Harvard’s interim president slams university groups for antisemitic cartoon

Harvard University’s interim president, Alan Garber, condemned an antisemitic cartoon that circulated on social media over the holiday weekend, taking a swift stance after the school was criticized for not doing enough to protect Jewish students.

The cartoon depicted what appeared to be an Arab man and a Black man with nooses around their necks, held by a hand emblazoned with a Star of David, Garber said in a statement on Tuesday. It was posted online by groups purporting to speak on behalf of Harvard affiliates.

The university will review the situation to better understand who was responsible for posting the cartoon and to determine what further steps are warranted, he said.

“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,” Garber wrote in a statement.

Harvard has been under intense scrutiny since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent retaliatory strikes on Gaza. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, European Union and others.

Harvard alumni, including billionaires Len Blavatnik and Ken Griffin, as well as other graduates, have said they’re halting donations until the school does more to address antisemitism on campus in the wake of former President Claudine Gay’s widely derided congressional testimony.

The firm response from Garber signals a different tone from Gay, who as president didn’t respond for days to a letter posted by more than 30 student groups who blamed the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack solely on Israel.

Congress called Gay and two other elite college presidents to testify about antisemitism on Dec. 5. After their much-derided testimony, Gay and the president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned.

A House committee investigating claims of antisemitism on college campuses last week subpoenaed Harvard’s leaders for failing to produce documents related to its probe. Harvard called the action “unwarranted.”

“Online condemnation of this trope-filled image was swift, and Harvard promptly issued a statement condemning the posted cartoon,” Garber wrote. “While the groups associated with the posting or sharing of the cartoon have since sought to distance themselves from it in various ways, the damage remains, and our condemnation stands.”