The Harvard Crimson's Editorial Board published an article in which they announced their support and advocated for the BDS movement, which is an antisemitic, anti-peace organization with proven ties to terrorist groups.

Let us make our voices heard, join us and SEND an email to let Harvard know that their support for this antisemitic entity is preposterous!

Honorable Laurence Bacow

President, Harvard University

I am writing to express strong opposition to the Harvard Crimson’s most recent editorial endorsing the bigoted and antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and its main advocate, the Harvard branch of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC). The BDS Movement and PSC publicly advocate dismantling Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

We call on you to denounce The Crimson’s ill advised and ill informed endorsement of a movement that is aimed at destroying the one and only Jewish State. Individual and personal beliefs, whatever they may be, are valued and meaningful, but supporting radical calls for elimination and violence by terror groups, and by the school's venerable daily paper, creates an unsafe and even threatening space for Jewish students, as we have witnessed in the sharp spike in University campus violence against Jews in 2021 nationwide.

Two examples are illustrative: in late 2021 the Virginia Tech graduate senate passed an anti-Israel boycott resolution, and a few months later the same senate invited an infamous antisemitic academic to speak to students as part of a "research symposium".

In March of this year, Tufts University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter launched a strategic BDS campaign against Israel. Students were urged to sign a pledge supporting BDS, boycott Israeli goods and products, and were asked to “refuse to be involved with advocacy groups that normalize Israel”. Tufts University released an official statement, “the university rejects the BDS movement, elements of which we believe are rooted in antisemitism.”

The BDS Movement is an umbrella organization that has a track record of promoting antisemitism, fighting against peace between Israelis and Palestinians and has a connection to US-designated terror groups:

1. The BDS movement and BDS activists are promoting antisemitism against Jews around the world, and this is a well-documented fact.

2. The BDS movement is anti-peace and aspires to eradicate Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in its entirety, something the movement’s founder has stated repeatedly. BDS groups openly express opposition to Israel's peace with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and openly oppose a two-state solution For Palestinians and Israelis.

3. The BDS movement has a proven connection to US-designated terror groups, as it is controlled by the Ramallah-based BDS National Committee (BNC). According to the NY Times, one of the BNC’s members is a terror coalition called PNIF, which includes Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and PFLP.

Despite that BDS claims to be “an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is opposed on principle to all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia,” BDS continuously calls for the eradication of Israel, spreading more division and hatred than finding a true solution for peace.

BDS co-founder and leader Omar Barghouti openly admits that he and BDS "opposes a Jewish state in any part of Palestine”.

We ask that you denounce this recent anti-Jewish, anti-American endorsement, which sends a message of moral clarity to the Crimson, emphasizing that BDS has no place at Harvard as the world’s premier institution of higher education and that has embodied VERITAS for nearly 400 years.

With thanks for your principled leadership,

Signed,

Cc:

Ms. Deborah Lipstadt, US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism

Mr. Alan M. Garber, Harvard University Provost

Ms. Helena Buonanno Foulkes, President of Harvard’s Board of Overseers for 2021-2022

Mr. Marc Goodheart, Vice President of Harvard University

Mr. Paul Andrew, Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications

Mr. Robert Kraft

Mr. Michael Bloomberg

Ms. Raquel Coronell Uribe, President, Harvard Crimson

Ms. Orlee G.S. Marini-Rapoport, Editorial Chair, Harvard Crimson

Guillermo S. Hava, Editorial Chair, Harvard Crimson

References:

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/4/29/editorial-bds/

https://bdsmovement.net/what-is-bds

https://www.ajc.org/news/bds-is-antisemitic