Statement on BDS at Harvard

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2022

Contact: Avi D. Gordon, Executive Director Alums for Campus Fairness

917-332-1185, [email protected]

Since The Crimson’s Editorial Board signaled their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement last month, the Harvard Jewish community has shown immense strength in standing against antisemitism. The Crimson has created a campus climate in which Jewish and Zionist students feel unsafe and unwelcome at Harvard.

“The heart of the university is the pursuit of truth, and truth must enjoy a relationship to facts. I cannot overstate my disappointment that The Crimson undermined both truth and fact when it endorsed the BDS movement in an April 29 editorial,” says ACF Harvard Chapter Leader Rabbi Matthew Abelson, '02. “Furthermore, by framing the issue under the rubric of oppression, they tarnished the very notion of justice so dear to the Jewish people and the Jewish state and so crucial to creating the better world we all want to inhabit. I stand in solidarity with all Jewish members of the Jewish community who stand for truth and justice by condemning this ill-conceived editorial published by The Crimson.”

Over 340 alumni who signed onto ACF’s petition remain unified in combating BDS and all forms of antisemitism at Harvard. We call on the greater Harvard community to stand with Jewish students, pro-Israel students, and their allies on campus.

About ACF: Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF) leverages the unique power of alumni to combat antisemitism on college campuses. ACF helps organize and cultivate alumni chapters for colleges and universities across the country, equipping members with tools, tactics, and training to proactively engage with administrators. Learn more at www.campusfairness.org.