Harvard students are scrambling to take back their pro-Hamas statement in response to the terrorist attacks against Israel — which has so far left more than 1,000 people dead — while CEOs are looking into blacklisting them from future jobs. The statement no longer lists the student groups that signed on the statement, claiming that “For student safety, the names of all original signing organizations have been concealed at this time.”
Harvard students and groups are now scrambling to take back their joint statement supporting Palestinian terrorists and blaming Israel for the slaughter of its own people by the Iranian-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas last weekend, the Harvard Crimson reported.
The move to retract the joint statement arrives amid nationwide backlash, Harvard distancing itself from the student organizations in a statement, and potential future employers seeking to blacklist them.
“As a board member of a Harvard group that signed the statement on Israel, I think it was egregious and have resigned from my role,” Harard student Danielle Mikaelian wrote in an X/Twitter post on Monday. She has since gone private on the platform, meaning only people already following her can see her tweets normally.
As a board member of a Harvard group that signed the statement on Israel, I think it was egregious and have resigned from my role. I am sorry for the pain this caused. My organization did not have a formal process and I didn’t even see the statement until we had signed on.
— Danielle Mikaelian 🇲 (@DanniDKM) October 10, 2023
“I am sorry for the pain this caused,” Mikaelian added. “My organization did not have a formal process and I didn’t even see the statement until we had signed on.”
In a follow-up post, Mikaelian added that she “prevented another student group I remain on the board of from signing on when I saw the statement.”
“The statement is not representative of my values and my heart is with those impacted,” she said.
“I also want to make it clear that I know firsthand some of my fellow students are in this situation too,” the Harvard student added. “I wasn’t the only board member who stepped down today.”
I also want to make it clear that I know firsthand some of my fellow students are in this situation too. I wasn’t the only board member who stepped down today.
— Danielle Mikaelian 🇲 (@DanniDKM) October 11, 2023
Harvard law student Mohini Tangri posted similar sentiments, claiming that “many members had no say in whether their [organizations] signed” the letter.
“Many weren’t even notified that their [organizations] were considering doing so,” Tangri added.
I’m a @Harvard_Law student. So I know many members had no say in whether their orgs signed either letter. Many weren’t even notified that their orgs were considering doing so. No need for this level of harassment. https://t.co/m0VkTmAUvk
— Mohini Tangri (@MohiniTangri) October 11, 2023
Several student groups have also released statements announcing that they are rescinding their signatures from the pro-Hamas joint statement in question.
In a statement posted to Instagram, the Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo organization said it “would like to formally apologize for co-signing the statement made by the Harvard Palestinian Committee and have formally retracted our signature.”
“We would like to clarify that we stand in solidarity with both Israeli and Palestinian victims and families,” the group continued. “Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo strictly denounces and condemns the massacre propagated by the terrorist organization Hamas.”
“We truly apologize for the insensitivity of the statement that was released recently,” the student organization added.
The Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association also announced the retraction of their signature in a somewhat backhanded statement on Instagram, in which the group expressed its “regret” that the statement blaming Israel for the mass murder of its own people was “interpreted” as support for the violence in Israel.
“We regret that our decision to co-sign the latest PSC statement to call attention to historical injustices against Palestinians, with an earnest desire for peace, has been interpreted as a tacit support for the recent violent attacks in Israel,” the group said.
“We deplore the attacks that have taken the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians including 10 Nepali students in Israel,” the student organization added.
“To ensure that our stance on the condemnation of violence by Hamas and support for a just peace remains clear, we retract our signature from the statement,” the group added.
Harvard’s Act on a Dream student group told told Crimson that it only signed the joint statement against Israel as “a result of miscommunication and a lack of due diligence in sharing the statement with the entirety of the board.”
“The endorsement of [the] statement in no way reflects their individual opinions about the ensuing violence in Palestine and Israel,” the group added. “As an organization, we want to express our empathy and solidarity for all the victims who have been affected by the violence in the region.”
The initial statement released by the Harvard Palestinian Committee — which, in part, stated, “We hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” — no longer lists all the student organizations that had originally signed the statement.
Instead, the message reads, “This statement was co-authored by a coalition of Palestine solidarity groups at Harvard,” adding, “For student safety, the names of all original signing organizations have been concealed at this time.”
The student groups rescinding their signatures, however, came after billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman called on Harvard to release the names of the students in the groups that signed the statement, so that future employers can be sure not to “inadvertently” hire a pro-Hamas Harvard student in the future.
“I have been asked by a number of CEOs if @harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas’ heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members,” Ackman said on Tuesday.
I have been asked by a number of CEOs if @harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas’ heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their… https://t.co/7kzGOAGwp9
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) October 10, 2023
“If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known,” Ackman, a Harvard graduate who has an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion, added.
The billionaire concluded, stating, “One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.