[ Claudine Gay’s enemies are not our friends. All we’ll
remember is that that she angered some rich pro-Israel donors, as well
as opportunistic activists and politicians, and they got her fired.]
[[link removed]]

HOW CULTURE WARRIORS WEAPONIZED JEWISH GRIEF AND FORCED HARVARD’S
PRESIDENT TO RESIGN  
[[link removed]]


 

Rabbi Jay Michaelson
January 2, 2024
Forward
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
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*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Claudine Gay’s enemies are not our friends. All we’ll remember
is that that she angered some rich pro-Israel donors, as well as
opportunistic activists and politicians, and they got her fired. _

Dr. Claudine Gay at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in Harvard
Yard in December 2023., Photo credit: Adam Glanzman for The New York
Times

 

In a few years, no one will remember ex-Harvard president Claudine
Gay’s plagiarism kerfuffle.

All we’ll remember is that that she angered some rich pro-Israel
donors, as well as opportunistic activists and politicians, and they
got her fired.

That should be chilling.

Gay, who resigned Tuesday after just a six-month tenure, has faced
calls for her resignation since October, when a consortium of Harvard
student organizations issued a statement blaming Israel for the Oct. 7
attacks. Instead of condemning that position, Harvard’s response
merely stated that Gay and senior administrators were “heartbroken
by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas.”

Calls for Gay’s resignation increased after her much-scrutinized
testimony in front of Congress on the question of whether “calls for
genocide against Jews” would violate Harvard’s anti-harassment
policies. She correctly noted that the answer depended on context, but
did not condemn such statements — which she was not asked to do.

The criticism was particularly vehement and sustained from
conservatives. The same conservatives who, until about five minutes
ago, professed deep fears that ideologically motivated actors were
“canceling” academics they disagreed with.

But times have changed.

Gay, who resigned Tuesday after just a six-month tenure, has faced
calls for her resignation since October, when a consortium of Harvard
student organizations issued a statement blaming Israel for the Oct. 7
attacks. Instead of condemning that position, Harvard’s response
[[link removed]] merely
stated that Gay and senior administrators were “heartbroken by the
death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas.” 

Calls for Gay’s resignation increased after her
much-scrutinized testimony
[[link removed]] in
front of Congress on the question of whether “calls for genocide
against Jews” would violate Harvard’s anti-harassment policies.
She correctly noted
[[link removed]] that
the answer depended on context, but did not condemn such statements
— which she was not asked to do.

The criticism
[[link removed]] was
particularly vehement and sustained from conservatives. The same
conservatives who, until about five minutes ago, professed deep fears
that ideologically motivated actors were “canceling” academics
they disagreed with. 

But times have changed.

There are two motives in the coalition that forced this surrender: the
pro-Israel politics of extremely wealthy (mostly Jewish) donors like
Bill Ackman, and the war on “woke” higher education by social
conservatives like Rep. Elise Stefanik and the same cadre of
activists, like Christopher Rufo, who call gay people “groomers”
[[link removed]] and
fight to ban books. Both are troubling.

Yes, the immediate pretext for Gay’s resignation was a plagiarism
controversy
[[link removed]].
I can say — as someone who holds a doctorate and has written a
handful of academic articles as well as a book
[[link removed]] based
on my doctoral dissertation — that Gay’s use of “paraphrases”
that are really unattributed quotations with one or two words changed
around is a significant offense. Everyone in the academic world knows
this kind of non-citation is an ethical violation, and Gay did it in
at least five of her 11 scholarly articles.

Of course, scholars can quote, but they have to cite as well. That’s
how it works.

Then again, it’s also true that Gay, whose research focuses on
government and African-American studies, is primarily a quantitative
scholar, not a literary one. She didn’t steal anyone’s research,
and she didn’t take credit for anyone’s ideas beyond a few phrases
here and there. This was an infraction, but it’s more like a
speeding ticket than a criminal offense.

In context, the plagiarism issue is clearly a pretext to pressure Gay
and Harvard Corporation, and to invite a time-consuming and
distracting congressional inquiry. The whole campaign, particularly
the government action, is the political equivalent of a SLAPP suit
[[link removed]] —
a threat of legal action made with the intention of making its
target’s life so miserable that they just give up.

Which Harvard now has done.

Ackman’s role in the fracas is particularly troubling — in part
because no one would give a fig about his ill-informed and
inflammatory views were he not a billionaire. (Ackman is the founder
and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.) His Dec. 10 letter
[[link removed]] to
the Harvard Governing Boards demanding Gay’s removal misstated her
positions and hyperbolically inflated their impact. 

