The wife of a Harvard professor who was also President Barack Obama’s chief economist sparked outrage after she was caught on video harassing a student for wearing a keffiyeh, calling it a “terrorist scarf.”
Jason Furman’s wife, Eve Gerber, was filmed marching behind the unidentified student in footage viewed more than 19 million times since it was posted Tuesday night.
“Hey camera,” Gerber says, making it clear that she knew she was being filmed ranting about “people who want to murder you.”
“Thank you for walking through neighborhoods and making families feel unsafe with your terrorist bandana,” says Gerber, a mother of three and US editor at Five Books.
The student, sounding bewildered, responds: “Palestinians felt quite insecure when the Israelis occupied their country.”
“I’m glad you’re so proud of the killing of civilians,” Gerber says, to which the student replies, “I’m not.”
It happened on October 14, a week after Hamas attacked Israel, but went viral when it was posted on Tuesday by Project Sparrow, which describes itself as a “grassroots public interest news channel.”
Furman, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School, privately apologized to the student in an Oct. 20 text exchange obtained by the Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.
Eve Gerber ranted at the student about “people who wanted to kill her.”
He told a person claiming to represent the student being harangued that there is “absolutely no excuse” for his wife’s actions.
“I’m sorry. No one should have to go through what your friend went through,” wrote the prominent economist who served in Obama’s cabinet.
Gerber also apologized Wednesday after video of his rant began going viral.
Furman served as an advisor to President Barack Obama. AFP via Getty Images
He stated that he had “heard chants that I found disturbing at a rally near my house” and then “talked to a person on my block who I thought had come from that event.”
“When the political discussion escalated, I used indefensible words. “I was wrong to confront someone about the way she dressed…and to use divisive and accusatory language,” Gerber admitted.
“In the two months since this video, I have tried to learn more and take remedial action. I will continue to do so. Hatred and inhumanity in any form are abhorrent to me. “I am deeply sorry for what I said and did,” she added.
Still, Gerber faced widespread condemnation, including from members of Congress.
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) He called Gerber’s attack “shameful and disgusting” as he shares the 26-second clip.
“People in our country have the right to wear any scarf they want and for people to follow them around and make them feel uncomfortable is simply wrong and discriminatory,” he wrote on X.
“The Palestinians exist and they need us to fight for their liberation,” he added.
Rep. Greg J. Landsman (D-Ohio) also reposted the video on X and wrote that “this has been a difficult, if not traumatic, time for many, especially Muslims and Jews.
Furman and Obama at the White House in 2013. Getty Images
“We absolutely have to rely on our common humanity, not this,” he added.
Furman, who has a PhD in economics from Harvard, is also a member of multiple organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Group of Thirty, and the Economic Strategy Group.
Cases of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have increased dramatically since Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel and the resulting retaliation by the Jewish state inside the Gaza Strip.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn