‘Despicable Messages’: Harvard Investigating Faculty, Staff, Students for Sharing Antisemitic Cartoon

Students and pedestrians walk through the Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., March 10, 2020.

Harvard faculty, staff, and student organizations have apologized for sharing a cartoon with antisemitic tropes. The university condemned the “despicable messages” and is conducting a review.

In since-deleted Instagram posts, several Harvard organizations shared an infographic that included a drawing of a hand with the Star of David and a dollar sign holding ropes around the necks of two non-white men. There is a second arm wielding a machete to cut the rope. The words beside the arm say “Third World,” while the machete says “Liberation Movement.” The cartoon was published in a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s newsletter from June-July 1967.

The Harvard Crimson, a student-run publication, reported that the infographic had been shared jointly by student organizations the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and the African and African American Resistance Organization. The image was also shared by the Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.

“African people have a profound understanding of apartheid and occupation,” reads the infographic. “The historical roots of solidarity between Black liberation movements and Palestinian liberation began in the late 1960s. This period was marked by a heightened awareness among Black organizations in the United States.”

The infographic continued, “The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee likened Zionism to an imperial project… while the Black Panther Party aligned itself with the Palestinian resistance, framing both struggles as a unified front against racism, Zionism, and imperialism.”

The Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine has since deleted the infographic with the cartoon from its Instagram account and issued an apology.

“It has come to our attention that a post featuring antiquated cartoons which used offensive antisemitic tropes was linked to our account. We removed the content as soon as it came to our attention,” reads the statement. “We apologize for the hurt that these images have caused and do not condone them in any way. Harvard FSJP stands against all forms of hate and bigotry, including antisemitism.”

The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and the African and African American Resistance Organization deleted the image and jointly released an apology.

“In an earlier version of this post we shared an image that was not reflective of our values as organizations,” reads the apology from the two organizations. “We reiterate our unending support for solidarity between Black and Palestinian communities and have updated our post to reflect what we stand for. Our mutual goals for liberation will always include the Jewish community — and we regret inadvertently including an image that played upon antisemitic tropes.”

Harvard University released a statement on an Instagram Story, which is only available for 24 hours after its initial posting.

“The University is aware of social media posts today containing deeply offensive antisemitic tropes and messages from organizations whose membership includes Harvard affiliates,” reads Harvard’s statement. “Such despicable messages have no place in the Harvard community. We condemn these posts in the strongest possible terms.”

Harvard further added that the matter is “being reviewed” by the university and the Harvard College Administrative Board, which enforces undergraduate regulations and social conduct.

According to its website, the Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine is “committed to supporting the cause of Palestinian liberation.”

“The unfolding genocide in Gaza cannot be disconnected from over 75 years of violent dispossession of the Palestinian people,” reads the organization’s website. “The US government, media, and other institutions of knowledge production have long provided financial, military, moral, and political cover for the Israeli occupation and its colonial, racial violence.”

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