Donald Trump accuses Harvard of being anti-Semitic. Now the elite university must admit: He's right

The president chose strong words. Last month, Donald Trump called Harvard University a "threat to democracy." He called the elite, long-established institution an "anti-Semitic, far-left institution." On the news platform Truth Social, he wrote that Harvard accepts students from all over the world who "want to tear our country apart." The university allows a group of "lunatics" to spread anger and hatred and fails to intervene even when conditions become intolerable. The government therefore wants to cut billions in funding to Harvard.

Trump's accusations were not unfounded. Since the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, there had been several pro-Palestinian, or rather anti-Israel, rallies at Harvard, justifying the Hamas attack and calling for the destruction of Israel. Numerous professors and university representatives had supported the concerns of the anti-Israel activists. In December 2023, Harvard President Claudine Gay had to answer a committee of the US Congress. When asked whether calls for genocide against Jews were compatible with Harvard University's rules, she said it "depends on the context."

A hair-raising answer. But it clearly described the climate prevailing at Harvard quite accurately. In an investigative report published a few days ago, Harvard University itself admits that an anti-Semitic mood prevails on campus. More than three hundred densely printed pages describe how Jewish students were excluded, intimidated, and bullied. And how the mere statement that the State of Israel has a right to exist could lead to students being excluded from discussions or students breaking off contact with them.

The report was commissioned over a year ago. Claudine Gay resigned at the beginning of January 2024. Her successor as Harvard President, Alan Garber, immediately established two task forces. One was to investigate the allegation that the university administration was failing to adequately combat anti-Semitic hate speech. The other was to investigate whether pro-Palestinian and Arab students were also suffering from repression.

Both reports are based on interviews with students, professors, and academic staff. Their statements were not verified. But the evidence from the several hundred interviews conducted by the task force is a devastating indictment of Harvard. "It is clear," the report concludes, "that key developments within the university contradict the values ​​the institution professes to the outside world." And: The university has failed to moderate the students; on the contrary, it has contributed to their radicalization.

The report provides ample examples of how this happened. The task force notes that an anti-Israel climate existed even before October 7, 2023. But since the Hamas attack, these tendencies have intensified massively. More than 30 student groups unanimously blamed Israel for the massacre in public statements. Jewish students describe feeling that their mere presence on campus was viewed as a provocation by pro-Palestinian activists.

According to the report, representatives of the Israel boycott movement (BDS) at Harvard had been working since 2005 to brand Israel as a malicious settler state with no historical connection to its current territory. They succeeded. In many of the university's curricula, seminars, and research programs, this position remains unchallenged. And it didn't remain academic theory; instead, it was used to bully Jewish students. In "privilege trainings," they were told that white Jews belonged to a particularly privileged group and that all Jews were responsible for what was happening in Gaza and the West Bank.

This was not only pointed out to Jewish students, but also made to feel it. A pro-Palestinian student who refused to write a paper with an Israeli was assigned another classmate, even though the course had nothing to do with Israel or Gaza. The lecturer justified this by saying that it was unreasonable for a student who supported an "oppressed group" to work with a representative of the "oppressor group."

Jewish students report various forms of exclusion and bullying: Fellow students refused to speak to them if they wore a kippah. Activists even explicitly encouraged students to behave this way. Conversations were often abruptly terminated if a conversation partner revealed that they were Israeli. Some respondents say they could have escaped the exclusion by denouncing Israel and thus "joining the good guys." Many students say the intimidation led them to drop out of seminars or courses. Some left Harvard altogether.

Interestingly, the second report, which focuses on anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents, comes to a similar conclusion. Muslim, Arab, and pro-Palestinian students also report being prevented from openly expressing their opinions on campus. This is quite surprising considering that the Harvard campus became a pro-Palestinian protest camp for weeks after October 7.

Palestine solidarity committees had erected installations commemorating the victims of the Israeli defensive offensive in Gaza. Palestinian flags flew everywhere, banners called for an end to the "Israeli occupation," Israel was labeled an apartheid state, and the actions of the Israeli army were denounced as "genocide." Pro-Israel rallies? There were those, too. But on a barely significant scale. It's highly unlikely that the pro-Palestinian activists would have felt adversely affected by them. Although there were also anti-Muslim outbursts between students at Harvard.

In one case, the university administration also reacted: Thirteen students were denied their degree because they had participated in anti-Israel protests – which led to a wave of solidarity among like-minded students. However, this does not appear to have resulted in a generally anti-Muslim climate. Antisemitism, on the other hand, appears almost systemic at Harvard.

After all, the view that Israel has no right to exist was, or still is, the basis of academic work in many courses. Harvard President Alan Garber described the findings of the investigative reports as "disappointing and painful" and announced immediate action. They are urgently needed.