Muslims and Palestinian students in the US fear that the country is returning to Islamophobic levels of 9/11, as a fallout of the flag-burning and growing protests against Israel and the US on the highly charged streets in the Middle East following Tel Aviv's strong-arm response in Gaza.
The fears were brutally underscored when sixyear-old Palestinian, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed 26 times on Saturday by his family's 71-year-old landlord who shouted You Muslims must die at the childs mother (also injured in the attack).
Communal anger on rise in the West
US President Joe Biden said he was shocked and sickened by the assault and stressed his rejection of Islamophobia. However, the anger took a different twist on Wednesday in Harvard when a truck with a billboard displayed the names and photos of students who wrote a letter condemning Israel and asked companies to put these students on 'do-not-hire' lists.
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The digital billboard had a loud headline that read Harvards Leading Anti Semites. Some Wall Street executives have also started demanding a list of student names to clamp down on their hiring. Influential alumni and big-money donors are adding to the pressure by putting pressure on students and administrators.
Wexner Foundation withdraws financial support to Harvard after student body supports Palestine
On Wednesday, Wexner Foundation, a philanthropic organisation owned by Victoria's Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail, cut all ties with Harvard after a lukewarm response from the university head to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The Wexner Foundation has written to Harvard's board to formally (end) its financial support after the institution failed to condemn a student body's statement that held Israel entirely responsible for the violence.
The foundation said it would cut its financial and programmatic relationship with Harvard and the Harvard Kennedy School. 'We are stunned and sickened at the dismal failure of Harvard's leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stand against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians by terrorists last Saturday, Wexner Foundation letter said.
Last week, Idan Ofer, an Israeli shipping tycoon with a multi-billion-dollar fortune, and his wife Batia also stepped down from their roles as board members at Harvard's Kennedy School. At the University of Pennsylvania, donors are pushing for the resignation of the president and the board chairman, after a Palestinian writers conference on campus invited speakers accused of anti-semitism.
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