‘WAR CRIMINALS NOT WELCOME HERE’: Harvard activists drape banner at campus opposing new VP

The group showcased a photo of a sign on campus that read: ‘WAR CRIMINALS NOT WELCOME HERE, JENNIFER O’CONNOR.’

‘As Harvard becomes complicit in the death of over 40,000 Palestinians in the ongoing Gaza genocide, a war criminal in their cabinet is not surprising,’ the group wrote.

Screenshot taken from Instagram of HOOP.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine posted a series of photos of signs on Harvard University’s campus expressing opposition to the appointment of Jennifer O’Connor as the Ivy League school’s new vice president. 

The July 11 Instagram post from HOOP showed a sign hung on the Harvard campus gate declaring: “WAR CRIMINALS NOT WELCOME HERE, JENNIFER O’CONNOR.” 

The post also showed another sign with the inscription: “186,000 DEAD. HARVARD FUNDS GENOCIDE.” 

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In the caption for the post, HOOP attacked what it sees as O’Connor’s alleged lack of credentials. 

 “She has 0 experience in higher education positions, yet her time as the former general counsel to the US Department of Defense and former Tech Law VP to weapons company Northrop Grumman make her a perfect fit at this complicit institution,” the anti-Israel group wrote. 

The group also took aim at her former work for defense company Northrop Grumman.

HOOP alleged that O’Connor is a “war criminal” due to her previous employment with Northrop Grumman: “At Northrop Grumman, she oversaw the legalities of a company which sells missiles to the genocidal Israeli regime, possesses one of the largest contracts with ICE, and develops racist biometric surveillance technology. As Harvard becomes complicit in the death of over 40,000 Palestinians in the ongoing Gaza genocide, a war criminal in their cabinet is not surprising.”

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HOOP isn’t the only anti-Israel group on campus to be upset by O’Connor’s hiring. The school’s Palestine Solidarity Committee also condemned the move, writing: “Hiring individuals complicit in a system with the blood of over 40,000 Palestinians on its hands is yet another reminder of Harvard’s complicity.”

Campus Reform has contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.