Top Republican slams alma mater Harvard after student groups blame Israel for Hamas attack
More than two dozen Harvard student groups say Israel 'entirely responsible' for unfolding violence
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik slammed her alma mater, Harvard, after student organizations at the Ivy League university said Israel was "entirely responsible" for "unfolding violence" against the country by Iranian-backed Hamas soldiers.
More than two dozen Harvard student groups blasted Israel and supported Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas launched deadly attacks across southern Israel.
Stefanik called on Harvard leadership to condemn the "anti-Semitic" statements.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It is abhorrent and heinous that Harvard student groups are blaming Israel for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks that have killed over 700 Israelis," Stefanik wrote Sunday night on X, formerly Twitter. "Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism."
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The Harvard student organizations' statement, released on the day of the Hamas attacks, said the events did not occur "in a vacuum." The groups who signed the letter included the Harvard Islamic Society, the Harvard Jews for Liberation, the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the message says.
Cars are seen on fire after they were hit by rockets from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday. Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip infiltrated into southern Israel and fired thousands of rockets into the country, while Israel began striking targets in Gaza in response. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
"For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison," the statement said. "Israeli officials promise to 'open the gates of hell,' and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel's violence."
The statement also attacked Israel's "apartheid regime" that they say forced Palestinians into "colonial retaliation."
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House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"The apartheid regime is the only one to blame," the statement says. "Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years. From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden."
Hamas soldiers launched the attacks across southern Israel, which has since ignited a war, leaving 1,100 people dead, including nine Americans, and thousands more injured. The number of Israeli civilians and soldiers Hamas took hostage is still unknown.
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Harvard did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.