Harvard training warns against ‘terrorist sympathizer’ claims amid rise in student backing of Hamas

Harvard University has expanded its anti-discrimination policies to include accusations of being a “terrorist sympathizer,” a move that comes as new polling shows most young Americans support Hamas over Israel.

Mandatory student training obtained by the Washington Free Beacon warns that “accusing an individual of being a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer, supporting genocide, or urging them to self-harm based solely on their race, ethnicity, religion, or other protected characteristic” may constitute harassment. 

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The policy also prohibits “verbal abuse or use of antisemitic, racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Zionist, anti-Arab, Islamophobic, anti-LDS, or anti-Catholic slurs or hostile behavior.”

The training lists “insulting, teasing, mocking, degrading, or ridiculing or denying the ancestral history of another person or group (e.g., Jewish, Israel, Arab, or Muslim)” as examples of harassment.

The U.S. Department of State classifies Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as foreign terrorist organizations.

A recent Harvard-Harris poll found that 60 percent of Americans ages 18–24 supported Hamas over Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks—the only age cohort to do so. By contrast, 89 percent of Americans 65 and older supported Israel, as did 70 percent of those aged 35–44.

Polling from the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) reported that 66 percent of adults and 56 percent of college students supported cutting federal funding to universities that failed to protect Jewish students. Additionally, 54 percent of adults said they supported deporting pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil for anti-Israel demonstrations. 

The ICC survey also found that 83 percent of adults viewed Israel’s military actions in Gaza as justified.

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At Harvard, the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) filed an amicus brief backing the university’s lawsuit against the Trump administration after $2.2 billion in federal funds were frozen over alleged anti-Semitism. Following the Oct. 7 attacks, PSC issued a statement praising Palestinian “resistance” and blaming Israel for the violence, calling it an “apartheid regime.”

“Today, the Palestinian ordeal enters into uncharted territory. The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation,” the PSC statement read. “We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.”

Campus Reform has contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.