100 Harvard Faculty Criticize University For Condemning Controversial Pro-Palestinian Slogan

Topline

More than 100 Harvard University faculty members signed a letter Wednesday criticizing university President Claudine Gay for condemning the pro-Palestinian phrase “from the river to the sea,” as rising tensions on college campuses during the Israel-Hamas war put university officials under fire.

Largely pro-Palestinian protests have sparked pushback at Harvard University.

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Key Facts

The faculty members—including Philosophy Department Chair Bernhard Nickel—argued in the letter the “delineation of the limits of acceptable expression on our campus is dangerously one-sided,” the Harvard Crimson first reported.

The letter follows an email from Gay condemning the use of the controversial pro-Palestinian slogan “from the river to the sea,” which refers to the land stretching between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River—an area covering both the state of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gay argued the phrase bears “specific historical meanings that to a great many people imply the eradication of Jews from Israel,” sparking “pain and existential fears within our Jewish community”—the Anti-Defamation League also deems the phrase antisemitic.

Members of Harvard’s faculty, however, said they were “profoundly dismayed” with Gay’s remarks, adding Gay’s labeling of the phrase as inherently employing eliminationism was “badly misjudged as an act of moral leadership.”

Signatories also argued Gay’s condemnation of the use of the phrase contradicts the university’s “commitment to intellectual freedom and open dialogue,” writing that philosophy has given way to “something else entirely: a model of education in which the meaning of terms once eligible for interpretation is prescribed from above by a committee”—Harvard launched a new committee aimed at combating antisemitism late last month.

Contra

The phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has been reiterated in pro-Palestinian circles for decades, though its exact meaning has long been debated. University of California in Los Angeles professor of Israel studies Dov Waxman told the New York Times the phrase means “different things to different people.” Critics say the phrase implies the elimination of the state of Israel and removal of the territory’s Jewish population, citing the slogan’s use by Hamas, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), saying the term is “widely understood as calling for the complete destruction of Israel.” But some protesters argue the phrase is not necessarily antisemitic or intended to target the territory’s Jewish residents: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who supports a single state covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, defended its use as an “aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate.” Tlaib was censured for her comments on Israel, including sharing a video that included the phrase.

Key Background

Student protests in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s sweeping invasion of Gaza have caused a rift between universities and several billionaire donors and board members. Late last month, billionaire investor Henry Swieca resigned from the board of the Columbia Business School, claiming the university allowed “blatantly anti-Jewish” student groups to “operate with complete impunity.” In a letter to the school, Swieca specifically cited the use of the controversial pro-Palestinian rallying cry “from the river to the sea” in student protests as a reason why he claims the school’s reputation had become “significantly compromised by a moral cowardice that appears beyond repair.” Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a billionaire Harvard alum, has also called out Harvard students who signed a letter putting sole blame on Israel for the conflict, urging the university to release the names of the students who signed the letter. Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman also pushed for the release of those names, while conservative group Accuracy in Media staged a so-called doxxing truck in a controversial move to publicize the names and faces of students who signed that letter. That organization also displayed the names and faces of Columbia students who signed a similar letter calling for the university to cut ties with Israel, though that truck has been heavily criticized by university officials and students.

Chief Critic

Gay also issued a statement earlier this month saying Harvard “will not tolerate any activity that violates the safety of our community members” adding the university “will not hesitate to enforce our policies and hold those who engage in such conduct accountable.”

Tangent

On college campuses, several protests and remarks have led to arrests since the start of the war. Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old junior at Cornell University, was arrested late last month and charged with posting threats on an online forum allegedly targeting Jewish students. Campus police at the University of Massachusetts Amherst arrested a student for allegedly punching a Jewish student at a protest on campus earlier this month. After a pro-Palestinian protest at Harvard, Ackman also pushed for Harvard to suspend students who allegedly accosted a Jewish student during the protest, though student organizers later said its event marshals did not touch the student, claiming the student in question was attempting to film the protest. At New York University, a trio of Jewish students sued the university Tuesday, claiming it failed to protect students from “egregious” antisemitism.

Surprising Fact

In one of the most direct actions in response to student protests, Columbia last week suspended its chapters of two student groups—Students for Justice in Palestine and the anti-zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace—through the end of the fall term, claiming they violated campus event policies. In a statement released Friday, Columbia senior executive vice president Gerald Rosberg cited one event that he said proceeded “despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”