MIT President Also Had an Antisemitism Problem at Duke

MIT President Sally Kornbluth is no stranger to making light of antisemitism. Kornbluth is now notorious for her evasive response to questions at the December 5 Congressional hearing about Jew hatred at MIT, Harvard, and UPenn. What many people don’t realize, however, is that Kornbluth had a legacy of indifference towards antisemitism during her time at Duke University, where she was Provost before her move to MIT in January of this year.

One of the most egregious examples of her behavior involves Kornbluth’s handling of the Duke University Press (DUP). In late 2017, DUP published Jasbir Puar’s infamous and poorly written Right to Maim, in which Puar uses inscrutable and bizarre language to claim that Israelis — i.e. Jews — intentionally maim “Palestinians” in order to control them and use them for economic gain.

When Jewish faculty at Duke wrote a letter of concern to Duke’s President Vincent Prince, he brushed them off, saying the book would be judged “in the court of public opinion.” He passed the buck to Sally Kornbluth, since the DUP reported to her as Provost. He promised that she would evaluate “the issues” and “how the editorial board is selected and how diversity of thought and expertise is ensured going forward.” Kornbluth did nothing of the kind.

Kornbluth took no action on Puar’s book, and DUP continued to publish material dehumanizing Jews and erasing Jewish historic ties to the land of Israel. Examples include The Colonizing Self Or, Home and Homelessness in Israel/Palestine, which accuses Israelis of living in “Palestinian” homes, and Palestine Is Throwing a Party and the Whole World Is Invited, which claims that investment policies maintain the “occupation” and subordination of “Palestine” in relation to Israel.

Jewish faculty learned in early 2022 that additional problematic publications were planned, such as Invited to Witness Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine and a Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Palestine, both of which ignore Jewish presence and relationship to Israel. The faculty members requested a meeting with the DUP director, to include Kornbluth. She did not show.

Many believed over the years that since Kornbluth is Jewish, she would support our community — but they were wrong.

In 2019, Duke and the University of North Carolina hosted a conference on Gaza that was rife with antisemitism. A civil rights complaint was filed, requiring Duke to address its antisemitism problem.

Kornbluth was silent.

Also in 2019, Duke’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter held its Israeli Apartheid Week. Speakers included local students who visited leaders of the terrorist group. the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Speakers called Israel a “white supremacist nation” and invited students to sign up for more Eyewitness Palestine trips.

Kornbluth was silent.

In November 2021, approval of a new Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter was vetoed by the Duke Student Government (DSG), when an SSI member dared to push back on the false “settler colonial” narrative about Israel. SSI was eventually reinstated, but only after the DSG was called out for their discriminatory behavior. Price and Kornbluth ignored the plight of Jewish students and Duke’s role in enabling antisemitism, saying that DSG’s actions are “independent of, and not determined by or sanctioned by the University.”

In 2022, Mohammed El-Kurd — who claims that “Zionists have an unquenchable thirst for Palestinian blood” and feed on organs of “Palestinians” — spoke to a large audience at Duke. He mocked Jewish students, crumpling up their fliers on stage as the audience laughed. Many individuals and organizations reached out to Duke president Price. Price did nothing — and Kornbluth was silent.

So, what did Kornbluth say publicly about antisemitism on campus? She signed a letter denying its existence.

It comes as no surprise, then, that Kornbluth denies antisemitism at MIT, just as she did at Duke. Her intransigence is beyond redemption. While there are calls for her to be fired for her tolerance of Jew hatred, President Price is just as guilty and deserves the same.

The author is a former assistant professor of General Internal Medicine, Duke University, and Co-Founder, North Carolina Coalition for Israel.

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