Haaretz said that the downfall of Harvard University President Claudine Gay earlier this month, following a congressional hearing on anti-Semitism, is the most visible incident in a disturbing pattern since October 7, 2023 and the beginning of the Gaza war, which sparked... The fire of tension between the black and Jewish communities in the United States.

The Israeli newspaper indicated - in a report written by Judy Maltz - that Gay did not explicitly blame wealthy Jewish donors for her departure, but they played a major role in her downfall, and they were likely on her mind when she wrote, “Those who campaigned relentlessly to overthrow me often... "They trade in lies and personal insults. They have recycled tired racist stereotypes about black talent and temperament. They have falsely advocated apathy and incompetence."

Indeed, Bill Ackman, the Jewish hedge fund billionaire and Harvard graduate, has been relentlessly pursuing Gay since the October 7 Palestinian operation - as the writer says - and he has called from the beginning for her ouster because of her weak response to the attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which resulted in About 1,200 Israelis were killed. When that didn't work, he used social media to amplify allegations that she had been using plagiarism in her books.

Sad and predictable

At a later stage, Ackman claimed to have inside information that she was appointed because of her race, not her professional qualifications. “I learned from someone with knowledge of the matter that the committee will not consider a candidate who does not meet the standards of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” he said, referring to the initiative. Which angered many conservatives and was criticized for excluding Jews.

However, Ackman was not the only wealthy Jew who turned against the first black president of Harvard University because of her handling of the events of October 7. Rather, a large group of Jewish alumni announced the cessation of all donations to the university, except for a symbolic amount of one dollar annually.

Gay may have preferred not to consider what happened to her as a confrontation between Jews and blacks, especially since among her main defenders were Jews, but Cornel West, a former leftist university professor - according to a Haaretz report - has no problem with that, as he wrote, “How sad and expected at the same time.” The figures and forces that support ethnic cleansing and genocidal attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza expelled the first black woman president of Harvard University.

West: When big money dictates university policy and brute power dictates foreign policy, the moral bankruptcy of American education and democracy looms large.

“This racism against Palestinians and blacks alike is despicable and undeniable,” West added. “I have faced similar attacks from the same forces in academia. When big money dictates university policy and brute force dictates foreign policy, the moral bankruptcy of American education and democracy looms large.” 

The writer warned that looking at the Jews as if they were organizing a campaign to remove the first black president of one of the best American universities from her job does not bode well for relations between blacks and Jews, even if she was not the only university president who was subjected to pressure to resign because of her performance in a congressional hearing under the title “Antisemitism on Campus.”

Jewish Americans should take notice

Unfortunately, says Harvard University professor Cornell Brooks and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, what many observers will take away from this ordeal is that for Jews to be safe, blacks must be curbed. “The way Gay was treated, and the use of the word ‘nigger’ ) on her, and describing her employment as not the result of her competence, was a campaign of intimidation and humiliation.”

In this context, Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, described Brooks as a “strong ally” to the Jewish community and “a moral compass in everything.” “When someone of his caliber, a respected national figure in the civil rights movement, blames Guy’s ouster on racism, Jewish Americans should take notice,” he said.

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, is concerned that the wedge driven between blacks and Jews in America due to the events at Harvard University serves the agenda of right-wing extremists.

"There are two things that could be true at the same time," she says. "One is that Harvard University and its president made a mistake in paying attention to signs of anti-Semitism, and the other is that right-wing extremists used Jewish pain and fear as a weapon to achieve their own agenda."

As for a black Jew like Ilana Kaufman, CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, the matter presented unprecedented challenges, “I have no idea what it means to be president of Harvard University, but when I watched Gay, I felt complete sympathy for her as a black woman, and at the same time I felt disappointed.” Great response.”

Source: Haaretz