Thank you for producing a detailed analysis of the lawsuit alleging a plague of anti-semitism at Penn (and implicitly—by dint of the congressional hearing that included Penn, MIT and Harvard—in the Ivy League).
Time will tell what is really going on, and all of it needs the cleansing light of transparency.
Penn could use many more ‘on the ground’ reports.
Here is an example of real time reports from Harvard:
—-
Anti-Semitic Occupation of Harvard’s Widener Library. By alumnus and U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
Cambridge, Mass.
I was in Boston last weekend for the Army-Navy game. The day after the game, five days after Harvard President Claudine Gay’s disastrous testimony before Congress, I decided to walk the campus to reminisce about my time at Harvard, where I earned my undergraduate degree in 1987, and reflect about what had gone wrong at this once-great university.
I visited places that held significance to me while I was there: St. Paul’s Catholic Church, my freshman dorm and, of course, Widener Library—a monument to learning, study and contemplation that sits like a temple in the middle of Harvard Yard.
As I did during my undergraduate years, I spent several minutes staring up at the powerful mural by John Singer Sargent, “Death and Victory.” It’s one of two Sargent paintings memorializing the men of Harvard who sacrificed their lives for our country in World War I. I’ve thought about the painting often throughout the years—including when I made the decision to join the Marine Corps.
When I walked upstairs to the famous Widener Reading Room, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Nearly every student in the packed room was wearing a kaffiyeh. Fliers attached to their individual laptops, as well as affixed to some of the lamps in the reading room, read: “No Normalcy During Genocide—Justice for Palestine.” A young woman handed the fliers to all who entered. A large banner spread across one end of the room stated in blazing blood-red letters, “Stop the Genocide in Gaza.”
Curious about what was going on, I was soon in a cordial discussion with two of the organizers of this anti-Israel protest inside of one the world’s great libraries—not outside in Harvard Yard, where such protests belong. They told me they were from Saudi Arabia and the West Bank. I told them I was a U.S. senator who had recently returned from a bipartisan Senate trip to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. I mentioned the meetings I had. I expressed my condolences when they told me their relatives had been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza.
One then asked whether I supported a cease-fire in Gaza. I said I didn’t, because I strongly believe Israel had the right both to defend itself and to destroy Hamas given the horrendous attacks it perpetrated against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
Their tone immediately changed. “You’re a murderer,” one said. “You support genocide,” said the other.
“Excuse me, what did you say?” I asked in disbelief.
They repeated their outrageous charges. I tried to debate them, noting the Israel Defense Forces don’t target civilians, and that the only group attempting to carry out genocide is Hamas. But civil debate with these women was pointless. As I was leaving Widener Library, they pulled out their iPhones and continued taunting: “Do you support genocide? Do you support genocide?” The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee posted some of this exchange on Instagram.
As a U.S. senator who has been through two election campaigns, I’ve had plenty of iPhones aggressively shoved in my face by members of radical groups. Nevertheless, I was shocked and, again, ashamed of my alma mater. All of this—the anti-Israel protests, the big banner, the fliers, the iPhones, the taunting questions—took place inside the Widener Library, a revered place of quiet study for tens of thousands of Harvard students and alumni.
My thoughts then turned to Harvard undergrads. Imagine if you were an 18-year-old Jewish or Israeli student, or even a pro-Israel Catholic like me, and you wanted to study for your chemistry final in the Widener Reading Room on a Sunday morning. Imagine being confronted by this protest, obviously condoned by Harvard’s leadership and commandeered by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the group behind the notorious statement that holds “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack.
Would you feel welcome in Harvard’s most famous library? Would you feel rattled, intimidated and harassed by the anti-Israel banner screaming “Stop the Genocide in Gaza”? As Jason Riley has written, “If accusing Israel of genocide isn’t defamation of Jewish people, I don’t know what is.” If you were that 18-year-old student, would you believe the vacuous statement recently put out by the Harvard Corp., after it decided not to fire Ms. Gay, that “disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated”?
If students were handing out fliers and hanging large banners in the Widener Library Reading Room denouncing, say, affirmative action or NCAA rules allowing men to compete in women’s swim meets, Harvard leaders would shut them down in a minute. But an anti-Israel protest by an antisemitic group, commandeering the entire Widener Reading Room during finals? No problem.
Is that what Ms. Gay meant when she testified that “it depends on the context”?
Not all university leadership is so craven, morally bankrupt and afraid of the most vocal, radical sects of their own student bodies. I serve on the board of visitors for the U.S. Naval Academy, which is the No. 1 public university in America. The contrast couldn’t be starker between the service academies and the Ivy League on issues like civil discourse, so-called safe spaces, trigger warnings, American history and our unique and, yes, exceptional place in the world.
America’s so-called elite universities used to be a positive source of our nation’s power, strength and influence. No longer. I believe over the past several weeks a bipartisan consensus has emerged: It is time for Congress to save these important and once-respected institutions from themselves and their weak leaders who have lost their moral compasses. I intend to work with my colleagues in the Senate to do so.”
