Kestenbaum Demands Garber’s Resignation Over Antisemitism at Harvard

Jewish Harvard University student Shabbos Kestenbaum has called for President Alan M. Garber to resign if he fails to take action against a wave of anti-Israel agitators who have expressed antisemitic views on campus. In an interview, Kestenbaum claimed that the university had “capitulated” and “acquiesced” to a group of students with anti-democratic, anti-American, anti-capitalist beliefs. He accused school administrators, including former President Claudine Gay, of failing to enforce any policy or hold people accountable for antisemitism. Kestenbaum said hundreds of students have violated unprecedented numbers of university policies in recent days due to the lack of action taken by leaders like Garber and Gay. Students and outside agitators have established encampments across campus, shouted anti-Israel slogans during Passover celebrations, and blocked pedestrian pathways and building entrances. The school has responded by closing Harvard Yard until Friday and prohibiting blocking of pedesterian routes and entranceways to buildings in a move that will see students subjected to disciplinary action for violating these policies. Kestenbaum accused administrators at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, who he claimed were teaching their students to demonize and de-legitimize both Israel and Jews, of being part of the problem. He also said many Jewish students had switched majors due to what they called an “academically and intellectually hostile environment.” Kestenbaum urged fellow Jews not to attend Harvard in light of this wave of anti-Israel activity and suggested that it would be better for them if university leaders sent the National Guard or resigned. He accused Garber, who he said had refused to take responsibility for disciplining students involved in antisemitic activities, of being a spineless leader unwilling to protect Jewish students on campus from intimidation by pro-Palestinian activists.