I'm Suing Harvard Over Rife Antisemitism
Newsweek US|March 29 - April 05, 2024 (Double Issue)
I applied to the university's Divinity School to be an ambassador for Orthodox Jews and build bridges with other cultures; instead I'm battling discrimination
SHABBOS KESTENBAUM
I'm Suing Harvard Over Rife Antisemitism

IN JUDAISM, THERE IS AN IDEA of passing down knowledge and traditions "l'dor v'dor"-from generation to generation. As if called to fulfill my part, I learned that I was accepted to Harvard Divinity School while visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.

I have always been passionate about my Jewish identity and wanted to explore that identity from an academic and pluralistic perspective.

As the only Orthodox Jew in the program, I wanted to be an ambassador for my people. I wanted to share my culture with other community leaders and learn about theirs. I came to Harvard to build bridges.

Never would I have imagined that I'd need to fight for my right to exist on campus. Never would I have thought that I'd have to sue Harvard to be treated as an equal.

As my lawsuit lays out in great detail, the vicious attacks on Jewish students since October 7 have laid bare what was always there a Jewish exception. A double standard that polices the actions that harm and demean almost every group imaginable, except Jews.

My personal introduction to antisemitism at Harvard began in the first month of my first semester, when Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee student group invited Mohammed el-Kurd to speak on campus.

As noted by the Anti-Defamation League, el-Kurd has a history of "unvarnished, vicious antisemitism" and claims Zionists have "internalized the ways of the Nazis." Just the other day, el-Kurd called for the world to be "de-Zionized" and proclaimed "we must normalize massacres." Although he claims to have misspoken, his rhetoric speaks for itself.

When Jewish students, myself included, protested el-Kurd's invitation to Harvard's campus, we were met with shrugs. For a university that has a record of rescinding speaker invitations, Harvard's silence was deafening.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 29 - April 05, 2024 (Double Issue)-Ausgabe von Newsweek US.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 29 - April 05, 2024 (Double Issue)-Ausgabe von Newsweek US.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS NEWSWEEK USAlle anzeigen
Wendi McLendon-Covey
Newsweek US

Wendi McLendon-Covey

AFTER 10 YEARS OF PLAYING BEVERLY GOLDBERG ON THE GOLDBERGS, Wendi McLendon-Covey was not eager for a break. \"I need to go do a job where I can just throw everything at it and then come home totally exhausted.\"

time-read
1 min  |
November 22, 2024
'I'm the Highest Earner in Esports'
Newsweek US

'I'm the Highest Earner in Esports'

Johan \"NOtail\" Sundstein has won over $7 million but says, \"I don't really crave that status.... I play for my own reasons\"

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 22, 2024
AMERICA'S BEST Weight Loss CLINICS & CENTERS 2025
Newsweek US

AMERICA'S BEST Weight Loss CLINICS & CENTERS 2025

WHETHER IT'S FOR MEAL PLANS, PROFESSIONAL guidance or access to medications like GLP-1s, weight loss clinics can offer personalized assistance for those hoping to make sustainable lifestyle changes.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 22, 2024
AMERICA'S MOST ANTICIPATED NEW VEHICAL 2025
Newsweek US

AMERICA'S MOST ANTICIPATED NEW VEHICAL 2025

WHETHER IT'S A NEWLY IMAGined sport utility vehicle or the re-emergence of a highly regarded halo car, the vehicles coming to market in 2025 prove that Americans' attitudes about personal transportation are diverse and are being served from all angles.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 22, 2024
'THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE'
Newsweek US

'THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE'

What Donald Trump's historic U.S. presidential election victory means to America - and the world

time-read
8 Minuten  |
November 22, 2024
Trump Won, Mainstream Media Lost
Newsweek US

Trump Won, Mainstream Media Lost

A broken business model exacerbated by a collapse in influence has the Fourth Estate entering another Donald Trump term in trouble

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 22, 2024
Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Newsweek US

Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?

Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 15, 2024
Falling for Romance
Newsweek US

Falling for Romance

A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 15, 2024
Cracking the Norse Code
Newsweek US

Cracking the Norse Code

Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans

time-read
4 Minuten  |
November 15, 2024
Monumental Shift
Newsweek US

Monumental Shift

The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 15, 2024