Larry Summers slammed Harvard for inviting a controversial Palestinian American scholar to the Ivy League campus twice for the reason that Oct. 7 terror attacks despite his alleged “antisemitic” views — but hasn’t reached out to any pro-Israel speakers.
The previous Treasury Secretary and Harvard president decried the invitations prolonged to Rashid Khalidi, a professor of recent Arab studies at Columbia University and former de facto spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Summers — one among the primary people to call out his alma mater for not condemning the massacre — likened Khalidi to Edward Said, one other Palestinian American scholar who taught literature at Columbia University and was critical of Israel.
“I note Edward Said’s mental heir, Rashid Khalidi, who many see as anti-semitic has been invited twice since October 7 to talk on the University,” Summers wrote in a lengthy X post on Tuesday.
“Everyone must be free to talk or invite speakers. I also note with disappointment, but not actually surprise, that to my knowledge Harvard has not had speakers like Dennis Ross or Bret Stephens who take pro-Israel positions.”
Summers went on to say that “with all of the rhetoric about open dialogue and debate, it’s remarkable that in Harvard College there isn’t any yet announced dialogue or debate on any Middle East or diversity related issue.”
The Post has sought comment from Summers, Harvard and Khalidi.
Within the Nineteen Seventies, Khalidi acted as a spokesperson for Yasser Arafat’s PLO while teaching in Beirut. The PLO relocated its forces to Lebanon after its expulsion from Jordan in 1970.
Within the early Nineties, he was an adviser to the Palestinians during peace negotiations with Israel.
Weeks after Hamas killed 1,200 people in its stunning attack in Israel, Khalidi told journalist Glenn Greenwald that “I believe it’s very clear that when you occupy and when you imprison and blockade and besiege a population, ultimately that population goes to react, violently and negatively.”
Khalidi declined to say whether Israel had a “legal and moral right” to reply with force to the Hamas attacks.
“Israel had assumed that it could live a peaceful, quiet life whilst putting its boot heel on the Palestinians within the West Bank and within the Gaza Strip. And ultimately, that had to blow up,” Khalidi said.
In 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that it obtained a video showing then-state Sen. Barack Obama giving a toast to Khalidi at a 2003 farewell dinner in Chicago.
When Obama ran for president, Khalidi told the LA Times that Obama was now not in contact with him despite having had dinner with him on several occasions after they each lived in Chicago.
In Summers’ lengthy post, he added: “My confidence in Harvard leadership’s ability and can to confront anti-semitism and the demonization of Israel continues to say no.”
“Unfortunately, it’s becoming ever clearer why Harvard ranks first on anti-semitism, whilst it ranks last on upholding free speech.”
He cited Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, whose executive committee recently endorsed an announcement by the board of the Middle East Studies Association of North America that accused Israel of “besieging the Gaza Strip and indiscriminately bombarding its population and infrastructure.”
Israel “kills, maims, and displaces Palestinians” while “exacerbating the structural violence of Israeli rule…[which] does little to extend the protection of Israelis,” in keeping with the statement.
Summers accused Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies of endorsing an announcement that “demonizes” Israel.
The Post has sought comment from the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Famous Harvard alumni like Summers and hedge fund billionaires Ken Griffin and Bill Ackman have blasted the college for its response to antisemitic incidents on campus within the wake of Oct. 7.
Griffin told a conference in Miami on Tuesday that he would halt financial support for Harvard unless it undertakes significant changes to its policy regarding antisemitism because the hedge fund billionaire lamented the “whiny snowflakes” that were being produced by Ivy League schools.
Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, was one among the leading voices calling for the ouster of Claudine Gay, the Harvard president who resigned earlier this month after it was learned she had plagiarized several academic papers.
Gay’s alternative, interim president Alan Garber, sparked outrage after he named a fierce critic of Israel, Prof. Derek Penslar, as co-chair of a presidential task force dedicated to combating campus antisemitism.
Summers panned the move last week, saying: “I actually have lost confidence within the determination and skill of the Harvard Corporation and Harvard leadership to keep up Harvard as a spot where Jews and Israelis can flourish.”