Yale, Harvard Remove Employees as Trump Adds Pressure to Schools

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Yale and Harvard removed employees from their posts as the Trump administration pressures universities to combat antisemitism on campus or lose federal funding.

Yale’s Law School said on Friday it terminated Helyeh Doutaghi, a research scholar, who was placed on leave this month after being accused of having alleged ties to a group subject to US sanctions.

“As a result of her refusal to cooperate with this investigation, Ms. Doutaghi’s employment with Yale — which was already set to expire this April — has been terminated effective immediately,” according to a statement from Yale Law spokesman Alden Ferro.

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Yale said it reviewed materials that included text on the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s website identifying Doutaghi as a member of its organization. The Biden administration in October labeled the group a “sham charity” serving as a fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US considers a terrorist organization.

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At Harvard, the student newspaper reported that the faculty leaders of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies — professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar and History professor Rosie Bsheer — are being forced to leave their posts. The center has been criticized for programing that has been called antisemitic.

The Harvard Crimson said Kafadar would step down from his position at the end of the year, citing a memo. The announcement came days after the Harvard School of Public Health suspended a partnership it has with Birzeit University in the West Bank.

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The federal government has threatened to withhold funding for universities after Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump accused universities of fostering antisemitism and harboring foreign students who have shown support for Hamas, designated a terrorist organization. That’s caused anxiety among some universities that the government is suppressing free speech and conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

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