Harvard revokes former HRW head's fellowship over "Israel" criticism

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Nation
7 Jan 14:43
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The former executive director of Human Rights Watch for 29 years, Kenneth Roth, was denied a fellowship at the Kennedy School for criticizing the Israeli practices against Palestinians.

Former head of HRW Kenneth Roth. (Getty Images)

The National published on Saturday an article detailing the reasons why Kenneth Roth, the man nicknamed the "Godfather of Human Rights" had his offer to join the Kennedy School Harvard revoked.

He was executive director of the rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) for almost three decades, but was denied a fellowship to Harvard for criticizing "Israel."

The former head of HRW oversaw the publication of a report issued in 2021 that detailed the atrocities committed by the Israeli apartheid regime. Several organizations which claim to fight anti-semitism have accused the report of anti-semitism.

For instance, NGO Monitor is one of those organizations that have repeatedly slammed all reports issued by HRW on "Israel."

Since its inception in 2001, the organization has almost exclusively tracked nongovernmental organizations that are critical of "Israel." Others include the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and several other NGOs.

However, to this day, there are no indications of who specifically may have objected to Roth’s presence at the school.

According to the former HRW director, the Kennedy School’s dean, Douglas Elmendorf, gave no indication that the fellowship was in jeopardy. However, the Nation reported two weeks later that the dean informed Kathryn Sikkink, a Kennedy School professor of human rights policy, that Roth would not be allowed to take the position because HRW has an "anti-Israel bias" and its former director had written tweets critical of "Israel."

Roth told the Guardian he now believes Elmendorf bowed to pressure from donors who are strong supporters of Israel.

“I falsely assumed that the dean of the Kennedy School values academic freedom. Maybe I’m naive in retrospect, but I assume that criticism of Israel, as criticism of any other government, is just par for the course. That’s what a leading foreign policy centre does,” he said.

There are more former heads of state and government among Kennedy School alumni than in any other similar institution, as well as cabinet ministers, top military officials, and parliamentarians.

The "dominant presence of the US national security community and its close ally 'Israel'" at the Kennedy School was noted by The Nation. Senior executives from weapons manufacturers, the Pentagon, and major corporations are among them.