Thirty-one student organizations from Harvard University issued a letter casting blame on Israel for the violence that unfolded over the weekend.
Student organizations such as the Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine, the Harvard Islamic Society, the Harvard Jews for Liberation, and Amnesty International at Harvard wrote in a joint letter to the public on Sunday that they condemned the “Israeli regime” for being “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that carried out a surprise invasion of Israel on Saturday. Roughly 3,500 rockets were reported to be raining down in cities in Israel, along with fighters paragliding into the country.
As of Monday morning, more than 1,200 people had been left dead on both sides, along with nine Americans who have been reported dead, according to CBS News. Israeli officials said on Monday that 700 people had been reported dead as a result of Hamas’ attacks on Israel, out of that number, more than 250 of the people who were left dead had been attending a music festival near the Gaza Strip border when the attacks began. Over 100 Israelis, including children and the elderly, were also kidnapped and taken as hostages by Hamas during the attacks.
The student groups argued that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been “forced to live in an open-air prison” for the past two decades.
“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the groups wrote in the letter.
large number of harvard student organizations blaming israel solely for hamas terrorist attacks killing 700 civilians.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 8, 2023
can’t imagine who would want to identify with such a group. harvard parents—talk to your educated kids about this. pic.twitter.com/q9StJ3MJpf
“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum,” the groups continued. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison.”
In 1947, the United Nations created Resolution 181, which divided the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, according to the Council of Foreign Relations website.
Years later on May 14, 1948, Israel was created, however, roughly 750,000 Palestinians were displaced. The territory was then divided into three areas; the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
For roughly two decades, Egypt held control over the Gaza Strip. In June 1967, Israel preemptively attacked Egyptian and Syrian air forces, starting the Six-Day War. Israel then gained control over the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Currently, Hamas governs the Gaza Strip.
“Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced,” the letter continues. “Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape.”
The letter continued to blame the Israeli regime for “violence” that has “structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years.”
“From systemized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden,” the groups wrote.
A day before the letter from the student organizations, Laurence Tribe, a professor at Harvard University issued an apology after writing in a now-deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Netanyahu declaring war on Hamas was a distraction from the corruption in his own government.
IJR reached out to Harvard University for a statement but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
