A nonprofit started by Victoria’s Secret founder Leslie Wexner is the latest to cut ties with Harvard, saying it was “disgusted” by the Ivy League school’s “disgraceful failure” to condemn the mass shooting. of Israelis by Hamas terrorists.
The Wexner Foundation wrote to Harvard’s board of trustees on Monday to “formally [end] their financial support” after the school also failed to condemn a statement by more than 30 student groups that held Israel “totally responsible” for the violence.
“We are stunned and sickened by the lamentable failure of Harvard leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stance against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians,” wrote leaders of the nonprofit organization founded by Wexner and his wife. , Abigail.
It left Israeli students at school feeling “abandoned,” especially when 34 student groups quickly issued a statement “holding Israel entirely responsible for the violent terrorist attack against its own citizens,” the letter said. shared by StopAntisemitism.
Leslie Wexner and his wife, Abigail, are cutting their foundation’s ties to Harvard over its response to the Hamas terrorist attacks. AP For years, the Wexner Foundation has supported a scholarship program at the Kennedy School of Government that allows government and public service professionals in Israel to study for a year at Harvard.AP
“Harvard’s leaders were truly tiptoeing around, getting it wrong, and we, like former Harvard President Larry Summers, cannot quickly ‘comprehend the administration’s failure to disassociate the university and condemn the statement,’” wrote the Foundation.
“That shouldn’t have been so difficult.”
“In the absence of this clear moral position, we have determined that the Harvard Kennedy School and the Wexner Foundation are no longer compatible partners,” the letter said.
A coalition of more than 30 student groups signed a letter holding Israel responsible for the Hamas attack. Harvard Palestinian Solidarity Committee
“Our core values and those of Harvard no longer align.”
The foundation withdrew shortly after Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife, Batia, also resigned from the executive board of Harvard Kennedy School amid similar anger over the lackluster response.
In response to the latest letter, a school spokesperson told CNN, “We are grateful to the Wexner Foundation for its long-standing support of student scholarships.”
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The spokesperson also cited university president Claudine Gay’s video statement last week, in which she desperately tried to silence criticism, but did not mention the more than 30 student organizations that co-signed the Solidarity Committee’s statement. School Palestine.
In the video, Gay said the Ivy League school “embraces a commitment to free expression.”
“That commitment extends even to opinions that many of us consider objectionable, even scandalous,” Gay said.
Harvard has faced backlash since the school’s Palestinian Solidarity Committee published its letter. AFP via Getty Images Harvard President Claudine Gay released a video statement last week to quell criticism.
“We do not punish or sanction people for expressing such opinions, but that is a far cry from endorsing them.”
“We can fan the flames of division and hatred that are roiling the world,” Gay said in the video. “Or we can try to be a force for something different and better.”
Gay was forced to issue the statement following backlash from executives over what they considered a lackluster response to the student groups’ statement.
The letter was signed by more than 30 student groups. Harvard College PSC Said “the Israeli regime [is] entirely responsible for all the violence that develops.” Harvard College PSC
After its publication, former university president Larry Summers demanded that Harvard administrators condemn the statement signed by the student organizations.
“Why can’t we find anything approaching the moral clarity of Harvard’s statements after the death of George Floyd or the Russian invasion of Ukraine when terrorists kill, rape and take hostage hundreds of Israelis attending a Music festival?” she asked.
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: how we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after seizing the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches largest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, more than 4,200 wounded and at least 100 taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli cities. .
Hamas terrorists were seen taking women hostage and parading them down the street in gruesome videos.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised that Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials report that at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured.
Bill Ackman, founder of the multibillion-dollar hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, also demanded that Harvard administrators release a list of the names of students whose groups co-signed the letter.
He enlisted the support of at least a dozen business executives who vowed to deny employment opportunities to students whose groups signed the letter.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn