The recent events in Israel have rocked major US universities as students express support for Hamas' terrorist attack, resulting in a backlash by pro-Israel activists and various benefactors of the institutions.
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Donors and major American corporations that back those universities have called for blacklisting students who have expressed support for Hamas so that they could be denied hiring and contracts when applying for work.
The first major controversy was on Saturday, when Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups at the prestigious Harvard University in Boston published a letter blaming Israel for the hostilities. "Today's events did not occur in a vacuum," the letter says on behalf of some 30 organizations. "The apartheid regime is the only one to blame," it continued, calling on "the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians."
Several CEOs in the American business sector condemned the statement and called for the exposure of the students' names affiliated with the organizations. Bill Ackman, the CEO of a major hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, tweeted, "I have been asked by a number of CEOs if @harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas' heinous acts to Israel, so as to ensure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members." He added, "One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts," wrote Ackman.
Ackman, a Harvard alum who has been a big donor to the university, has also supported various Jewish centers in the US. His tweet received public support from prominent figures in the business sector.
Video: CNN
Many students did not expect the level of criticism directed at them, and some quickly disassociated themselves from the organizations they belonged to, presumably out of fear of losing job contracts. Four out of the 34 organizations have already withdrawn their support for the statement. In addition, some of the organization's leadership members also resigned in response.
In response to that pro-Palestinian groups' letter, 17 Harvard student organizations joined about 500 faculty and staff members and more than 3,000 other affiliates, on Tuesday afternoon, issuing a counter-statement calling the Palestinian groups' stance "completely wrong and deeply offensive."
Not far from Boston, at New York University, another similar event took place. A message sent to members of the NYU Law School Bar Association by Ryna Workman, the president of the organization, said that she "condemns the violence of apartheid regime" and added that Israel "bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of [Israeli] life" She signed off with "Palestine will be free."
Dean of New York University School of Law Troy McKenzie lashed out against her, saying that their message was not from the school and does not speak for its leadership. "It certainly does not express my own views, because I condemn the killing of civilians and acts of terrorism as always reprehensible," McKenzie wrote. "This message was not from NYU School of Law as an institution and does not speak for the leadership of the Law School."
Workman's statement also resulted in many students, including this writer, complaining to the university administration, and as a result, a disciplinary process was launched in a bid to remove her from the presidency of the bar association.
Winston & Strawn said on Tuesday that it had rescinded a job offer to a New York University law student, without naming her, but saying that this was because she wrote "Israel bears full responsibility" for Hamas' terrorism in Israel. In a statement, the firm said the former associate's words "profoundly conflict with Winston & Strawn's values as a firm."
"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," it said.
Jason Greenblatt, former White House Envoy to the Middle East and author of the book "In the Path of Abraham," told Israel Hayom, "It is high time to take back the narrative from Jew haters, Israel haters, and from those who claim to represent the Palestinians but are actually supporting savages like Hamas who murder, rape, behead and kidnap Israeli Jews, including infants." He added, "Organizations such as Students for Justice of Palestine and people like Ryna Workman, President of the NYU Law Student Bar Association hide behind a pretend banner of justice, but they are really calling for the murder of Jews and the destruction of Israel. They care nothing of real Palestinians either, and they harm the Palestinian cause tremendously. Too many faculty members and university administration officials shake in their boots from fear of this mob. We must not give up this opportunity to expose their lies. Thankfully we have people like Bill Ackman, Mark Rowan, and many others and firms like Winston & Strawn who rescinded Ryna's job offer who are fighting to expose them where it counts."
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