Harvard to be investigated by US govt for Muslim discrimination
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Students have faced "rampant harassment and racist attacks including doxing, stalking, and assault simply for being Palestinian, Muslim, and supporters of Palestinian rights," according to the Muslim Legal Fund of America.
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People take photographs near a John Harvard statue, left, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (AP)
US media has reported that Harvard University is being subject to a government investigation for possible discrimination as a result of a civil rights complaint lodged by Arab and Muslim students.
ABC News states that over 60 investigations by the US Department of Education have begun into K-12 schools, colleges, and universities over allegations of discrimination concerning shared ancestry.
Jason Newton, the Ivy League school spokesperson, told ABC News: "We support the work of the Office of Civil Rights to ensure students' rights to access educational programs are safeguarded and will work with the office to address their questions".
Students have faced "rampant harassment and racist attacks including doxing, stalking, and assault simply for being Palestinian, Muslim, and supporters of Palestinian rights," according to the Muslim Legal Fund of America which complained on behalf of them in January.
Read next: Harvard ranked worst US university for free speech
The claim also stated that some students have been assaulted for wearing koufiyyehs, the traditional Palestinian scarves.
"Our complaint addresses Harvard's failure to protect more than a dozen students from harassment, intimidation, and threats based solely on their status as Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and supporters of Palestinian rights," the fund group continued.
"This investigation signifies an important step toward accountability and justice for these students, who all deserve the right to learn in a safe environment and the freedom to express their views," it concluded.
Harvard President Claudine Gay stated before "We do not punish or sanction people for expressing such views, but that is a far cry from endorsing them" after she condemned what she called the "barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas."
Political institutions have been receiving threats as well. Palestinian staff member Kerwin Hall's office found a piece of paper with an anti-Palestinian message, according to an email from American University President Sylvia Burwell.
Posted on AU Students for Justice in Palestine’s Instagram story, the note read "GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM" and "DEATH TO ALL PALESTINIANS!"
