On October 7th, 34 Harvard student groups cosigned a letter stating “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence [in Israel and Palestine],” following the Oct. 7th mass murder of Israeli citizens, which was carried out by Hamas, a Palestinian Military group. The letter under fire was written by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, which is a student group at Harvard University that fights against discrimination towards Palestinian people in Israel. In addition to the published letter, the student group made a post on Instagram containing a summary of the letter’s contents. The letter and Instagram post received nationwide attention and backlash for seeming to justify the murder and abduction of Israeli citizens as freedom fighting.
Originally, the letter and the groups that cosigned it were released anonymously. Some websites, however, have doxed students affiliated with the letter, posting sensitive information like full names, hometowns, and contact information. Aside from people currently affiliated with the clubs, alumni who have already graduated were mistakenly doxed for previously being affiliated with the club. On October 11th, a truck went around Harvard Square with the faces and names of some students who allegedly wrote the letter plastered on the windows. The people responsible for the truck event are a right-wing media group called “Accuracy in Media”. Allegedly, this isn’t the first time the Palestinian student group has been the target of doxxing. An anonymous Palestinian student at Harvard shared that Palestinian activists and allies have been the targets for doxxing by far-right groups for years. Following the doxxing issues, Harvard officials, including the university’s vice president, and the school’s Jewish center have released public statements urging the public to refrain from harassing students involved with the letter, and have increased security on campus to protect the students involved. The 27th President of Harvard, Larry Summers, made the following statement in regards to the incident, “It is not a time where it is constructive to vilify individuals… Many in these groups never saw the statement before it went out. In some cases, those approving did not understand exactly what they were approving. Probably some were naive and foolish.”
In order to understand the motivations behind the letter, you need to know the history that led up to modern events: After World War 1, Palestinians and Jewish people both fought for the land that previously belonged to the fallen Ottoman Empire. Palestine successfully took ownership over the land, but in 1948, Israel declared themselves as a state in Palestine that was designated for Jewish people. The state of Israel continued to grow as Jewish immigrants arrived in larger and larger groups. Before the development of Israel, Palestine was a large territory touching the borders of Egypt, Lebanon, and the Syrian Desert. Israel quickly gained more and more land, until Palestine was shrunk into only the West Bank territory and the Gaza strip, the latter being under the control of Hamas. Shortly after Israel was formed, roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled the territory to avoid the discrimination and depravity of basic civil rights that Israel planned to inflict upon Palestinian civilians. On October 7th, 2023, Hamas conducted a surprise attack on Israel in retaliation for Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The death toll in Israel was confirmed to be around 1,400 civilians and foreigners, and it is estimated that Hamas has taken 150 hostages. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes on Gaza in retaliation, as well as blockading the territory from food, water, electricity, and fuel. Palestinians have been left with no resources, and a crumbling medical system following the bombing of several hospitals and a lack of resources resulting from the blockade. The blockade has also made an escape from the attacks nearly impossible. Since October 7th 2023, the numbers of Palestinian people who have been murdered has continued to rise every day. Within the span of a week, 1,900 people were killed, a third of which were children. Additionally, 423,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the Israeli airstrikes. As of October 30th, the Gaza Health Ministry announced that the death toll has risen to 8,306 Palestinians in the Gaza strip alone.
As a result of the horrible conditions in Gaza, many United Nations officials have pleaded for a ceasefire. Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur said about the incident, “The United Nations and its Member States must intensify efforts to mediate an immediate ceasefire between the parties, before we reach a point of no return, the international community has the responsibility to prevent and protect populations from atrocity crimes. Accountability for international crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and Hamas must also be immediately pursued.” The Palestine Solidarity Committee at Harvard has held several peaceful protests on Harvard’s campus to stand up against the genocide in Gaza, and has also made a post stating that “students demand that Harvard publicly recognize the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and call for an immediate ceasefire,” and has also held a vigil for the child victims of Israel’s airstrikes.
Muslim students at Harvard have been living in fear since the incident after receiving death threats and hate mail for association with the letter ts received, publicly siding with either group comes with its consequences.
