Critics are protesting Harvard's choice to lead the anti-Semitism task force
A Harvard task force on anti-Semitism has gotten off to a rocky start, with complaints that the professor chosen to help lead the panel signed an agreement letter who was critical of Israel, describing it as “under a regime of apartheid.”
Harvard's new interim president, Alan Garber, announced Friday the formation of two “presidential task forces,” one to combat anti-Semitism and the other to combat Islamophobia. The move came less than a month after his predecessor, Claudine Gay, was forced to resign amid accusations of plagiarism and criticism that she was weak in curbing anti-Semitism.
Dr.'s choice Garber for co-chair of the anti-Semitism task force, Derek J. Penslar, a professor of Jewish history at Harvard, was met with immediate opposition from Lawrence H. Summers, a former president of Harvard, and Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager. whose brutal criticism of Dr. Gay helped cause her downfall.
Dr. Penslar was one of nearly 2,900 academics, clerics and other public figures who signed an open letter in early August, before the October 7 Hamas attack, condemning the Israeli government and saying it was committed to “removing all areas under Israeli ethnically cleansing regime. of their Palestinian population.” The letter stated that “Meanwhile, American Jewish billionaire financiers are helping to support the Israeli far right.”
The open letter was updated in December with a call for a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages and prisoners; Dr. Penslar did not sign that version.
On December 29 opinion essay in the campus newspaper The Crimson, Dr. Penslar calls for “a better understanding of what is and is not anti-Semitic.” He added: “Conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism deepens divisions within our Harvard community and hinders a common fight against hate.”
The dispute over his selection shows that the long-running debate over what constitutes anti-Semitism is still raging. And it raises questions about how much influence outside forces, especially major donors, should have over speech and opinion within universities.
“I have no doubt that Prof. Penslar is a profound scholar of Zionism and a person of goodwill without a trace of personal anti-Semitism who cares deeply about Harvard,” Mr. Summers wrote in a social media post on Sunday. to post. “I believe, however, that given his record, he is not qualified to lead a task force whose function is to combat what is seen by many as a serious anti-Semitism problem at Harvard.”
Mr. Ackman Posted that Harvard, with the selection of Dr. Penslar, “continues on the path of darkness.”
Harvard said in a statement that Dr. Penslar is committed to tackling anti-Semitism and “is someone who approaches his research and teaching with an open mind and respect for conflicting viewpoints and who approaches difficult issues with care and reason.”
Several Harvard professors also pushed back on Dr. Penslar. They said he was a leading scholarly expert on anti-Semitism and that outside forces should not dictate to Harvard how to run the university.
“Donors, right-wing politicians and activists are welcome to share their views, like anyone in a free society, but they cannot be allowed to de facto dictate university policy (for example on regulating speeches and protests at the campus), removing university leaders, or vetoing appointments to key university task forces,” Alison Frank Johnson, professor of history, and Steven Levitsky, professor of government, wrote in a letter Monday opinion essay in The Crimson.
Criticism of Israel may not be popular in all quarters, but it is “hardly a marginal position” among American and Israeli Jews, the two professors wrote.