I have been thinking about the concept of courage over the past few days—a concept to which Harvard University President Claudine Gay devoted her inaugural address on September 29th, 2023. She espoused lofty, noble ideas, such as “the courage of this University … to question the world as it is,” and “the responsibility to explore, define, and help solve the most vexing problems of society—the struggle against tyranny, poverty, disease, and war.”
While taking leadership over a university such as Harvard brings an abundance of challenges, I had hoped that President Gay would stick to the idea of courage she so whole-heartedly addressed. This is why I find it cruelly ironic that not even more than two weeks later, our newest President and rest of administration seemingly lacked this trait, as seen through their lackluster responses in addressing the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict. It was apparent that there was little focus on the suffering of Palestinian victims and the safety and privacy issues facing Harvard’s own students and community members.
We have been faced with the horrifying developments in Israel and occupied Palestine since Saturday, October 7th. The University has since released two statements and one video. The first collective statement—signed by 18 members of Harvard’s administrative leadership—explained that the signatories were “heartbroken by the death and the destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted civilians in Israel [that] weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza.” The second statement, signed only by President Claudine Gay, does not extend any compassion to Palestinian civilian victims abroad or Palestinian students on campus.
The only acts of violence Gay addresses are “the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.” Harvard’s administration has seemed to close its eyes to the violence that Palestinians face daily.
I do not doubt that our University’s leadership is intentional in explicitly condemning violence against Israeli civilians. While the University might implicitly condemn violence against Palestinians in its arbitrary umbrella reference to the “the war in Israel and Gaza,” there is no outright censure of the violence suffered by innocent Palestinian civilians due to Israel’s attacks.
Not one statement released by Harvard condemns, or even acknowledges Palestinian suffering.
I wish Harvard leadership had the courage to condemn the indiscriminate bombing of apartment buildings, health facilities, and refugee camps by the Israeli military that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, proudly posts on social media, which even the United Nations categorizes as war crimes.
I wish Harvard leadership had the courage to name and condemn the doxxing and intimidation of their students on campus. The doxxing truck in Harvard Square and the relentless harassment of students online is outwardly unacceptable, and the administration has yet to explicitly condemn it.
I wish Harvard leadership had the courage to condemn the inflammatory statements made by Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defense Minister, who publicly stated, “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza—there will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything will be closed. We are fighting against human animals, and we are acting accordingly.” This is a declaration of collective punishment—another war crime under the statutes of the UN.
I wish that Harvard leadership had the courage to stand up for innocent Palestinian citizens and denounce Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proclamation, “We will turn Gaza into a deserted island …We will target each and every corner of the strip,” which promises the brutal genocide of Gazan residents, about half of whom are children.
I wish that Harvard leadership had the courage to condemn the Israeli blockade of Gaza that has violated the human rights of Gazan residents including freedom of movement, rights to family unification, and access to food, electricity, and water since 2007, so much so that United Nations reports question whether the area is even livable.
I wish that Harvard leadership had the courage to acknowledge the intentional and systematic persecution and demonisation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government. In March 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear. “Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people—and only it, ” he said.
While Harvard has been explicit in acknowledging the horrors of the war generally, they continue to be silent about Palestinian suffering specifically. Unfortunately, this double standard against Palestinian victims is not new or unique to President Gay’s administration, but rather a continuation of past presidents’ behavior.
During his time as President of the University, Lawrence Bacow never spoke about the violence that Palestinians suffered either. Despite extreme violence against Palestinians making international headlines multiple times, like during The Great March of Return and the 2021 Israel-Palestine Crisis, former President Bacow never made a statement condemning the violence perpetrated against Palestinians. This silence isolates students on campus, who must go through emotional grieving periods with no support from the University, and is especially striking since Bacow responded to other world crises like the invasion of Ukraine but never the Israel-Palestine conflict.
There is a clear disparity in concern and compassion extended to Ukrainian and Israeli victims of violence compared to Palestinian victims from the University. Harvard also remains conspicuously silent on other issues concerning the Middle East like the Moroccan earthquake, the Libyan and Syrian flooding crisis, or the earthquakes in Afghanistan. Despite a substantial Muslim and Middle Eastern presence on campus, Harvard ignores issues that regions of the Middle East face or those that predominantly impact Muslim populations. The silence on issues that affect the Middle East, in conjunction with Harvard’s silence when its own students are doxxed and terrorized on our own campus, perpetuate a certain prejudice in Harvard leadership. If Harvard is going to condemn violence against one group of people, it should condemn violence all groups, regardless of race or religion.
Real courage is more than hypothetical. Real courage is an unequivocal commitment to supporting what is right and denouncing what is wrong. Real courage is the willingness to stand up, even if that means standing alone. I am not at all convinced that Harvard’s leadership has this type of courage. So now, as President Gay encouraged in her inaugural speech, I’m asking why? Why does Harvard pretend to stand for justice everywhere when this attitude does not seem to extend to Palestinians? Why does Harvard pretend to be progressive, but when the time comes, it is fiercely protective of the status-quo? Why does Harvard refuse to use its global status to influence positive change in Palestine?
Tomisin Sobande ’26 (tomisinsobande@college.harvard.edu) writes Forum for the Independent.