A Jewish editor at Harvard University’s student-led newspaper The Harvard Crimson criticized a recent column in which the editorial board declared its support for the BDS movement against Israel and a free Palestine, and rejected the views of previous editors who voiced their opposition to BDS.
In their editorial last week, Crimson editors said that while they “unambiguously” condemn anti-Semitism, they are “proud to finally lend our support to both Palestinian liberation and BDS—and we call on everyone to do the same.”
“Israel is not perfect, nor is any other country. But this editorial is part of a larger trend of singling out Jews, conveniently neglecting our half of the story—and by extension our right to self-determination—while claiming to ‘oppose anti-Semitism,’ ” she wrote.
“Does the editorial board believe Israel even has a right to exist? Because, if so, that line is coincidentally missing,” wrote Kahn, who made it clear she has no intention of quitting the newspaper. “The editorial board believes it is advocating for the underdog in the name of social justice, but the ‘overwhelming power imbalance’ has always been against the Jewish homeland, surrounded on all sides by those who wish to destroy it—the same wish that has led Israel’s neighbors to declare war on it again and again.”
“And so when my people and our homeland come under attack, I will not stay silent,” she wrote. “I am still a Crimson editor, but this editorial does not represent me; I do and always will stand with Israel.”