Dershowitz: 'Harvard Cannot Use Academic Freedom as an Excuse and a Justification for Teaching Anti-Americanism, Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism'

During Sunday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Life, Liberty & Levin,” Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz disputed the claim that academic freedom gave Harvard University license to teach antisemitism.

“Now, Alan Dershowitz, I listened very carefully to the president of Harvard, and he says, we’re victims here,” host Mark Levin said. “All we’re trying to do is have academic freedom. All we’re trying to do is hire the right people. Yet, we have a horrific problem with antisemitism. We’re trying our very best to get on top of this. Alan Dershowitz, you’re a Harvard man. What would you like to say to the president of Harvard and all of those who are making excuses for Harvard?”

Dershowitz replied, “Just remember the 1950s and southern schools when presidents of universities were saying, all we want to do is teach white supremacy to our students. All we want to do is have Ku Klux Klan people coming in with masks and harassing black students. That’s part of our academic freedom. No, no, no. Harvard cannot use academic freedom as an excuse and a justification for teaching anti-Americanism, antisemitism, anti-Zionism. It is a structural problem. It goes deep. The DEI — the diversity, equity and inclusion is antisemitic to its core. Intersectionality, black theory, racial theory, queer theory — they’re all part of this attempt to try to promote a world view that is essentially anti-American and antisemitic. Universities are not doing enough about it, and so the federal government has to step in the way they did in the 1950s when they have to step in to prevent segregation and discrimination against Black people.”

“You cannot distinguish between discriminating against blacks on the one hand and discriminating against Jews on the other hand and Christians on the other hand,” he continued. “So, the federal government has a role to play here, and should play it constructively, and it shouldn’t be afraid of taking on these claims of academic freedom and freedom of speech because they’re applying a double standard.”

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