On Anti-Zionism, Complicity, and Disaffiliation: Racial Justice & Technology Summer Fellowship 2020
This past weekend, there was an internal board conflict within the Harvard Technology Review (HTR) regarding a Racial Justice & Technology Summer Fellowship scheduled to start this coming Monday (co-sponsored by the Black Students Association). Essentially, in the days leading up for the fellowship, some objectionable Zionist concerns were raised by a board member, detailed in this petition to the board. In two days, this petition for HTR to adopt a firmly anti-Zionist stance garnered over 25 signatures of support from organizations at Harvard and beyond (including BSA, ABHW, and Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles).
When presented with this petition, HTR Board presented a very lackluster, half-hearted response, excerpted below:
“Doing so without notifying anyone else was, without question, unfair. However, the conversation that ensued thoughtfully examined the complexities of the Israel-Palestine conflict, how anti-semitic actions can be a consequence of anti-Zionist movements, and much more.”
“In spite of her problematic association with Louis Farrakhan, we will not be disinviting Melina Abdullah, under the condition that we discuss Farrakhan’s anti-semitic claims in some capacity and why certain aspects of black empowerment have been tied to anti-semitism.”
“We will stand for a space that is sensitive and considerate of the range of experiences and viewpoints that our members have, and that gives our members the benefit of the doubt in concerns that they raise. Above all, we will not stand for a space that trivializes and disrespects any of our member's concerns without any genuine and open minded attempt of conversation. That is a precedent that we will establish and defend against any attempts to undermine it.”
Although they agreed to the petition’s three demands on face value, this response was deeply problematic for a number of other reasons:
It is morally objectionable to refer to the 72-year long Zionist occupation of Palestine as the “Israel-Palestine conflict” — this phrase is a carefully crafted euphemism to deny and cover up the material reality of Israeli occupation and is circulated by the settler state itself, for it diminishes the severity of the settler-colonial, apartheid, and genocidal reality that has been waged against the Palestinian people on the sole grounds that they are Palestinian.
A calculated move to disrupt the programming of this fellowship was carried out by a group of people aligned with the interests of the Israeli state. Simply calling this “unfair” and giving them a platform without representation from the undersigned is disrespectful. Justifying this decision “because the conversation that ensued thoughtfully examined the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” already betrays the one-sided nature of the said conversation. This is in line with Zionist and Israeli propaganda groups strategically disrupting and pursuing action against Palestinian parties so that they are denied representation. HTR has allowed this to happen, once again, and they must take full responsibility for allowing a bad-faith propaganda attempt from said interest groups.
The insinuation that “certain aspects of black empowerment have been tied to antisemitism” is anti-Black, not historically substantiated, and does not deserve legitimacy in a space like the one we hope to create. We know too well that the fight for Black lives and Black liberation is one that is intrinsically tied to the empowerment and liberation of all people. By definition, it is opposed to the degradation of the humanity of any group of people, including precious Jewish folk.
Implying that “anti-semitic actions can be a consequence” of the anti-Zionist movement follows the same logic in point #2. The struggle for Palestinian lives and Palestinian liberation is tied to the liberation of Black lives as well as Jewish lives. By definition, it is opposed to any attempt to degrade the humanity of any group of people. Furthermore, associating bad-faith actors to a movement that is firmly pro-justice, pro-peace, pro-human rights, pro-equality, pro-freedom, and pro-liberation for all people is a bad-faith, inaccurate, and a dangerous line of reasoning. There exists a history of these types of morally objectionable arguments being waged by Zionists against pro-Palestinian activism in attempts to delegitimize urgently necessary advocacy for Palestinian rights. We reject these attempts.
In a similar vein, misconstruing associations to say that Dr. Abdullah promotes and defends antisemitic violence is part of this same legacy — it comes as part of a long legacy of Zionist smear campaigns to deplatform advocates of Palestinian liberation, most notably in the censorship and firing of Marc Lamont Hill from CNN. These efforts are anti-Palestinian as well as anti-Black, and often come at Black women, like Dr. Abdullah, the worst. Dr. Abdullah is attending the fellow ship to discuss her work with BLM Los Angeles and her other association or support of people that is not a part of the fellowship does not have the organizational support as it is unrelated to the topic at hand.
Supporting genocide and settler colonialism in any form — including Zionism — does not align with the basic paramountcy of human rights. There should be no “benefit of the doubt” given, especially when these truths are so easily verifiable. The “respecting identities” rhetoric falls short of acknowledging that Zionism is an ideology and is not to be equated with Judaism.
Rhetoric without action is meaningless; although the HTR board says they “stand for anti-Zionism,” affirming anti-Zionism in word simply is not enough. There must be a clear commitment to rooting it out in every space and pushing back with the likes of which genocidal ideologies merit.
As stated in our original letter, Zionism is settler-colonialism. HTR’s response statement is thus equivalent to entertaining white supremacy because of a desire to “respect the identities of all students involved.” What comes to mind is a prominent quote from the revolutionary Malcolm X:
"The white conservatives aren't friends of the Negro either, but they at least don't try to hide it. They are like wolves; they show their teeth in a snarl that keeps the Negro always aware of where he stands with them. But the white liberals are foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling. The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the "smiling" fox. One is the wolf, the other is a fox. No matter what, they’ll both eat you.” — Malcolm X
Malcolm X delivered this statement 57 years ago, when the struggle for justice in this country was in the face of very blatant and overt forms of white supremacy. Now, in spite of the passage of time, his words still ring true. The ideologies of white supremacy remain ever-present, only perhaps more insidiously. 57 years later, we still face these same challenges of complicity around the globe, as he articulated. Fighting injustice requires a commitment that is uncompromising in its ideals and principles.
In light of these concerns, we have decided to disaffiliate this fellowship from the Harvard Technology Review. Instead, the fellowship will rebrand as “The Harvard-YX Racial Justice & Technology Summer Fellowship.” We will continue with the organizational backing of The YX Foundation, the Harvard Black Students Association, & the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee. We believe that this new venue will lend itself to holding anti-Zionism, anti-white-supremacy, and racial justice as uncompromisable and central principles. The fellowship will continue as planned, running from MONDAY 8/3 to FRIDAY 8/14. We remain committed to creating a space for incoming first-year students to critically engage with the use of technology as a means of surveillance in systemic white supremacy worldwide, and we look forward to starting these much-needed conversations on campus. Fellows will now publish their work to The YX Foundation Journal with an audience of leading academics, technologists, investors, product innovators, and grassroots activists committed to the intersection of technology and racial justice.
Thank you so much to all who supported our initial letter; we are with you. As Dr. Rosyln Satchel (a confirmed mentor for our fellowship) told me in an email this weekend, “When we fight, we win.”
In solidarity,
Nikhil Dharmaraj (he/him/his)
Harvard College '23
On behalf of The YX Foundation, the Harvard Black Students Association, & the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee