Harvard University dismissed on Friday the leaders of the Faculty of the Center for Studies of the Middle East after the Trump administration pressure for alleged anti-Israel bias, the student publication of the university team. The Harvard Crimson and New York Times reported.
The director of the CMEs, professor of Turkish Studies, Cemal Kafadar, and its associate director, the history teacher Rosie Bsheer, were forced to leave their positions on Wednesday, according to a member of the faculty familiar with the situation, The Harvard Crimson fixed.
Global Health Professor Salmaan to Keshavjee, the interim director of the center, while Kafadar was licensed, will continue to hold his position.
David Cutler, the interim dean of social sciences, announced in an email on Wednesday obtained by The New York Times that Dr. Kafadar would renounce his position at the end of the academic year.
According The Harvard CrimsonCutler thanked Kafadar for his work at CMS before asking his colleagues to suggest possible candidates for future leadership before April 16.
“It would value your thoughts about who, in addition to intellectual leadership and a convincing vision for the center, would also contribute the administrative skills necessary to succeed in this crucial role,” Cutler wrote.
The members of the Faculty who have spoken with both professors say that each one believes that they were forced to leave their positions, the report added.
In recent days, Harvard has moved to publicly distance himself from the programs that have been criticized by alleged anti -Semitism or the criticisms of the affiliates to the Israel War against Gaza.
The Harvard School of Public Health recently suspended its research association with the University of Birzeit in the West Bank, yielding to repeated demands to break the ties with the institution, The Harvard Crimson aggregate.
Harvard had no immediate comments, Reuters saying.
The head of Columbia low down
In a separate development, the interim president of the University of Columbia, Katrina Armstrong, resigned, a game that occurs a week after he agreed significant changes in the middle of a heated battle with the Trump administration on his federal funds.
The United States government canceled this month of $ 400 million in funds for Columbia and threatened to retain billions more, accusing the University of not doing enough to combat anti -Semitism and guarantee the safety of students in the midst of the protests of the Gaza Campus last year.
Columbia made dramatic concessions last week so that he can negotiate to recover financing, which caused hard criticism that he had quickly yielded to government pressure and did not remain firm in academic freedom and freedom of expression.
The co -president of the Board of Trustees, Claire Shipman, was appointed interim president with immediate effect while the Board looks for a new president. The university did not give a reason for change.
“I suppose this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges that we have before us and a firm commitment to act urgently, integrity and work with our power to advance our mission, implement the necessary reforms, protect our students and maintain academic freedom and open research,” Shipman said in a statement.
The groups that represent the professors of the University of Columbia sued Tuesday to the Trump administration for their effort to force the university to harden the rules on the protests of the campus and place a Department of Studies of the Middle East under external supervision, among other measures.
Columbia was at the Center for Manifestations in the summer of 2024 that extended in the United States. The protesters demanded the end of the invasion of Israel de Gaza that has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians to date, while Israel faces accusations of genocide. They also urged their universities to uninform from companies with ties with Israel.
The defenders of rights raised concerns about Islamophobia and anti -Semitism during protests and counterprotetes.
The Government has taken energetic measures against pro-Palestinian protesters, and the Palestinian graduate of Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil, was the first to be arrested earlier this month by federal immigration officials, and have followed several other arrests.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has also threatened to retain federal funds from other institutions on the protests of the Pro-Palestine Campus.
Armstrong returns to lead the Irving Medical Center of the University, said Columbia University.