Gay did not “support … rather than condemn” the organizations
who signed the offensive and preposterous statement holding Israel
“entirely responsible” for the Oct. 7 attacks. She simply, and I
think ineptly, repeated the free-speech mantra that student
organizations speak for themselves and not for Harvard.

And is it really plausible that “President Gay’s mishandling of
Oct. 7th and its aftermath on campus have led to the metastasis of
antisemitism to other universities and institutions around the
world”? Really? The statement of a Harvard University president is
what inspired the bigots in Ventura County
[[link removed]] or
France? 

I share what seems to be Ackman’s pained, anguished, and arguably
traumatized
[[link removed]] response
to Oct. 7. It still keeps me awake at night. But that doesn’t mean
the response is right.

Because it isn’t about principle; it’s about power.

And, yes, that exercise of power obviously reinforces antisemitic
conspiracy theories of how rich, powerful Jews squelch criticism of
Israel. Somehow, the same people hyperconcerned with the optics of
Gay’s actions can seem willfully oblivious to their own.

As to the culture warriors who joined with Ackman in efforts to
displace Gay, they are part of a nationalistic campaign opposed to
small-l liberalism. It’s not about free speech
[[link removed]] or
the toleration of multiple viewpoints. It is simply a campaign of
power: right against left, our side against theirs, MAGA versus
“woke,” conservatism versus progress. 

When “our side” is being censored, we are for free speech
[[link removed]].
When “our side” is being attacked by speech, we are against free
speech
[[link removed]]. 

The agenda of people like Stefanik and Rufo, here, is entirely clear.
They have long fought against any form of education that they deem
insufficiently patriotic; that dares to question conservative
narratives of America’s greatness; that points out the enduring
power of systemic racism; that diverges from religious traditions
regarding sexuality and gender. In the hubbub over campus conflict
over the war, they have found a new inroad for their fight.

These same folks are attacking school boards, liberal arts curricula,
diversity programs and identity-based affinity groups. They wink at
antisemitic statements and symbols when they’re made by people on
the right, then profess outrage when they’re made, or allegedly
made, by people on the left.

And now, as American Jews are reeling from Oct. 7, from the very real
increases in antisemitism around the world, and from the horrors of
the war in Gaza (whether we support or oppose it); at this moment when
we are, frankly, vulnerable and raw — this is the moment at which
our greatest fears are weaponized against the American liberalism that
has welcomed Jews for a hundred years. For entirely understandable
reasons, we have been swept up in a moral panic.

The last word here goes to a Harvard junior by the name of Tommy
Barone. Interviewed by _The New York Times_
[[link removed]] last
month, Barone said he did not believe Gay should step down. “Her
resigning would be dangerous and set a precedent for higher education
that would signal that with enough resources and commitment, powerful
people can cow universities into making fundamental decisions about
their structure.”

That precedent is now set.

_[RABBI JAY MICHAELSON is a contributing columnist for
the Forward and for Rolling Stone. He is the author of 10 books,
and won the 2023 New York Society for Professional Journalists award
for opinion writing.]_

Gay, who resigned Tuesday after just a six-month tenure, has faced
calls for her resignation since October, when a consortium of Harvard
student organizations issued a statement blaming Israel for the Oct. 7
attacks. Instead of condemning that position, Harvard’s response
merely stated that Gay and senior administrators were “heartbroken
by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas.”

Calls for Gay’s resignation increased after her much-scrutinized
testimony in front of Congress on the question of whether “calls for
genocide against Jews” would violate Harvard’s anti-harassment
policies. She correctly noted that the answer depended on context, but
did not condemn such statements — which she was not asked to do.

The criticism was particularly vehement and sustained from
conservatives. The same conservatives who, until about five minutes
ago, professed deep fears that ideologically motivated actors were
“canceling” academics they disagreed with.

But times have changed.

There are two motives in the coalition that forced this surrender: the
pro-Israel politics of extremely wealthy (mostly Jewish) donors like
Bill Ackman, and the war on “woke” higher education by social
conservatives like Rep. Elise Stefanik and the same cadre of
activists, like Christopher Rufo, who call gay people “groomers”
and fight to ban books. Both are troubling.

Yes, the immediate pretext for Gay’s resignation was a plagiarism
controversy. I can say — as someone who holds a doctorate and has
written a handful of academic articles as well as a book based on my
doctoral dissertation — that Gay’s use of “paraphrases” that
are really unattributed quotations with one or two words changed
around is a significant offense. Everyone in the academic world knows
this kind of non-citation is an ethical violation, and Gay did it in
at least five of her 11 scholarly articles.

Of course, scholars can quote, but they have to cite as well. That’s
how it works.

