Harvard Medical School cancels ‘one-sided’ lecture with Gaza patients

Harvard Medical School has cancelled a lecture on healthcare during war and a panel discussion featuring patients from Gaza getting medical care in Boston after complaints it would present only one side of the conflict and not the Israeli side as well, according to a report by Harvard Crimson.

The lecture, by Tufts Professor Barry S Levy, was supposed to focus on wartime healthcare followed by a student-organised discussion with patients from Gaza and their families.

The decision has received widespread criticism online this week, with many calling it “censorious” of Harvard to take such a decision.

Instructors and students were notified on Tuesday morning that the events scheduled for that evening would not be held, The Harvard Crimson reported. According to the report, Harvard’s Medical School dean, George Q Daley, wrote in an email on Wednesday that his office began receiving complaints from students and faculty within days of publicising the event.

In the email, Daley wrote that Harvard Medical School supports research and teaching on the health effects of war on healthcare. However, it also aims to “avoid polarizing the school’s affiliates”.

In an email to Harvard Crimson, Anna RP Mulhern from Harvard Medical School said she was “deeply disheartened” by the cancellation.

“Respect for all patients and their stories is a fundamental tenet of the medical profession. This principle was not upheld yesterday,” she said.

The cancellation comes amid concerns about academic freedom at the university after it adopted the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, settling the discrimination case brought forward by students who said pro-Palestine protests at the university were antisemitic.

Many online responded to the cancellation of the class, also referencing Harvard’s adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Some also asked “what the other side” is, referring to Israel and its 15-month onslaught in Gaza that has left over 47,000 killed and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. 

Harvard agreed to accept the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism after settling a lawsuit from Jewish students who accused other students of harassment during pro-Palestine protests on campus in 2024.

The student group, Students Against Antisemitism, filed a complaint in January 2024 in a court in Boston, saying that Harvard was failing to protect them under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a law that prohibits any school from receiving federal funding when discriminating against anyone based on race, colour or national origin. 

The complaint cited last year’s campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza as the source of antisemitic rhetoric from other students.