Harvard reverses course on human rights defender who criticized Israel

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The Kennedy School, a confederation of 12 centers and dozens of other initiatives, is one of the nation’s leading schools of public policy. He is also no stranger to controversy, often stemming not from his regular faculty but from his more than 750 visiting fellows, which include prominent figures in politics, government and the media.

In 2017, Elmendorf canceled a scholarship offered to Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who in 2010 leaked archives of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks, following criticism from Mike Pompeo, then director of the CIA, and other members of the intelligence community. In 2019, Rick Snyder, a former governor of Michigan, withdrew from a scholarship after his nomination sparked a backlash on social media and from students who cited his role in the crisis. water in Flint.

As for partisan voices on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the school has hosted a variety of fellows in recent years, including Amos Yadlin, a retired senior Israeli general, and Saeb Erekat, then chief Palestinian negotiator and Secretary General of the ‘Palestine Liberation Organization. .

Roth had been recruited for the fellowship, which does not include any teaching duties, by Mathias Risse, the director of the Carr Center. In an email to Carr Center students, faculty, fellows, alumni and others following the Nation article, Risse called him one of the most distinguished human rights leaders. the man of our time and said that the scholarship rejection was one of the lowest moments of my professional life. .

In interviews and emails with The Times, Risse and fellow faculty member Kathryn Sikkink said that Elmendorf, in explaining his rejection of Roth, cited the perception that Human Rights Watch was biased against Israel. He told them he became aware of the problem following discussions with anonymous people within the university, they said.

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