University leaders questioned by US Congress over alleged 'anti-Semitism'

●      Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University , one of the most famous in the world, founded in 1636.., and Elizabeth Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the most famous in the world, founded in 1740, and Sally Kornbluth, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology "MIT", one of the most famous in the world, founded in 1861 .

●      Difficult problems and choices face private universities in the United States,represented by the repercussions of the genocidal war being carried out by the Israeli occupation army against the Palestinians, in the Gaza Strip,, between meeting the demands of their wealthy pro-Israel supporters and at the same time preserving students' right to express their pro-Palestinian views..!

●      In the end of a fierce battle, falsehood prevailed, represented by some of thewealthy donors to private universities, most of whom are supporters of Israel (capital owners), over the truth represented by students' rights to express their opinions supporting the Palestinians on university campuses. (Despite the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech), however, the bright point amid all this is the students' engagement and the American street, and the rising sympathy and support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip..in an unprecedented way in the American arena, !

●      It is no longer acceptable in any way...to the world, to the majority of its peoples and states, that these brutal massacres continue under the unjust label "Israel's self-defense".. From the repercussions of the massacres that the Israeli occupation army has committed and is committing against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip... demonstrations, marches and student and popular rallies launched on the American scene, including in many American university campuses, wherecampuses of most American universities were traversed by marches of support and solidarity for the Palestinians, condemning Israel's massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip. Noting that these marches are composed of many nationalities, in addition to American students, including Jewish students! In parallel with massive demonstrations sweeping the streets and cities of the whole world...supporting the Palestinians, demanding the same demands..and condemning the genocide being carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip.!

●      By way of example, but not limited to, a few weeks ago, a coalition of 34 student organizations at Harvard University issued a statement supporting the Palestinians, noting that the apartheid system is the sole perpetrator of the war, calling for coordination of a moment of mourning for the lives that were taken.Also, students from Harvard University also recorded the names of 10,000 Palestinian martyrs in the Gaza Strip, who were killed as a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, - according to several press sources-.

●      At the same time, Jewish students complained of feeling harassed and intimidated on campuses filled with exclusionary slogans about Israel, in their words.. and a number of wealthy Americans, some of them Jewish, threatened or at least hinted at withholding their donations to venerable higher-education institutions such as Harvard and others, and despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution "guarantees freedom of expression and speech,yet the House Committee on Education and the Workforce summoned on December 5 last – December (2023), both the presidents of the three universities named above, to a session of "accountability and combating anti-Semitism".!

●      Virginia Foxx, the committee's Republican chair, held the universities uniquely responsible, saying that the current kind of anti-Semitism “did not come out of nowhere. There are cultures in your universities that foster it.”!

●      The three university presidents said before a House committee that anti-Semitism had risen on their campuses since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, but they sought to rebut Republican allegations that leftist ideology in their institutions was the cause. Instead, they considered the rise in hostility toward Jews part of a broader increase in anti-Semitism across the United States, citing a concurrent rise in Islamophobia. They also praised vigorous efforts to combat hatred and protect their students.

●      The point that provoked a violent reaction from the chair of the House Education Committee was the presidents' evasion, as above, of Representative Elise Stefanik's Republican question about whether the protesting students, supporters of the Palestinians, were calling for a “uprising” or the “genocide of the Jews.” This prompted the committee chair to tell Magill (president of the University of Pennsylvania) at the end of the session: "You must resign".!! Also, 74 U.S. lawmakers demanded the removal of the three presidents, and one donor to the University of Pennsylvania announced the withdrawal of a $100 million gift he had given to the business school.

●      In turn, Democratic member Bobby Scott accused Republicans of attemptingto inflame division, pointing out that the party had rejected calls for a hearing threeyears ago, when white supremacists at a march in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted anti-Semitic slogans!

●      And it is clear, the effect of the Jewish lobby and the weight of money donated by wealthy Jews to Harvard University and some prestigious private universities in the United States,.. where President Lawrence Lowell in 1923, who was president of Harvard from 1909 to 1933, rejected a proposal to limit the number of Jews to 15% of undergraduates, but he barred black students from living in freshman dormitories!

●      After a stormy hearing that occupied American public opinion about three of the most important leaders of American universities, on anti-Semitism and campus protests over the Israeli war on Gaza, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill, resigned last month (9-12-2023 ),  ". Also, Book (chair of the Board of Trustees) in turn resigned from his position.

●      Despite Claudine Gay (president of Harvard) offering an apology and regret, anddespite the Harvard Corporation having given its support to President Claudine Gay, after calls for her resignation, where more than 700 faculty members at Harvard signed a letter supporting Gay, nevertheless Harvard president Claudine Gay submitted her resignation from her post on Tuesday 2-1-2024., where she said in the text of her resignation that she had been subjected to personal threats and “racial hostility.”, In addition to accusations of plagiarism, Claudine Gay announced as causes of her resignation that "it became clear that it was in Harvard University's interest that I resign, so the university could get past this very difficult period by focusing on the institution, rather than the individual".!

●      As for some other American universities, officials at Columbia University in New York and Stanford University in California, for example, faced calls to distance themselves from pro-Palestinian student groups that accuse Israel of committing “genocide” in flyers distributed during their activities.

●      Harvard University is considered one of the most famous American universities in the world, where it ranked first or second on the list of the 10 most prestigious and eminent universities in the world.. It is a private research university distinguished asthe largest academic research institution in the world, with the value of its endowment estimated at about $41 billion, and it has diversity in admissions (international admission), where its student count is estimated at about 23,000 students, with the proportion of foreign students around 25%...

●      Eight U.S. presidents graduated from Harvard in its history, including for example Theodore Roosevelt (No. 26), John F. Kennedy (No. 35), Obama (No. 44), and his wife Michelle...etc. Also, 188 living billionaires graduated from it, including for example Bill Gates... Harvard also includes the largest number of graduates and faculty and researchers who have won Nobel Prizes (161) people!