DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

How a Harvard initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict collapsed amid antisemitism claims

July 31, 2025
in News
How a Harvard initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict collapsed amid antisemitism claims
494
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, head of Harvard Hillel, was glad to see Moore and Rashid leave the program. He said in a February newsletter that he spoke with Terrence Johnson, the newly named head of Religion and Public Life, and was promised the program would no longer have a “peculiar preoccupation with Israel” and would “sympathetically showcase a variety of Jewish religious and political stances.”

Harvard Divinity School didn’t respond to questions about that account. In a July 10 statement announcing Johnson’s new role, the school said “Johnson aims to broaden the program’s reach by convening conversations across faith traditions, political ideologies, and institutional sectors.”

Kestenbaum, who spoke at the Republican National Convention and in a congressional hearing about antisemitism at Harvard, celebrated Rashid’s resignation.

“I don’t want to pat myself on the back,” he said. “But I did all I could in a personal capacity to get people to understand what was happening at Harvard Divinity School.”

Support for Religion and Public Life began to fray well before Trump took office, but it fully unraveled as the president sought to bring Harvard to heel. On March 28, two weeks after the administration announced that it was investigating Harvard over its alleged mishandling of antisemitism, the divinity school issued an update saying that the program’s curriculum would be overhauled and the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative would be paused “to rethink its focus.”

On April 3, a top official on the government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism named Religion and Public Life in a memo to Harvard lawyers as one of the “problematic depts” that needed new oversight or receivership, according to a recent court filing. The same memo also approvingly detailed items “Already Done by Harvard.” Near the top of the list was the suspension of the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative and the sudden departure of Religion and Public Life leadership.

Kirsten Weld, president of the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors and a history professor, said it’s “hard not to draw certain kinds of conclusions” from the timing of the gutting of Religion and Public Life, even if the government didn’t explicitly demand it.

“Now we have a precedent for how to successfully shut down parts of university programming that these folks don’t like,” Weld said. “It does not speak well of the state of academic freedom at Harvard, or more broadly in the United States, and faculty are very deeply concerned.”

Some alumni of the program say they are, too.

“How tragic that something so rare and precious should be destroyed,” Keystone said, “because of opposing voices.”

The post How a Harvard initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict collapsed amid antisemitism claims appeared first on NBC News.

Share198Tweet124Share
Jaxson Dart Gets Honest About Mindset Before NY Giants Debut
News

Jaxson Dart Gets Honest About Mindset Before NY Giants Debut

by Newsweek
August 9, 2025

Soon, Jaxson Dart will debut in his first NFL Preseason game for the New York Giants. The team isn’t going ...

Read more
News

‘Arab Forces’ Running Gaza? Netanyahu’s Goal Leaves Many Questions.

August 9, 2025
News

Zelensky Rejects Ceding Land to Russia After Trump Suggests a Land Swap

August 9, 2025
News

Zelensky Rejects Trump’s Suggestion That Ukraine Should Give Up Territory to Russia in Peace Talks

August 9, 2025
News

Moscow warns of ‘provocations’ ahead of Putin-Trump meeting

August 9, 2025
Watching plastic surgery reels has me debating it for myself. I’ve started hyper-fixating on the changes in my own face.

Watching plastic surgery reels has me debating it for myself. I’ve started hyper-fixating on the changes in my own face.

August 9, 2025
Bathtub-Obsessed Dog Who Can’t Stop Splashing Wins Pet of the Week

Bathtub-Obsessed Dog Who Can’t Stop Splashing Wins Pet of the Week

August 9, 2025
Columbia student says Mamdani becoming mayor would be ‘scary’ for Jewish students in New York

Columbia student says Mamdani becoming mayor would be ‘scary’ for Jewish students in New York

August 9, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.