Harvard condemns university employee for 'hateful' removal of Israeli hostages poster
Harvard University has condemned a school employee for removing a campus poster that featured Israeli hostages.
The Harvard Crimson reports that the university sent a letter to staff on Wednesday to denounce the act 'in the strongest possible terms.'
Harvard University has condemned a school employee for removing a campus poster that featured Israeli hostages.
The Harvard Crimson reports that the university sent a letter to staff on Wednesday to denounce the act “in the strongest possible terms.” The outlet also reports that images of the protester show him wearing a name badge of Jonathan Tuttle, who works as a cataloguer for the Radcliffe Institute’s Schlesinger Library.
The Crimson also notes that the poster was placed on campus by Harvard Chabad, and featured images of the Bibas children, who were kidnapped and ultimately killed by Hamas.
In her email, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Sherri Charleston condemned the “hateful” actions of the anti-Israel protester. She also said that the incident is contrary to campus free speech.
“The response to speech with which we disagree is more speech, not less; it’s more listening, more dialogue,” she writes. “It disparages those in our community when their perspectives or experiences are negated by destructive acts like these.”
Charleston called upon the university to “stand united in condemning acts that undermine the fabric of our community.”
On Wednesday, the Crimson reported that the poster was removed during a protest of the anti-Israel student group, Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP). Harvard police have since launched an investigation into the “bias-related incident.”
According to its Instagram account, HOOP is a “coalition of Harvard students fighting for divestment, liberation, and a Free Palestine.”
The group also posted on Wednesday to condemn the campus appearance of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whom the group referred to as a “war criminal.”
”As Israel continues its campaign to annihilate the Palestinian people, we must show that we will not normalize apartheid and genocide on our campus and beyond,” HOOP writes.