Then again, it’s also true that Gay, whose research focuses on
government and African-American studies, is primarily a quantitative
scholar, not a literary one. She didn’t steal anyone’s research,
and she didn’t take credit for anyone’s ideas beyond a few phrases
here and there. This was an infraction, but it’s more like a
speeding ticket than a criminal offense.

In context, the plagiarism issue is clearly a pretext to pressure Gay
and Harvard Corporation, and to invite a time-consuming and
distracting congressional inquiry. The whole campaign, particularly
the government action, is the political equivalent of a SLAPP suit —
a threat of legal action made with the intention of making its
target’s life so miserable that they just give up.

Which Harvard now has done.

Ackman’s role in the fracas is particularly troubling — in part
because no one would give a fig about his ill-informed and
inflammatory views were he not a billionaire. (Ackman is the founder
and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.) His Dec. 10 letter to
the Harvard Governing Boards demanding Gay’s removal misstated her
positions and hyperbolically inflated their impact.

Gay did not “support … rather than condemn” the organizations
who signed the offensive and preposterous statement holding Israel
“entirely responsible” for the Oct. 7 attacks. She simply, and I
think ineptly, repeated the free-speech mantra that student
organizations speak for themselves and not for Harvard.

And is it really plausible that “President Gay’s mishandling of
Oct. 7th and its aftermath on campus have led to the metastasis of
antisemitism to other universities and institutions around the
world”? Really? The statement of a Harvard University president is
what inspired the bigots in Ventura County or France?

I share what seems to be Ackman’s pained, anguished, and arguably
traumatized response to Oct. 7. It still keeps me awake at night. But
that doesn’t mean the response is right.

Because it isn’t about principle; it’s about power.

And, yes, that exercise of power obviously reinforces antisemitic
conspiracy theories of how rich, powerful Jews squelch criticism of
Israel. Somehow, the same people hyperconcerned with the optics of
Gay’s actions can seem willfully oblivious to their own.

As to the culture warriors who joined with Ackman in efforts to
displace Gay, they are part of a nationalistic campaign opposed to
small-l liberalism. It’s not about free speech or the toleration of
multiple viewpoints. It is simply a campaign of power: right against
left, our side against theirs, MAGA versus “woke,” conservatism
versus progress.

When “our side” is being censored, we are for free speech. When
“our side” is being attacked by speech, we are against free
speech.

The agenda of people like Stefanik and Rufo, here, is entirely clear.
They have long fought against any form of education that they deem
insufficiently patriotic; that dares to question conservative
narratives of America’s greatness; that points out the enduring
power of systemic racism; that diverges from religious traditions
regarding sexuality and gender. In the hubbub over campus conflict
over the war, they have found a new inroad for their fight.

These same folks are attacking school boards, liberal arts curricula,
diversity programs and identity-based affinity groups. They wink at
antisemitic statements and symbols when they’re made by people on
the right, then profess outrage when they’re made, or allegedly
made, by people on the left.

And now, as American Jews are reeling from Oct. 7, from the very real
increases in antisemitism around the world, and from the horrors of
the war in Gaza (whether we support or oppose it); at this moment when
we are, frankly, vulnerable and raw — this is the moment at which
our greatest fears are weaponized against the American liberalism that
has welcomed Jews for a hundred years. For entirely understandable
reasons, we have been swept up in a moral panic.

The last word here goes to a Harvard junior by the name of Tommy
Barone. Interviewed by The New York Times last month, Barone said he
did not believe Gay should step down. “Her resigning would be
dangerous and set a precedent for higher education that would signal
that with enough resources and commitment, powerful people can cow
universities into making fundamental decisions about their
structure.”

That precedent is now set.

[Rabbi Jay Michaelson is a contributing columnist for the Forward and
for Rolling Stone. He is the author of 10 books, and won the 2023 New
York Society for Professional Journalists award for opinion writing.]
 

* Claudine Gay
[[link removed]]
* Harvard University
[[link removed]]
* Harvard
[[link removed]]
* anti-Semitism
[[link removed]]
* Elsie Stefanik
[[link removed]]
* Congress
[[link removed]]
* Israel
[[link removed]]
* Palestine
[[link removed]]
* Israel-Gaza War
[[link removed]]
* MAGA
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]
* GOP
[[link removed]]
* Republican Govfernors
[[link removed]]
* AIPAC
[[link removed]]
* Oct. 7
[[link removed]]
* Hostages
[[link removed]]
* Hamas
[[link removed]]
* campus protest
[[link removed]]
* ADL
[[link removed]]
* Anti-Defamation League
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
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*
*
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