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In the 11 days since Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its
terrorist attack on Israel, Harvard University has become a flashpoint for intergenerational tensions about the war — and the broader culture war
around campus free speech.

It began when student groups at Harvard University signed a statement that opened with the following: "We, the undersigned student organizations,
hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."
The statement did not condemn Hamas.

Backlash from wealthy Harvard alumni and donors has been swift. Some firms rescinded employment offers to students identified as being associated
with the statement. Similar incidents are taking place at other colleges.

The flare-up reflects the tension for elite colleges as a bastion for
radical campus politics, and their reliance on wealthy, powerful alumni
who might hold different views. As Insider has previously reported, the
views of younger Democrats and Republicans have begun to skew less
sympathetic to Israel.

Here's what's happened so far.

Hamas launches terrorist attacks on Israel
Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a series of terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, with Israel retaliating. As of Tuesday, about 1,300
people have been killed and more than 4,200 injured in Israel, the UN
says, citing Israeli officials. About 3,000 Palestinians have been killed
and 12,500 injured in Gaza, according to the UN, citing Gaza's Hamas-run
health ministry.

Harvard students blame Israel in a statement
A collection of student groups that referred to themselves as "Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups" released a joint statement on October 8
blaming Israel for the attacks by Hamas.

The statement said the students "hold the Israeli regime entirely
responsible for all unfolding violence" and added "the apartheid regime is
the only one to blame" for the attacks.

"We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians," the statement said.

The statement was written by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine
Solidarity Committee and originally signed by more than 30 other student groups.

No individual student was named as a signatory.

The statement rapidly spreads
The statement was shared on social media and quickly spread beyond campus, provoking angry responses from university alumni, politicians, and
business leaders.

US political scientist and author Ian Bremmer posted a copy of the
statement and its signatories on X on October 8 to his more than 700,000 followers.

"Can't imagine who would want to identify with such a group," Bremmer
wrote. "Harvard parents—talk to your educated kids about this."

Political alumni criticize the statement
Broader backlash to the statement began.

On October 9, former Harvard President and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry
Summers posted on X that in his nearly 50 years of being affiliated with Harvard, "I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today."

"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," Summers wrote.

Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a Harvard alum, said that he was "embarrassed" by the university and that the leadership's silence counted
as "complicity."

"What's happening at Harvard right now is intellectually weak and morally repugnant," Moulton wrote.

https://news.yahoo.com/harvard-become-poster-child-american-165756849.html

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