A Jewish graduate of Harvard who made headlines after delivering a “fiery” speech at the Republican National Convention has settled his antisemitism lawsuit with the university.
According to The New York Times, plaintiff Shabbos Kestenbaum announced the settlement on Thursday. The terms of the settlement are and will remain confidential, but Kestenbaum said that he is “proud to help lead the student efforts combating antisemitism within institutions of higher learning across the country, including by suing my alma mater.”
Kestenbaum claimed that his lawsuit “drew the nation’s attention to the scourge of antisemitism at Harvard and other campuses, and it also caught the attention of President Trump and his Department of Education.”
In a separate statement, Harvard said that the university “and Mr. Kestenbaum acknowledge each other’s steadfast and important efforts to combat antisemitism at Harvard and elsewhere.”
Both sides indicated that they are “pleased to have resolved the litigation.”
Kestenbaum graduated from Harvard Divinity School in May 2024; several months later, in July, he delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention in which he condemned alleged antisemitism at the university.
Kestenbaum’s claims largely relate to last year’s spate of pro-Palestine protests at universities across the country. At Harvard and elsewhere, some Jewish students said they had been subjected to hostility, intimidation, and violence from persons involved in pro-Palestine protests and encampments.
“My problem with Harvard is not its liberalism but its illiberalism,” Kestenbaum said in his July convention speech. “Too often students at Harvard are taught not how to think but what to think. I found myself immersed in a culture that is anti-Western, that is anti-American and that is antisemitic.”
Harvard’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, notes that pressure on the university’s administration began to mount after two independent task force identified multiple instances of on-campus antisemitism and Islamophobia.
However, the task forces clarified that they did not attempt to investigate or verify any of the claims they received.
“We have listened and we are reporting on what we were told,” the antisemitism task force wrote in a report. “We did not seek counterarguments or counterevidence.”
Earlier this year, Harvard also announced that it would make policy changes in response to the task force findings and two antisemitism-related federal lawsuits. Among these changes was the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which considers certain forms of anti-Zionist and anti-Israel sentiment as inherently antisemitic.
Sources
8 Takeaways From Harvard’s Task Force Reports
Harvard agrees to adopt a broad definition of antisemitism to settle two lawsuits
Harvard, Kestenbaum Agree to Confidential Settlement in Antisemitism Lawsuit
Harvard settles anti-Semitism lawsuit
Jewish activist Shabbos Kestenbaum settles antisemitism lawsuit with Harvard
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