5 hours ago
2
Harvard University has agreed to embrace a controversial definition of antisemitism as part of two settlements reached in a US court over complaints brought by Jewish students in a development likely to be watched closely by Donald Trump’s new administration.
The students accused the university of failing to protect them under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, colour or national origin in programmes or institution receiving federal funding.
Two separate groups of students said they had faced harassment and discrimination from fellow students and faculty members, partly stemming from campus protests after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and the overwhelming Israeli military retaliation that followed.
Now Harvard has agreed to observe the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in a settlement reached in federal court in Boston.
The definition, defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews”.
However, critics of the definition say it is designed to protect Israel by punishing legitimate criticism of the country. The examples of antisemitism attached to the definition include “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” and “applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation”.
The definition has been accepted by the US state department, several European governments and some EU groups after strong lobbying by pro-Israel groups.
Civil rights groups have expressed concerns that the Trump administration will embed the IHRA definition throughout the federal government. In November, the ACLU denounced the IHRA definition as “overbroad” and encouraged lawmakers to reject an effort to codify it.
The ruling is the latest fallout from the turbulence that broke out in campuses across the US over Israel’s intense bombardment of Gaza and claims from many Jewish students that have experienced harassment, intimidation or worse as a result.
Harvard’s former president Claudine Gay was one of three Ivy League university heads to resign amid anger among Republicans in particular over a perceived failure of campus authorities to quell the protests and protect Jewish students.
She stepped down along with Elizabeth Magill, the former president of the University of Pennsylvania, in January last year after both gave what were deemed to be excessively legalistic responses in a congressional hearing about their institutions’ policies towards antisemitism.
The chief inquisitor, the former Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik, is Trump’s nominee as ambassador to the United Nations.
Columbia, another elite university, saw its president, Minouche Shafik, resign in August following months of criticism in Congress over her efforts to end the protests, despite deploying New York police to dismantle a protest encampment.
One of the Harvard complaints, filed by the Louis D Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, alleged that student and faculty called for violence against Jews following the Hamas attacks and that university authorities failed to act, according to Jewish Insider.
“Jewish students are bullied and spat on, intimidated, and threatened, and subject to verbal and physical harassment,” the lawsuit said.
Another, filed by Students Against Antisemitism, a group of six students, alleged that the university had not shielded them from “severe and pervasive” antisemitism.
The cases were bundled together by a judge last November after Harvard initially tried to have them dismissed.
Trump and fellow Republicans have warned that they will attempt to strip universities of federal funding if the protests continue on their watch. .
Harvard – in addition to agreeing to implement the IHRA guidelines – also agreed to publish an annual public report covering violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for the next five years.
