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Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi demanded that journalist Maria Ressa explain comments that he believed were antisemitic during Harvard’s commencement, Thursday.
“I was attacked online and called antisemitic by power and money because they want power and money,” Ressa told students in comments that Zarchi would later ask her to explain.
“But I’d already survived information operations from my own government: free speech used to pound you to silence,” she added.
Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi demanded that journalist Maria Ressa explain comments she made that he believed were antisemitic in a Harvard Commencement speech. (Getty Images)
Ressa, who was granted a Nobel Peace Prize for her work reporting on Rodrigo Duterte’s administration in the Philippines, left the stage to applause from students and faculty at Harvard.
Following her speech, Rabbi Zarchi approached Ressa to ask her to explain her reference to “power and money” as the origin behind accusations against her of antisemitism, according to the Harvard Crimson. The rabbi could not hear Ressa’s response, but later said that he wished the lineup of speakers at the commencement ceremony also could have represented the pro-Israel position.
“It would have been nice to have had at least one speaker representing the overwhelming majority of students and guests disgusted by the disruptors and hateful violators,” he wrote.
In naming “disruptors” at the ceremony, Zarchi was referring to Harvard students who had spoken out earlier in support of anti-Israel protesters in Harvard Yard who had been prevented from graduating.
Zarchi also called out Ressa for saying that she “loved” the speech from those students, telling the Harvard Crimson that they had “hijacked” the ceremony to raise political awareness for the anti-Israel movement.
In naming “disruptors” at the ceremony, Zarchi was referring to Harvard students who had earlier spoken out in support of anti-Israel protesters in Harvard Yard who had been prevented from graduating. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Harvard is one of many elite universities around the country that has become divided by pro and anti-Israel protesters on campus.
The governing board of Harvard University on Wednesday rejected an effort by faculty to confer degrees on protesters because they participated in an anti-Israel encampment on campus.
“I would expect a faculty rebellion, possibly a faculty rebellion against the entire governance structure, because there’s already a fair amount of mistrust toward the Corporation to begin with,” government professor Steven Levitsky told the student paper in an interview on Tuesday.
The university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted on Monday to amend the list of degrees for conferral at commencement to include the 13 students who had been notified of disciplinary charges by the Harvard College Administrative Board three days earlier, the Crimson reported.
Harvard University and Ressa did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
Story tips can be sent to jeffrey.clark@fox.com.
