Ivy League schools face backlash for response to Hamas' attack on Israel

Members of Congress, alumni and the public are criticizing Ivy League universities for their response – or lack thereof – to the brutal murder of more than 900 Israelis, including at least 11 U.S. Citizens, after Hamas launched the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

Student groups have blamed Israel for the attack that Hamas launched Saturday, as reports emerge that the terrorists beheaded babies, raped women, kidnapped at least 100 people and paraded the bodies of murdered Jews throughout the streets of Gaza.

Harvard, in particular, has sparked outcry after more than 30 student groups signed a letter stating: "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. ... The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years."

Allegations that Israel runs an apartheid state have been repeatedly discredited as false by both black and white South Africans, as well as commentators.

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who graduated from Harvard in 2006, called on the administration to respond, stating on X, formerly Twitter: "It is abhorrent and heinous that Harvard student groups are blaming Israel for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks that have killed over 700 Israelis. Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism."

Ted Cruz, who got his J.D. at Harvard, wrote on X: "What the hell is wrong with Harvard? Given the choice between standing with Israel or supporting terrorists who are raping, kidnapping & killing thousands of women & children…31 student groups choose the terrorists."

Harvard commented on the massacre Monday after the letter was widely circulated.

"We write to you today heartbroken by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted citizens in Israel this weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza now under way," the university said, without addressing the terrorism afflicted on Israelis.

Columbia University's "Palestine Solidarity Groups" sent a similar email to students, stating: "The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist  government and other Western governments, including the U.S. government, which fund and staunchly support Israeli aggression, apartheid and settler-colonization."

Columbia's statement was signed by 10 student groups.

Yale University's Yalies4Palestine wrote Monday on Instagram: "We hold the Israeli Zionist regime responsible for the unfolding violence and denounce the Israeli occupation, apartheid system, and its military rule."

The support for Palestine isn't limited to the Ivy Leagues. 

New York University Student Bar Association President Ryna Workman sent an email to students stating: "This week, I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination. Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life."

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