Harvard University President Claudine Gay has faced fierce criticism in recent days for not pursuing public disciplinary action against students who last week engaged in “intifada” chants, which call for violence against Jews and Israel. On Nov. 27, for instance, Harvard sophomore Kojo Acheampong led students in chanting, “Long live Palestine; long live the intifada; intifada, intifada; globalize the intifada.” And on Nov. 29, students disrupted classes with bullhorns to levy their anti-Semitic chants, including “globalize the intifada,” as part of their “week of action.”

In a congressional hearing Tuesday on how colleges have handled the rush of anti-Semitism on their campuses, GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik pressed Gay on whether Harvard has a policy of permitting students to participate in “intifada” chants. Gay refused to answer but suggested that such chants are permitted speech at Harvard. (READ MORE: Billionaire Donors Revolt Against Harvard)

Gay said, “We embrace a commitment to free expression, even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful. It’s when that speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies against bullying.” Stefanik answered, “Does that speech not cross that barrier? Does that speech not call for the genocide of Jews and the elimination of Israel?” When Stefanik continued to ask Gay whether “intifada” chants violate Harvard’s code of conduct, Gay responded, “We embrace a commitment to free expression.”

Harvard Hillel, a Jewish organization at Harvard, last week described the “intifada” chants as “abhorrent antisemetic [sic] calls” and asserted that they call “for genocide and anti-Jewish violence throughout the world.” Such chants, it claims, “are not protected by the University’s free speech guidelines” — and neither are “interruptions of classes.”

ADL New England similarly asserted that such chants violate Harvard’s policies against discriminatory harassment and bullying. “We join in @HarvardHillel’s demand for accountability through Harvard’s free speech guidelines and codes of conduct,” the organization said.

Yesterday’s disruption of classes @Harvarduniv with bullhorn-amplified #antisemitic chants flies in the face of President Claudine Gay’s description of Harvard as “a place of civil behavior and civil discourse”. We join in @HarvardHillel‘s demand for accountability through… pic.twitter.com/gBU2XD2h3G

— ADL New England (@ADL_NewEngland) December 1, 2023

On Tuesday, Larry Summers, former president of Harvard, denounced the university’s decision to not strongly condemn the “intifada” rhetoric and publicly discipline students for disrupting classes. “Harvard Corporation and Administration, despite much public and private advice, are failing in their core obligation to create a safe environment conducive to learning and free expression for all students,” he said. “When multiple classes are disrupted by students with megaphones and there is no strong and visible condemnation and discipline, the administration is not doing its job.” (READ MORE: Being Vaccinated Against Anti-Semitism)

Billionaire Bill Ackman, who has been vocal in condemning Harvard for its handling of the anti-Semitism on its campus, published an open letter to Gay on X Tuesday. In response to Gay’s suggestion that Harvard permits “intifada” and “from the river to the sea” chants because of the university’s “commitment to free expression,” Ackman pointed out that Harvard has a poor record of protecting free speech. He called “intifada” chants “eliminationist and threatening language.”

Ackman later called for Gay, as well as the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to “resign in disgrace” over their refusal to say that “calling for the genocide of Jews” violates their universities’ codes of conduct.

Acheampong, the Harvard student who led the “intifada” chants, proudly told the Harvard Crimson that the “intifada” chant “symbolizes revolution.”

“So I’m saying we need a revolution,” he said. “We need liberation everywhere — that’s what the intifada means. The intifada means Palestine will be free.”

Gay Faces Headache Over Campus Anti-Semites

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas upon Israeli citizens, anti-Semitism has continued to run rampant at Harvard. Last week’s “week of action” by Harvard students featured the “intifada” march, which ended at the building in which Gay’s office is located, as well as a walkout for an “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” During the walkout, one student complained that Gay did not give a direct answer when anti-Israel students confronted her over her denouncement of the phrase: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Students responded to this by shouting “Shame!”

The students’ demands for their “week of action” included that Harvard participate in the “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” movement, not pursue disciplinary action against anti-Israel students who trespassed in a Harvard building, and give back a job to a graduate student who said on social media that “[t]he beast of Zionism shall be slain, Palestine shall live, Her children shall return, From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The “week of action” was also a response to “Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian sentiment,” one student told the Harvard Crimson. (READ MORE: An Open Letter From a Contrite Harvard Professor)

In her statement before members of Congress, Gay took the time to denounce a rise in “Islamophobia” on college campuses: “I know members of Harvard’s Muslim and Arab communities are also hurting. During these past months, the world, our nation, and our campuses have also seen a rise of incidents of Islamophobia.”

Harvard Hillel has continued to push for Harvard to take action in response to the “week of action” protests. It has demanded that Gay send an email to all Harvard students, staff, and faculty to state that the anti-Semitic chants that disrupted classes are violations of the university’s rules and that there will be disciplinary consequences for such actions.

“Students were terrified by [the Nov. 29 protest] and the violence it endorsed,” Harvard Hillel said, “and some were unable to resume work for hours after the protests passed.”

Last week, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Education Department said that it had opened an investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism at Harvard University. The Boston Globe reported that the investigation was based on a complaint accusing the university of discriminating against students on the basis of their Jewish or Israeli ancestry.