Harvard Reverses Fellowship Decision Regarding Israeli Critic

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, Thursday welcomed the reversal of a decision to deny a fellowship at Harvard University’s Kennedy School to former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth over his documentation of Israeli human rights abuses.  

Roth, who headed Human Rights Watch for three decades, was reportedly denied a fellowship at the Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy due to his past work of exposing Israeli human rights abuses. Today, Harvard’s Kennedy School reversed course and said it would offer Roth the fellowship.  

In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:  

“Harvard's decision to deny Mr. Roth a fellowship simply because he applied the same human rights standards to all nations, including Israel, represented the latest example of institutions sidelining and silencing human rights activists who dare to acknowledge the suffering of the Palestinian people. We are pleased to see that the officials responsible for this gross mistake have come to their senses and changed course. This is a victory for both free speech and the human rights of all people, including Palestinians.”