Israeli hostage posters at Harvard vandalized with antisemitic messages

Israeli hostage posters that were hung up at Harvard University had been vandalized with antisemitic messages just as students returned from winter break.

Harvard condemned the vandalization on Tuesday and said university police are investigating the incident.

“The University strongly condemns the senseless and horrific vandalization on Harvard’s campus of posters displaying the faces of Israeli hostages,” a university spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

Footage shared with CNN by Harvard student Alexander Kestenbaum shows a handful of hostage posters defaced with messages such as “Israel did 9/11.” A poster of a four-year-old Israeli hostage was defaced, while “LIES FAKE” was scrawled over another hostage poster.

Photos and videos geolocated by CNN indicate the vandalized posters were hung just outside Holworthy Hall, a first-year student dorm located on the northern edge of Harvard Yard.

The Harvard spokesperson said the vandalized posters near the Thayer Gate have been removed and the Harvard University Police Department is investigating the incident.

At this time, there is “no indication” whether the perpetrator is affiliated with Harvard, the spokesperson said.

It’s not clear whether the posters were vandalized by students or outsiders on campus, which is located in the middle of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visitors are able to walk through the gates into Harvard Yard. It’s also not clear how widespread the vandalism was.

Kestenbaum, a Harvard student who was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit recently leveled against the university over antisemitism, alerted Harvard officials to the vandalism on Sunday night, according to emails Kestenbaum shared with CNN.

Harvard’s Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (OEDIB) responded to Kestenbaum in an email on Monday afternoon saying officials are investigating the matter and explaining how bias-related incidents and formal complaints on discrimination can be filed.

The incident comes as Harvard is hoping to turn the page on a tumultuous period marked by soaring tensions over the Israel-Hamas war, a backlash from donors and politicians and the sudden end of Claudine Gay’s tenure as university president.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, called the hostage poster vandalism a “truly depraved and hideous act” and demanded Harvard leaders speak out on the incident.

“This is not political speech, but pure, unadulterated, inexcusable evil,” Greenblatt told CNN in a statement on Tuesday. “This needs to be called out forcefully by all, but especially by the Harvard leadership, particularly because the university has failed time and again when faced with similar instances.”

Rising antisemitism on campus

“Jewish students at Harvard returned from winter break this week excited to start the spring term,” said Getzel Davis, the Harvard Hillel campus rabbi, in a statement to CNN. “Instead, they were confronted with vandalism, the defacement of hostage posters, and vile antisemitic conspiracy theories. This is inexcusable and intolerable.”

Davis called on Harvard to “step up and do more” to defend students against antisemitism, both on campus and online.

Harvard told CNN on Monday that it recently met with executives from social media app Sidechat to discuss “concerning content” on the platform. Some students have complained about a surge in antisemitic posts on Sidechat, which is popular at colleges and allows users to make anonymous posts.

Alan Garber, Harvard’s interim president, unveiled a pair of presidential task forces late last week aimed at fighting both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

“Reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic acts on our campus have grown, and the sense of belonging among these groups has been undermined,” Garber said in the announcement. “We need to understand why and how that is happening—and what more we might do to prevent it.

However, famed economist Larry Summers slammed Harvard’s leaders for the selection of professor Derek Penslar as the co-chair of the antisemitism task force. Summers, a former president of Harvard, argued Penslar is “unsuited” for the key role because he previously “publicly minimized” the university’s antisemitism problem.

Some Harvard professors, students and the American Academy for Jewish Research rushed to Penslar’s defense, saying his academic credentials make him the right choice to lead the task force.

The Israel-Hamas war is fueling tensions at other major universities as well.

Last week, Columbia University students attending a pro-Palestinian protest sought medical treatment after saying they were sprayed by a foul-smelling substance. The NYPD said it received reports from six different victims who reported smelling an unknown odor, feeling nauseous and experiencing burning sensation in their eyes.

Columbia on Monday described the incident as “deeply troubling” and announced it has banned the “alleged perpetrators” from campus.

CNN’s Celina Tebor, Michelle Watson and Nic. F. Anderson contributed to this report.

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