In early January, news broke that Kenneth Roth, the former boss of Human Rights Watch, had been denied a fellowship by Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government due to the organisation’s criticism of Israel under his leadership. Douglas Elmendorf, dean of the Kennedy school, had vetoed his fellowship, expressing concern over Roth’s “anti-Israel bias” as well as his tweets criticising Israel.While Roth’s case made headlines around the world, it is just one example of how the weaponisation of the charge of anti-Semitism has been used to censure Israel’s critics at universities across the West.But the treatment of Roth illustrates an even deeper malaise in the way higher education institutions are increasingly defining their mandate. It is part of a wider attack on progressive thought and scholarship on campuses across the world.
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