After an intense series of questions during a House Oversight Committee hearing, Harvard President Claudine Gay will not step down from her position with the university. Gay's stance comes amid heavy scrutiny over statements regarding the institution's stance on anti-semitism.
When Gay was asked about combatting anti-semitic rhetoric that called for the genocide of Jews, she stated that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.” The Ivy League school president's answer caused much criticism from lawmakers and alumni who claimed she did not do enough to denounce the violent rhetoric.
In an interview with the Harvard school newspaper, Gay stated that she could have done better in denouncing anti-semitism on the university's campus as well as in her response to questioning from New York Representative Elise Stefanik (R).
“What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged,” said Gay.
On Oct. 7 the terrorist organization Hamas attacked the nation of Israel. 1,200 people were killed in Hamas' initial attack. Since then, Israel has responded by bombing the Gaza Strip, as it hopes to eradicate Hamas.
However, anti-semitism has been on the rise in America and there have been Hamas-sympathizers who have stated their stance in various protests.
Recently, Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw (R) took to social media to denounce the Democratic Socialists of America’s blatant anti-semitism at a pro-Palestine rally in New York City.
In a tweet, Rep. Crenshaw tore into the racist and hateful speech, filled with anti-semitism, made by one of the rallying speakers. In the speech, the protester celebrated Hamas’ firing thousands of rockets at Israel.
“This is in New York City. Hamas supports the destruction of Israel, and the Democratic Socialists of America are perfectly fine rallying with people that praise Hamas’ terrorism. This disgusting antisemitism is excused and supported by the far left. It needs to end.”
