Withdrawal Of Job Offers, Public Naming And Shaming: American Students Face The Heat For Blaming Israel After It Faced Terror Attack

Swarajya yesterday (11 October) reported that several students of Harvard University, considered the most influential university in American politics having produced eight former presidents, are facing backlash and career risks for issuing a statement blaming Israel for the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

The war, ironically, began with a surprise attack on Israeli civilians by the militant group Hamas on Saturday, in which at least 1,200 people are said to have been killed so far.

34 student groups signed the statement under a coalition called the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. It began by saying, “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence”.

After the backlash, which includes condemnation from Harvard alumni and politicians, and a billionaire declaring that he wouldn’t hire those students, eight student groups have retracted their names.

In the latest incident of students bearing the consequence of their apparently terror-supporting act, US-based law firm Winston & Strawn has rescinded a job offer made to a student of New York University law.

As per news reports, he wrote in a student bar association online publication that "Israel bears full responsibility" for the war. This was disclosed by the law firm to the media, although without naming the student.

The firm, in a statement, also supported Israel. It said:

"Today, Winston & Strawn learned that a former summer associate published certain inflammatory comments regarding Hamas’ recent terrorist attack on Israel and distributed it to the NYU Student Bar Association. These comments profoundly conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm. Accordingly, the Firm has rescinded the law student’s offer of employment.

"As communicated yesterday to all Winston personnel, we remain outraged and deeply saddened by the violent attack on Israel over the weekend. Our hearts go out to our Jewish colleagues, their families, and all those affected.

"Winston stands in solidarity with Israel’s right to exist in peace and condemns Hamas and the violence and destruction it has ignited in the strongest terms possible."

For information on the statement released by the student coalition and the criticism of it, read this earlier piece by Swarajya.

The statement, which can be accessed here, said:

“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence.

“The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years. From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.”

Following the uproar, the university issued two statements in a row. The first statement, put out on the university’s website on 9 October, was signed by “Harvard University Leadership” including president Claudine Gay. 

It said, "We write to you today, heartbroken by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted citizens in Israel this weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza now under way.”

A second statement was issued the next day, this time condemning the Hamas in clearer terms and also addressing the controversy caused by the letter issued by the student groups.

Signed in the name of president Gay, it said, “As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever one’s individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region.

“Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.”