Harvard Blocks Role of Former Human Rights Watch Director Amid Criticism of Israel | Harvard University

The dean of one of the main government schools in the United States has blocked the position of the former director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) because of his organizations’ criticism of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy Schools offered Kenneth Roth a senior fellow position shortly after he retired as director of HRW in April after 29 years. Roth is highly regarded within the human rights community for the role his organization has played in such advances as the establishment of the International Criminal Court and the prosecution of key perpetrators of human rights abuses.

Harvard Kennedy School dean Douglas Elmendorf bowed to pressure, says the nationwho revealed the decision, at a time when major donors and prominent Jewish organizations were particularly unhappy that HRW had accused Israel to practice a form of apartheid in the occupied territories.

Roth told the Guardian his first inkling that something was wrong came during a videoconference to introduce himself to Elmendorf.

We had a perfectly pleasant conversation for about half an hour, but towards the end he asked the question: Do you have any enemies? And I said, I have a lot. It is a hazard of the trade. But what he was clearly targeting was Israel. He didn’t want to hear how I had been sanctioned by China, sanctioned by Russia or attacked by Rwanda or Saudi Arabia. He wanted to know: what was my position on Israel? Roth said.

The former HRW director said Elmendorf nevertheless gave no indication that the stock market was in jeopardy. However, The Nation reported that two weeks later, the dean told Kathryn Sikkink, professor of human rights politics at the Kennedy School, that Roth would not be allowed to hold the position because HRW had a party. taken as anti-Israeli and that its former manager had written tweets criticizing Israel.

Roth told the Guardian he now believes Elmendorf bowed to pressure from donors who are strong supporters of Israel.

I mistakenly assumed that the dean of the Kennedy School valued academic freedom. Maybe I’m naive in retrospect, but I guess criticism of Israel, like criticism of any other government, is completely normal. That’s what a top foreign policy center does, he said.

Kennedy School alumni include more former heads of state or government than any other similar institution, as well as cabinet ministers, senior military officials, and parliamentarians.

The Nation noted the dominant presence of the US national security community and its close ally Israel at the Kennedy School. These include people in leadership positions from weapons manufacturers, the Pentagon and big business.

In 2017, Elmendorf gave in to objections from old and former senior CIA officials and withdrew a visiting fellowship offered to Chelsea Manning after she was released from prison for breaking the Espionage Act by giving WikiLeaks a stash of documents. military and diplomatic secrets.

The school has received tens of millions of dollars from Israel supporters such as billionaire Les Wexner, who the Nation says helped bring members of Israel’s military and intelligence services to study there.

Another major donor, Robert Belfer, is also closely involved with the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, which have sought to discredit human rights groups for their criticism of Israel. Belfer is a member of the executive council of deans of major donors who advise Elmendorf.

Roth’s rejection is part of a broader attack on human rights groups over their criticism of Israeli policy, which has intensified in recent years as increasingly right-wing governments tighten their grip on the occupied territories and that the prospect of an independent Palestinian State recedes.

When Amnesty International published a report last year, arguing that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians amounted to apartheid under international law, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a statement accusing Amnesty of seeking to demonize and delegitimize the state Jewish and Democratic Israel, a phrase frequently used to imply anti-Semitism.

Roth said HRW faced similar attacks on his motives upon his release his reportA Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, although prominent Israeli politicians, including two former prime ministers, have also declared it to be apartheid.

Roth said critics accuse HRW of targeting Israel, an accusation also frequently leveled against the United Nations, news organizations and other human rights groups.

Israel is one of the 100 countries we cover. And even in the Israeli-Palestinian context, we deal with Hamas, we deal with the Palestinian Authority, we deal with Hezbollah. We are fair and objective, but we are critical, because the Israeli government deserves criticism. It is becoming more and more repressive, and as we have seen in the occupied territories, it is committing the crime against humanity of apartheid, he said.

Other top universities have also snubbed criticism of Israel, including the board of trustees of the City University of New York, which blocked a prize for award-winning Jewish playwright Tony Kushner after he was accused of being anti-Israel.

Harvard Kennedy School has been approached for comment.