Bill Ackman demands Harvard name students who blame Israel

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Bill Ackman wants Harvard University to release a list of the members of the dozens of student groups who signed a letter blaming Israel for Hamas’ violent assault over the weekend so as to make sure they don’t work on Wall Street.

“I have been asked by a number of CEOs if Harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas’ heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members,” Ackman, the billionaire founder of hedge fund giant Pershing Square Capital Management, wrote on his X social media account on Tuesday.

“If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known.”

Ackman, a Harvard grad who has a net worth of $3.5 billion, added: “One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts.”

It is unclear which CEOs reached out to Ackman.

The Post has sought clarification.

The Post has also sought comment from Harvard.

Ackman is married to Neri Oxman, an Israeli-born professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ackman’s post came just hours after another Harvard alum, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, once again took school administrators to task for failing to explicitly condemn Hamas.

“The delayed @Harvard leadership statement fails to meet the needs of the moment,” Summers, the Harvard-trained economist, wrote on his X social media account on Tuesday.

“Why can’t we find anything approaching the moral clarity of Harvard statements after George Floyd’s death or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when terrorists kill, rape and take hostage hundreds of Israelis attending a music festival?” Summers asked.

Summers on Monday demanded that Harvard administrators condemn the statement put out by a group of 35 student organizations who blamed Israel for the Hamas assault that was staged on Saturday morning — resulting in the death of at least 1,000 Israelis.

“Why can’t we give reassurance that the University stands squarely against Hamas terror to frightened students when 35 groups of their fellow students appear to be blaming all the violence on Israel?” Summers wrote in his social media post late on Monday.

Summers reacted to a statement that was issued by Harvard administrators on Monday.

“We write to you today heartbroken by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted citizens in Israel this weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza now under way,” Harvard administrators wrote in the statement from Monday.

The statement did not explicitly condemn Hamas, prompting Summers to post his criticism.

Gay published a follow-up statement on Tuesday stating: “As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.”

Thirty-four student groups at Harvard signed the letter, though five of them have officially renounced their affiliation with the missive.

Amnesty International at Harvard, Harvard College Act on a Dream, the Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association, the Harvard Islamic Society, and Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo all withdrew their endorsements, according to the campus newspaper Harvard Crimson.

Danielle Mikaelian, a Harvard Law Student who sits on the board of a group that co-signed the letter, said she resigned due to the “egregious” nature of the statement.

“I am sorry for the pain this caused. My organization did not have a formal process and I didn’t even see the statement until we had signed on,” Mikaelian wrote on her X account.

The student groups that signed the letters are African American Resistance Organization; Bengali Association of Students at Harvard College; Harvard Act on a Dream; Harvard Arab Medical and Dental Student Association; Harvard Chan Muslim Student Association; Harvard Chan Students for Health Equity and Justice in Palestine; Harvard College Pakistan Student Association; Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association; Harvard Middle Eastern and North African Law Student Association; Harvard Graduate School of Education Islamic Society; Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine; Harvard Islamic Society; Harvard Law School Justice for Palestine; Harvard Divinity School Students for Justice in Palestine; Harvard Jews for Liberation; Harvard Kennedy School Bangladesh Caucus; Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Caucus; Harvard Kennedy School Muslim Women’s Caucus; Harvard Kennedy School Palestine Caucus; Harvard Muslim Law School Association; Harvard Pakistan Forum; Harvard Prison Divest Coalition; Harvard South Asian Law Students Association; Harvard South Asians for Forward-Thinking Advocacy and Research; Harvard TPS Coalition; Harvard Undergraduate Arab Women’s Collective; Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo; Harvard Undergraduate Muslim Women’s Medical Alliance; Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Students Association; Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee; Middle East and North African Graduate School of Design Student Society; Neighbor Program Cambridge; Sikhs and Companions of Harvard Undergraduates; and Society of Arab Students.

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