Mr. Sullivan, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Alaska and a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.
The university . . . would not allow us to keep this menorah here overnight, because there’s fear that it’ll be vandalized. Think about that.’
Except: “You know when change is going to happen on this campus? When we don’t have to pack up the menorah. When the current dean of students is not able to tell me, last Shabbat over dinner, that a student confides in him that he looks in the mirror before he leaves his dorm room to ensure that there’s nothing on his physical appearance that gives away the fact that he’s a Jew.”
Hiding Harvard’s Menorah. Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of Harvard Chabad speaking in front of a menorah outside the Widener Library, Dec. 13. PHOTO: HARVARD CHABAD
Dec 16, 2023·edited Dec 17, 2023Liked by Brian McGlinchey
I share legendary investment adviser Doug Casey's views on "Israel's right to exist":
"Our main interest is keeping the United States out of this thing. We’re 330 million people. About 7.6 million are Jews, and 3.6 million are Arab. The rest of us don’t want to have anything to do with what amounts to a Biblical domestic dispute that could easily turn into World War III."
Then there's this gem:
"Let’s not be too sanctimonious about terrorism. Bombing cities, which are by definition full of civilians, is just state terrorism, tarted up, justified, and rationalized with legalities and rhetoric."
I'm an American. Those sympathetic to the Israeli cause can be my guest and support it any way they choose. Just leave me alone. I'm trying to pay the mortgage.
And, yet, if you actually interview the people using these terms, they quickly admit that they would PREFER that the Jews be eliminated. (It's like how everyone who thinks the Holocaust is exaggerated wishes it weren't.). That is, you seem to ignore the possibility that people use euphemisms to hide their real meaning. If people tell you they don't mean that they want to exterminate the Jews, then you're like fine, let's just move on as if they're telling us the truth. But you have to dig a little deeper - you have to guard against deception (including self deception). Precious few people oppose Israel because they want Jews to live somewhere else; talk to them & they oppose Israel because they don't want the Jews to live anywhere at all OR, at least, they're willing to kill them all if that's what's "required" to get what they want (the 23rd Arab state in all of what is today Israel). People lie. It's perfectly reasonable to assume they're lying. I do; you should too. The anti-Israel crowd wants to kill Jews (or thinks it's a small price to pay for their other goals). That's reality, whatever the anti-Israel crowd claims.
Thank you for producing a detailed analysis of the lawsuit alleging a plague of anti-semitism at Penn (and implicitly—by dint of the congressional hearing that included Penn, MIT and Harvard—in the Ivy League).
Time will tell what is really going on, and all of it needs the cleansing light of transparency.
Penn could use many more ‘on the ground’ reports.
Here is an example of real time reports from Harvard:
—-
Anti-Semitic Occupation of Harvard’s Widener Library. By alumnus and U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
Cambridge, Mass.
I was in Boston last weekend for the Army-Navy game. The day after the game, five days after Harvard President Claudine Gay’s disastrous testimony before Congress, I decided to walk the campus to reminisce about my time at Harvard, where I earned my undergraduate degree in 1987, and reflect about what had gone wrong at this once-great university.
I visited places that held significance to me while I was there: St. Paul’s Catholic Church, my freshman dorm and, of course, Widener Library—a monument to learning, study and contemplation that sits like a temple in the middle of Harvard Yard.
As I did during my undergraduate years, I spent several minutes staring up at the powerful mural by John Singer Sargent, “Death and Victory.” It’s one of two Sargent paintings memorializing the men of Harvard who sacrificed their lives for our country in World War I. I’ve thought about the painting often throughout the years—including when I made the decision to join the Marine Corps.
When I walked upstairs to the famous Widener Reading Room, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Nearly every student in the packed room was wearing a kaffiyeh. Fliers attached to their individual laptops, as well as affixed to some of the lamps in the reading room, read: “No Normalcy During Genocide—Justice for Palestine.” A young woman handed the fliers to all who entered. A large banner spread across one end of the room stated in blazing blood-red letters, “Stop the Genocide in Gaza.”
Curious about what was going on, I was soon in a cordial discussion with two of the organizers of this anti-Israel protest inside of one the world’s great libraries—not outside in Harvard Yard, where such protests belong. They told me they were from Saudi Arabia and the West Bank. I told them I was a U.S. senator who had recently returned from a bipartisan Senate trip to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. I mentioned the meetings I had. I expressed my condolences when they told me their relatives had been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza.
One then asked whether I supported a cease-fire in Gaza. I said I didn’t, because I strongly believe Israel had the right both to defend itself and to destroy Hamas given the horrendous attacks it perpetrated against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
Their tone immediately changed. “You’re a murderer,” one said. “You support genocide,” said the other.
“Excuse me, what did you say?” I asked in disbelief.
