Harvard Settles Two Anti-Semitism Lawsuits After Trump Sworn In
Harvard University has settled two lawsuits alleging the school mishandled anti-Semitism on campus following President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from colleges and universities that allow anti-Israel protesters to spread anti-Semitism on campus. The settlements were announced separately on Tuesday, The Harvard Crimson reported, and include an undisclosed monetary amount and a clarification of Harvard’s policies about what constitutes anti-Semitism.
The Crimson suggested that the definition of anti-Semitism – from the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) – is “controversial” and “classifies certain criticisms of Israel as antisemitic” without providing evidence.
The IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism explains that “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The IHRA goes on to explicitly state that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” The organization also provides examples of anti-Semitism, including denial or downplaying of the Holocaust or “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”
The Crimson does note that one of the examples is the claim that the “existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The outlet suggested that this definition “could allow Harvard to crack down on pro-Palestine student protesters who have condemned Israel’s war in Gaza and policies toward Palestinians, often in harsh terms.”
Those “harsh terms” included an “apartheid wall” that included a quote from the leader of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, The Daily Wire reported. A sign repeating the Palestinian slogan “from the river to the sea” – a phrase calling for the elimination of Israel – was also displayed at the Harvard anti-Israel camp.
The settlement also includes a stipulation that Harvard partner with an unnamed university in Israel, in direct defiance of a demand by anti-Israel protesters who demanded the university cut all ties with Israel (but no other countries).
The two settled lawsuits came from a group of six Harvard students and the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education. The student-led lawsuit, filed jointly with the group Students Against Antisemitism, accused the university of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing mobs of anti-Israel protesters to occupy campus buildings and threaten violence against Jewish students, The Daily Wire reported. It also accused administrators and professors of allowing anti-Semitism and dismissing students who objected to it.
CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT
“Harvard, America’s leading university, has become a bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment,” the lawsuit said. “Mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty have marched by the hundreds through Harvard’s campus, shouting vile antisemitic slogans and calling for death to Jews and Israel.”
The Brandeis Center lawsuit accused Harvard of “deliberately” ignoring anti-Semitism and cited specific examples, including an incident that occurred after the devastating October 7, 2023, attacks against Israel by Palestinian terrorists.
Trump has condemned the treatment of Jews on college campuses across the country.
“What’s going on at the colleges — Columbia, NYU, and others — is a disgrace,” Trump told reporters in April 2024. “It’s really on [former President Joe] Biden. He’s got the wrong signal, he’s got the wrong tone, he’s got the wrong words. He doesn’t know who he’s backing. And It’s a mess.”