"Get Angry - The Only Way to Create Change at Harvard is Outside Public Pressure"

A conversation with the spokesperson for Jewish students at Harvard University and a CALL TO ACTION for Jews around the world.

Cheers and Celebrations on October 7

The atmosphere on college campuses in the US is at dangerous levels, and those who hold the levers of power at universities are doing nothing to put out the fire - in fact, their actions indicate that they are fanning the flames.

I had the opportunity to speak with Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard student who rose up to face the explosion of anti-semitism on campus, beginning the evening of October 7.

Mr. Kestenbaum described how on October 7th, he and his Jewish friends were at the Harvard campus Chabad or Hillel, celebrating Shabbat and Simchat Torah, when rumors began circulating about a terrorist attack in Israel. Over the following hours, they began to understand the magnitude of the attack and were advised that they could use their phones, generally forbidden to Orthodox Jews on Shabbat, to call their family and friends in Israel to make sure they were ok.

As the horrors unfolded overseas, the most unbelievable response imaginable began to take shape on campus. Thirty-four Harvard clubs, consisting of almost 1000 students drafted a libelous letter on the evening of Oct 7 which immediately blamed the Jews for the Oct 7 massacre. The university’s response was silence.

The Jewish students were thrown from one shock to another, as they immediately faced an explosion of hatred thrown towards them while seeing cheers and celebration for the murderers of their brothers and sisters.

Congressional Hearing

In early March, Mr. Kestenbaum spoke before a bi-partisan House committee on “Antisemitism at Postsecondary Institutions” alongside student representatives from other schools.

At the committee roundtable, Mr. Kestenbaum discussed the current existence of the Harvard Antisemitism Task Force. According to the task force, their charge is to closely document and listen to instances of anti-semitism on campus, followed by a set of recommendations for how to combat it.

Not only does the Task Force offer zero recommendations to date, but they can’t have possibly even begun to attack Step 1. Mr. Kestenbaum had attempted to contact the Task Force over FORTY times with no response. The first time he heard back from them was the day after he appeared before members of Congress.

This is creating an untenable environment for Jewish students on campus, as their bullies get bolder, and the cries for help fall on deaf ears.

Following the infamous Congressional testimony of three Ivy League presidents in Dec 2023, where they all flatly refused to condemn the antisemitism on college campuses, Chairwoman of The House Committee of Education and the Workforce, Virginia Foxx issued a subpoena to Harvard demanding transparency regarding their handling of antisemitism on campus. In response, they got thousands of documents, mostly irrelevant, and nothing close to what was requested in the subpoena. Chairwoman Foxx and her colleagues have committed to pursuing Harvard until they receive clear answers, via further subpoenas, interviews, and investigations into what is going on with the administration and staff at Harvard.

Get Angry

Meanwhile, as Mr. Kestenbaum mentioned, “The only way to create change at Harvard is outside public pressure". The only hope for a response is for pressure to be applied strongly via national media, Congress, and the Harvard parent body. “Morally-conscious” Americans should also use their voice to push back on an administration that protects hateful students who show NO respect for liberalism and American values at the expense of a peaceful, hardworking, and respectful minority on campus who does. The goal is that eventually, the pressure on Harvard will be so unyielding that they will be forced to respond, and hopefully take actions to course correct.

CALL TO ACTION

Here are PUBLICLY AVAILABLE addresses you can turn to and express your outrage on behalf of Jewish students on campus who are suffering.

Copy-paste this list of email addresses, addressed to professors and administration members at Harvard who are supposed to be working on a solution to the antisemitism. Tell them that their lack of action is being noticed by the world. ⬇️

dib@hds.harvard.edu

AntisemitismAdvisoryGroup@harvard.edu

AntisemitismTaskForce@harvard.edu

diversity@harvard.edu

edib@harvard.edu

president@harvard.edu

hdsdeansoffice@hds.harvard.edu

DiversityInclusionandBelongingDIBProject@hu.onmicrosoft.com

gsas_edib@fas.harvard.edu

IF YOU KNOW of an actual incident that took place and should be reported, here is the number for the “Anonymous Reporting Hotline” for Harvard University:

Unbelievably, when you click on “Explore other ways to report at Harvard”, a list of task forces shows up on behalf of every group out there, except the one that’s been receiving a sudden tsunami of hateful attacks because of their identity. Not one mention of the Antisemitism Task Force that they assured Congress they are taking seriously. ⬇️

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing”

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik referenced that quote from Simon Wiesenthal in a passionate speech at a gala for Zionists of America.

It’s now up to us to throw our support behind the brave Jewish defenders who are putting themselves on front lines in all sorts of arenas. They need to know they’re not alone, and we need a place to use our voice. Please contact the email list above and make your voice heard!