Jewish student suing Harvard tells RNC of university's 'moral degradation'
In a Wednesday speech at the Republican National Convention, Shabbos Kestenbaum, a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, criticized the university for allowing anti-Semitism to continue unchecked.
Kestenbaum was one of multiple students who sued the university administration earlier this year for allegedly allowing unchecked anti-Semitism to grow on its campus, and was described by RNC promotional materials as “a lifelong Democrat who will be voting for President Trump for the first time this year.”
“I am a proud first-generation American, I am a proud Orthodox Jew, and as of five months ago I am the proud plaintiff suing Harvard University for its failure to combat anti-Semitism,” Kestenbaum’s speech began, drawing cheers from the crowd.
“My problem with Harvard is not its liberalism, but its illiberalism,” Kestenbaum continued. “Too often students at Harvard are taught not how to think, but what to think.”
At Harvard, Kestenbaum says he “found [himself] immersed in a culture that is anti-Western, that is anti-American, and that is anti-Semitic.”
“After October 7th, the world finally saw what I and so many Jewish students across this country experienced almost every day,” Kestenbaum stated. “When I planted 1200 Israeli and American flags on campus, they were all vandalized within 24 hours.”
“I was harassed by my peers merely for being a Jew and have received countless death threats online,” Kestenbaum related. “Students and professors have openly called for new, Hamas-style attacks against the United States.”
“And perhaps most damning, when Hamas terrorists butchered 45 American citizens on October 7th, when they took 12 Americans hostage, Harvard refused to immediately and unequivocally condemn this atrocity,” Kestenbaum concluded.
Kestenbaum told The Harvard Crimson prior to his speech that he would appear at the RNC as one of two dozen “everyday Americans” supporting Trump. “I will be discussing the culture Harvard promotes — one of moral degradation, illiberalism, and systemic antisemitism,” Kestenbaum wrote.
“Harvard has and will continue to be unequivocal — in our words and actions — that antisemitism is not and will not be tolerated on our campus,” a Harvard University spokesperson told The Harvard Crimson in the days leading up to Kestenbaum’s planned speech. “We remain committed to combating hate and to promoting and nurturing civil dialogue and respectful engagement.
Campus Reform has contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
