Harvard President Condemns ‘Flagrantly Antisemitic’ Cartoon Shared by Student Groups

Harvard University’s interim president on Tuesday issued a statement condemning a “flagrantly antisemitic cartoon” shared online by student groups and a faculty organization.

All three groups that shared the cartoon on social media later apologized. The image, which was included in a broader Instagram post about the historical links between “Black liberation movements and Palestinian liberation,” showed what appeared to be a hand marked with a Star of David and a dollar sign holding nooses around the necks of Muhammad Ali and former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

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Harvard issued a press release Monday condemning the “deeply offensive antisemitic tropes and messages from organizations whose membership includes Harvard affiliates,” with interim president Alan Garber releasing a day later a more detailed denunciation of the cartoon and those who shared it.

“Perpetuating vile and hateful antisemitic tropes, or otherwise engaging in inflammatory rhetoric or sharing images that demean people on the basis of their identity, is precisely the opposite of what this moment demands of us,” he wrote.

“As members of an academic community, we can and we will disagree, sometimes vehemently, on matters of public concern and controversy, including hotly contested issues relating to the war in Israel and Gaza, and the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But it is grossly irresponsible and profoundly offensive when that disagreement devolves into forms of expression that demonize individuals because of their religion, race, nationality, or other aspects of their identity.”

On Tuesday, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard’s African American Resistance Organization released a joint statement apologizing for sharing the infographic containing the cartoon. They said they “negligently” included the cartoon, which “featured harmful antisemitic tropes.” “The inclusion of the offensive caricature was an unprompted, painful error - a combination of ignorance and inadequate oversight,” the statement read, adding that they “wholeheartedly apologize for the immense harm” they had caused.

Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, which shared the infographic on its Instagram story, similarly apologized, saying it removed the content “as soon as it came to our attention.” “We apologize for the hurt that these images have caused and do not condone them in any way,” the group said. “Harvard FSJP stands against all forms of hate and bigotry, including antisemitism.”

In his statement about the cartoon, Garber noted that the groups who posted or shared the cartoon “have since sought to distance themselves from it,” but “the damage remains, and our condemnation stands.” “The University will review the situation to better understand who was responsible for the posting and to determine what further steps are warranted,” he added.

Garber began his interim presidential role last month after his predecessor, Claudine Gay, resigned amid a furious backlash to answers she had given to a congressional committee about antisemitism on campus. Gay, who also faced allegations of academic plagiarism, was criticized for failing to unequivocally state that calls for a genocide against Jews would violate Harvard’s code of conduct.

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