Harvard stokes fresh outcry over choice to head antisemitism task force

Another antisemitism uproar has erupted at Harvard University, this time over the school’s pick to lead a task force on antisemitism.

Harvard came to the defense Monday of history professor Derek Penslar, who recently downplayed campus antisemitism and signed a petition that referred to Israel as a “regime of apartheid.”

In a statement, a Harvard spokesperson praised Mr. Penslar as a “renowned scholar of modern Jewish and Israeli history” after several prominent figures raised objections to the pick.

Mr. Penslar “is widely respected across the Harvard community as someone who approaches his research and teaching with open-mindedness and respect for conflicting points of view,” said the Harvard statement to media outlets. “He is deeply committed to tackling antisemitism and improving the experience of Jewish students on campus.”

Concerns about Mr. Penslar surfaced shortly after Interim President Alan Garber named him Friday to co-lead the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism, which appears to replace former President Claudine Gay’s embattled Antisemitism Advisory Group formed in November.

Mr. Garber also announced a Presidential Task Force on Combating Islamophobia, which will be headed by Wafaie Fawzi, professor of global health, and Asim Ijaz Khwaja, professor of international finance and development.

Former Harvard President Larry Summers, activist alumnus Bill Ackman, and Anti-Defamation League President Jonathan Greenblatt were among those who had publicly criticized the Penslar nod.

Mr. Summers declared on X that that “I have lost confidence in the determination and ability of the Harvard Corporation and Harvard leadership to maintain Harvard as a place where Jews and Israelis can flourish.”

He said he had no doubt Mr. Penslar is a “profound scholar of Zionism and a person of good will,” but also called him the wrong person to lead the task force.

Harvard Business School professor Raffaella Sadun is the other chair.

“Prof Penslar has publicly minimized Harvard’s anti-Semitism problem, rejected the definition used by the US government in recent years of anti-Semitism as too broad, invoked the need for the concept of settler colonialism in analyzing Israel, referred to Israel as an apartheid state and more,” Mr. Summers said.

Derek Penslar will remain as co-chair of the antisemitism task force, per Harvard.

Also: Penslar’s defenders criticize influence of outside groups. But a Harvard spox sent me a list of 7 professors to weigh in on Penslar’s behalf…all from outside universities/not at Harvard pic.twitter.com/XgS2Ouu1MU

— Gabby Deutch (@GSDeutch) January 22, 2024

Mr. Penslar signed an Aug. 4 petition along with nearly 3,000 academics called “The Elephant in the Room” criticizing Israel’s “illegal occupation of millions of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” saying it has “yielded a regime of apartheid.”

That was before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians. Earlier this month, however, Mr. Penslar appeared to minimize fears about rising antisemitism on campus.

“Yes, we have a problem with antisemitism at Harvard, just like we have a problem with Islamophobia and how students converse with each other,” Mr. Penslar told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a Jan. 5 article.

“The problems are real. But outsiders took a very real problem and proceeded to exaggerate its scope,” he said.

Last month, he criticized the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s working definition of antisemitism, the widely adopted version opposed by pro-Palestinian groups, and said he supports the 2021 Nexus Document, the version favored by many on the left.

“It is understandable that many Jewish students at Harvard are on edge,” Mr. Penslar said in a Dec. 29 op-ed in the Harvard Crimson.

“But the enormous media attention paid to antisemitism at Harvard has obscured the vulnerability of pro-Palestinian students, who have faced harassment by actors outside of the University and verbal abuse on and near campus.”

Mr. Ackman, the billionaire hedge-fund manager who helped lead the charge against Ms. Gay, reacted to Mr. Penslar’s appointment by saying Friday on X that “@Harvard continues on the path of darkness.”

Mr. Greenblatt blasted the pick as the last in “lessons in how NOT to combat antisemitism, Harvard edition.”

He elaborated on that lesson: “Start by naming a professor who libels the Jewish state and claims that ‘veins of hatred run through Jewish civilization’ to your antisemitism task force,” referring to a line from Mr. Penslar’s 2023 book “Zionism: An Emotional State.”

“Absolutely inexcusable. This is why Harvard is failing, full stop,” Mr. Greenblatt said.

Those defending Mr. Penslar included Harvard government professor Steven Levitsky, who said Harvard needs to “maintain independence from outside political forces seeking to shape its agenda” and blasted Mr. Summers.

“Larry Summers says some very bold things about antisemitism at Harvard. He is not representative of a majority of Jews at Harvard,” Mr. Levitsky, who is Jewish, told the Harvard Crimson.

He added: “That guy is bats—t crazy — and you can quote me on that.”

Mr. Penslar said in the Monday statement that “I see the Task Force on antisemitism as an important opportunity to determine the nature and extent of antisemitism and more subtle forms of social exclusion that affect Jewish students at Harvard.”

“Only with this information in hand can Harvard implement effective policies that will improve Jewish student life on campus,” he said.