Vindicated: Harvard University publishes damning report on campus antisemitism

Harvard University has published a damning report into antisemitism on campus.

The full report can be read here.

The report details, case by case, how campus became a hostile environment for Jews and just how low what was once one of the West’s premier institutions of learning has sunk.

Unvarnished antisemitism and victimisation of Jews by students and faculty, privileging of intimidatory protests over the rights of Jewish students, instances of downplaying the Holocaust and 7th October, litmus tests for Jews and more. The report is a catalogue of shameful incidents and testimony. It vindicates the brave Jewish students and faculty who have been blowing the whistle and fighting for their basic rights for the past year and a half.

One part of the report concluded: “No other group was constantly told that their history was a sham, that they or their co-religionists or co-ethnics were supremacists and oppressors, and that they had no right to the protections offered by anti-bias norms. Many Jewish students told us they feel like objects of suspicion.”

It also found that Jewish students were told that “They were deemed to be privileged…because of their Jewishness.”

According to the report, “Many Jewish and Israeli students reported experiencing social shunning, verbal abuse, intimidation and bullying.”

Authors of the report noted: “We also encountered an effort by some to redefine antisemitism in a way that drains the term of meaning.”

One student testified: “I feel lucky I don’t look Jewish. I know if I do the ‘wrong thing’ I might get the antisemitism. So, put your headphones in, make sure you’re not outwardly Jewish, and just walk to class.”

A staff member said: “I didn’t feel unsafe physically, but I felt unsafe emotionally.”

This is a wake-up call for academia across Western society.

Universities have never been immune to antisemitism – indeed there have been eras when they have been incubators of it. Sadly, we are living through just such a time.

Institutions of higher learning around the world, including in the UK, must urgently take heed.

The full report can be read here.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout the United States.