They repeated their outrageous charges. I tried to debate them, noting the Israel Defense Forces don’t target civilians, and that the only group attempting to carry out genocide is Hamas. But civil debate with these women was pointless. As I was leaving Widener Library, they pulled out their iPhones and continued taunting: “Do you support genocide? Do you support genocide?” The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee posted some of this exchange on Instagram.
As a U.S. senator who has been through two election campaigns, I’ve had plenty of iPhones aggressively shoved in my face by members of radical groups. Nevertheless, I was shocked and, again, ashamed of my alma mater. All of this—the anti-Israel protests, the big banner, the fliers, the iPhones, the taunting questions—took place inside the Widener Library, a revered place of quiet study for tens of thousands of Harvard students and alumni.
My thoughts then turned to Harvard undergrads. Imagine if you were an 18-year-old Jewish or Israeli student, or even a pro-Israel Catholic like me, and you wanted to study for your chemistry final in the Widener Reading Room on a Sunday morning. Imagine being confronted by this protest, obviously condoned by Harvard’s leadership and commandeered by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the group behind the notorious statement that holds “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack.
Would you feel welcome in Harvard’s most famous library? Would you feel rattled, intimidated and harassed by the anti-Israel banner screaming “Stop the Genocide in Gaza”? As Jason Riley has written, “If accusing Israel of genocide isn’t defamation of Jewish people, I don’t know what is.” If you were that 18-year-old student, would you believe the vacuous statement recently put out by the Harvard Corp., after it decided not to fire Ms. Gay, that “disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated”?
If students were handing out fliers and hanging large banners in the Widener Library Reading Room denouncing, say, affirmative action or NCAA rules allowing men to compete in women’s swim meets, Harvard leaders would shut them down in a minute. But an anti-Israel protest by an antisemitic group, commandeering the entire Widener Reading Room during finals? No problem.
Is that what Ms. Gay meant when she testified that “it depends on the context”?
Not all university leadership is so craven, morally bankrupt and afraid of the most vocal, radical sects of their own student bodies. I serve on the board of visitors for the U.S. Naval Academy, which is the No. 1 public university in America. The contrast couldn’t be starker between the service academies and the Ivy League on issues like civil discourse, so-called safe spaces, trigger warnings, American history and our unique and, yes, exceptional place in the world.
America’s so-called elite universities used to be a positive source of our nation’s power, strength and influence. No longer. I believe over the past several weeks a bipartisan consensus has emerged: It is time for Congress to save these important and once-respected institutions from themselves and their weak leaders who have lost their moral compasses. I intend to work with my colleagues in the Senate to do so.”
Mr. Sullivan, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Alaska and a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-antisemitic-occupation-of-harvards-widener-library-politics-anti-israel-bias-e4cea52a?st=u493o6lxfjr6cb5&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink
——-
And:
The university . . . would not allow us to keep this menorah here overnight, because there’s fear that it’ll be vandalized. Think about that.’
Except: “You know when change is going to happen on this campus? When we don’t have to pack up the menorah. When the current dean of students is not able to tell me, last Shabbat over dinner, that a student confides in him that he looks in the mirror before he leaves his dorm room to ensure that there’s nothing on his physical appearance that gives away the fact that he’s a Jew.”
Hiding Harvard’s Menorah. Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of Harvard Chabad speaking in front of a menorah outside the Widener Library, Dec. 13. PHOTO: HARVARD CHABAD
https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-hiding-harvards-menorah-antisemitism-higher-education-545feb69?st=xcz08infyomy8f8&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink
I share legendary investment adviser Doug Casey's views on "Israel's right to exist":
"Our main interest is keeping the United States out of this thing. We’re 330 million people. About 7.6 million are Jews, and 3.6 million are Arab. The rest of us don’t want to have anything to do with what amounts to a Biblical domestic dispute that could easily turn into World War III."
Then there's this gem:
"Let’s not be too sanctimonious about terrorism. Bombing cities, which are by definition full of civilians, is just state terrorism, tarted up, justified, and rationalized with legalities and rhetoric."
I'm an American. Those sympathetic to the Israeli cause can be my guest and support it any way they choose. Just leave me alone. I'm trying to pay the mortgage.
And, yet, if you actually interview the people using these terms, they quickly admit that they would PREFER that the Jews be eliminated. (It's like how everyone who thinks the Holocaust is exaggerated wishes it weren't.). That is, you seem to ignore the possibility that people use euphemisms to hide their real meaning. If people tell you they don't mean that they want to exterminate the Jews, then you're like fine, let's just move on as if they're telling us the truth. But you have to dig a little deeper - you have to guard against deception (including self deception). Precious few people oppose Israel because they want Jews to live somewhere else; talk to them & they oppose Israel because they don't want the Jews to live anywhere at all OR, at least, they're willing to kill them all if that's what's "required" to get what they want (the 23rd Arab state in all of what is today Israel). People lie. It's perfectly reasonable to assume they're lying. I do; you should too. The anti-Israel crowd wants to kill Jews (or thinks it's a small price to pay for their other goals). That's reality, whatever the anti-Israel crowd claims.