CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Diya TV) — Harvard University on Tuesday released two major reports detailing widespread concerns of antisemitism and anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian bias on campus, amid a high-stakes legal battle over a federal funding freeze tied to its handling of antisemitism complaints.
The dual reports, totaling over 500 pages, come from task forces formed in early 2024 following intense campus protests and public backlash after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Both documents include personal testimonies from Jewish and Muslim students and faculty who describe experiencing threats, hostility, and exclusion based on their identities or political beliefs.
“This past academic year has been disappointing and painful,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a campus-wide letter accompanying the reports. “Some students were pushed to the periphery of campus life because of who they are or what they believe.”
The task forces—one focused on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, the other on anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian discrimination—conducted more than 50 listening sessions and fielded a university-wide survey with nearly 2,300 responses. Both reports paint a portrait of a deeply fractured campus climate where students on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict say they felt unsafe and silenced.
According to the findings, 92% of Muslim respondents and 61% of Jewish respondents reported fearing academic or professional consequences for expressing their views. Nearly half of Muslim students and 15% of Jewish students said they did not feel physically safe on campus. Muslim and Arab students described being called slurs like “terrorist” or “baby-killer” for wearing keffiyehs, while some Jewish students said they were ostracized or labeled “genocidal” for supporting Israel.
The reports also document cases of doxxing. Some pro-Palestinian students were targeted by mobile billboards displaying their names and faces alongside accusations of terrorism or antisemitism. Meanwhile, Jewish students involved in anti-Zionist activism said they too faced harassment and threats.
Among the recommended reforms are clearer protest policies, stronger disciplinary measures for harassment, a ban on face coverings during demonstrations, and greater oversight of unsanctioned student groups. Both reports also call for expanded curriculum offerings, especially regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and increased support for students navigating identity-based bias.
The report on antisemitism notably avoids endorsing a singular definition of the term, instead emphasizing “actual experiences” over external frameworks. It found that some Jewish and Israeli students felt targeted simply for being visibly Jewish or assumed to be Zionist. Others reported turning down Harvard admission offers or leaving academia altogether due to the climate.
Conversely, the anti-Muslim bias task force said Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students felt “abandoned and actively silenced,” particularly in the days following the October 7 attacks. The group criticized Harvard’s early public statements for focusing solely on Israel, which many felt erased Palestinian suffering and fueled faculty self-censorship.
Garber said while some conditions have improved, the university has much work ahead. He pledged new investments in student safety, academic freedom, and historical research into the experiences of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities at Harvard.
The timing of the reports is especially significant. Earlier this month, the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism froze over $2 billion in federal research grants, citing Harvard’s alleged failure to address antisemitism. Harvard has since filed a lawsuit calling the funding freeze unconstitutional, arguing the cuts threaten vital research while doing little to fight hate.
Jewish and Muslim advocacy organizations offered mixed reactions. The Anti-Defamation League praised Harvard’s “brutally honest assessment” but opposed the funding freeze.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations reiterated its stance that Harvard has long been hostile to Muslims, though it acknowledged the reports could mark a “turning point” if reforms are enacted.
“These reports are not just about Harvard,” Garber wrote. “What is at stake here goes far beyond one university. It is an assault on higher education.”
