Jews had plenty of reasons to feel unwelcome at this year’s Harvard graduation, thanks to the Palestinian flag-waving, but the last straw for Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi was the graduation speaker.

He walked off stage toward the end of the commencement ceremony Thursday after confronting Nobel laureate Maria Ressa about a reference to “power and money” in her address that struck him and others as antisemitic.

Ms. Ressa, a Filipino American journalist and CEO of the newsite Rappler, said in her speech: “Because I accepted your invitation to be here today, I was attacked online and called antisemitic. By power and money. Because they want power and money. While the other side was already attacking me because I had been onstage with Hillary Clinton. Hard to win, right?”

Rabbi Zarchi, who as head of the Chabad house at Harvard was on stage with Ms. Ressa, said he saw her comments as a “very big problem” and asked her after she sat down to clarify them. He said she declined. So he left following the benediction, as shown on video.

“I was questioning myself. That’s what she said?” the rabbi told the Jewish publication Forward. “Then she said how much she loved the speeches of the students — who called for a cease-fire in Gaza, said not a word about the hostages and glorified the protesters and the encampments.”

Two of the three student speakers deviated from their prepared remarks by blasting Harvard for disciplining 13 pro-Palestinian student protesters by excluding them from the graduation.

“And she said she loved those speeches?” asked Rabbi Zarchi. “These were hateful protests that called for the destruction of Israel, for the murder of Jews with chants of ‘globalize the intifada.’”

Earlier in the ceremony, an estimated 1,000 students staged a walkout, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Let them walk” in protest of the university’s banning of the student protesters.

The anti-Israel students marched across the yard to Epworth Church for a “people’s commencement” for the banned students, according to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper.

“It was bad enough to have the disruption within the audience, the day of celebration violated,” said Rabbi Zarchi. “But to have a program validate that and then to have [Ms. Ressa] introduce her own antisemitic rhetoric. It was a sad day.”

Rabbi Zarchi wasn’t the only one disturbed by her remarks. Harvard Divinity School student Shabbos Kestenbaum, one of six collegians suing the university over campus antisemitism, said on X: “Antisemitic tropes [are] the perfect way to encapsulate the sh—show of this year.”

He also said students handed out a fake version of the Crimson called the Crimeson replete with pro-Palestinian headlines and articles critical of Harvard and Israel.

“Harvard commencement was an absolute disaster and a breathtaking display of normalized antisemitism,” said Mr. Kestenbaum.

The Harvard Jewish Alumni Association said on X, “Harvard should have had someone vet these words before they’re uttered in the heated climate of 2024.”

The association added, “A common antisemitic trope is that Jews are only after money and power, whether we’re talking about actual Jews or people/orgs aligned with Jews. Attribute this type of greed to shadowy figures calling out antisemitism, and you run into problems.”

Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, president of the executive coaching firm AZ Advisors, commended Rabbi Zarchi for his walkout and asked Ms. Ressa to publicly clarify her comments.

“Shockingly, during your commencement speech, you violated the values you espouse by allowing your words to be interpreted to fan the flames of age-old tropes of Jew hatred of how they lust for money and power,” he said on X.

He also posted Ms. Ressa’s private reply, with her permission, that “power and money referred to Big Tech and the attacks by politicians and business because they want power and money.”

Rabbi Berkowitz responded that “your intention may not have been directed against Jews with money and power,” but that “you knew that your words would easily be misconstrued.”

He added on X, “You should clarify your words and explain what you meant and who you were referring to on one side and apologize for failing to be vigilant in avoiding language that inadvertently fuels bigotry, Jew hatred and discrimination.”

Ms. Ressa, who was found guilty of cyber libel in the Philippines in what has been widely decried as a political prosecution, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her “efforts to safeguard freedom from expression.”

Earlier this month, she was accused of antisemitism over a Nov. 6 editorial in the Philippines-based Rappler that compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war to Adolf Hitler’s treatment of the Jews, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, responded on X that “Harvard chose an antisemitic commencement speaker.”

Rappler denied that, saying the congresswoman “should get an accurate translation.”

Rappler said the editorial “calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, a challenge to humanity that, we believe, is shared by many.”

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.