, she was saying that the calls for murder targeted against Jews are ‘context dependant’.
That is NOT what President Gay said and you know it.
— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) December 6, 2023
Do you really think your alumni and donors will fall for your gaslighting? pic.twitter.com/e84BfLWPs3
White House slams the statements of Harvard and Penn presidents
The ‘change of heart’ from refusing to even recognize calls for genocide of Jews as a violation of harassment and bullying rules of both Harvard and Penn, to assert that it has no place in the varsity, comes after White House spokesperson Andrew Bates rebuked the presidents of both the universities. In a statement on December 6, Bates said that any statements calling for systematic killings of Jews are revolting adding that such calls are antithetical to American values.
“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country. Any statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans,” Bates said.
The White House weighs in on the disastrous Hill hearing for university presidents, who were unable to say it's harassment to call for the genocide of Jewish people.
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) December 6, 2023
From Biden spox @AndrewJBates46:
"It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous…
The controversy erupted on 5th December, during the first hearing on “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism” in Washington, DC. As reported earlier, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik confronted the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn during the hearing over the issue of rising cases of antisemitism on their campuses. During the hearing, Harvard University President Claudine Gay, MIT University President Sally Kornbluth, and UPenn President Elizabeth Magill refused to condemn the calls for the genocide of Jews on their respective campuses as bullying and harassment, when asked to offer a simple “yes” or “no” answer on whether advocating for the murder of Jews would violate the University’s bullying and harassment policies.
