Harvard students sue university claiming school hasn’t protected supporters of Palestine
January 29, 2024
Agroup of Harvard students on Monday sued the university claiming it had failed to protect students of Palestinian background or those who supported Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.
Harvard has faced considerable public scrutiny due to its handling of antisemitism on campus in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the current hostilities. Then-President Claudine Gay attracted national ire during her congressional testimony in which she and two other university presidents declined to overtly condemn calls for genocide against Jews. Gay later resigned in part due to a plagiarism scandal.
Contributing to the controversy were demonstrations and statements made by Harvard students groups in support of Palestine and critical of Israel. The Muslim Legal Fund of America filed the suit Monday, representing “more than a dozen students, demanding an immediate investigation into Harvard’s failure to protect these students from harassment, intimidation, threats and more based solely on them being Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and supporters of Palestinian rights,” according to The Hill.
“We have been chased, spat at, stalked, and hounded by doxxing trucks on campus, and even at our families’ homes. On top of worrying about my family’s safety in Palestine, I’m living in fear of being attacked while walking to class. No student should have to live like this,” claimed one student in the suit.