Wikileaks: State Department Briefed Washington on Halutz Campaign

Thanks to the latest trove of Wikileaks cables made publicly available, we now know that the campaign to expose Harvard's sordid links to alleged war criminals such as General Dan Halutz came to the attention of the highest levels of the U.S. government.

A cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Israel to the White House and other agencies on 15 May, 2007 noted a prominent local media report about the "Wanted for Crimes of War" poster for Halutz that we distributed:

Among the many items from the Israeli media on that day, the report about our protest likely drew the State Department's attention due to its longstanding desire to shield Israel from accountability for alleged war crimes, as cables detailing its arm-twisting of world governments over the Goldstone report make clear.

It is not clear what action, if any, was taken on the basis of this information, but we do know it was stored on a database accessible to hundreds of thousands of Department of Defense employees—including, presumably, those responsible for spying on activist groups inside the U.S. Meanwhile, other cables released by Wikileaks have revealed the extent of overseas U.S. efforts to suppress the growing boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign to end Israel's discriminatory and repressive practices.

Looking for Halutz -- First 72 hours

Within its first 72 hours, AJME's campaign to alert the Harvard community to be on the lookout for the notorious war criminal Dan Halutz [dossier here] -- studying at Harvard Business School until 23 May -- has made headlines from London to Karachi. Our efforts have been covered by al-Jazeera English, TIME.com, two of the leading pan-Arab dailies, and major national newspapers in Israel, Turkey, and Pakistan [see our press page for more], and our website has received thousands of visitors.

We've also posted a few of the many letters sent to Harvard administrators sharing our concerns and supporting our call for Harvard to end its practice of hiring and training known war criminals and human rights abusers.

In the meantime, we still need your help -- not just in exposing Halutz, but in spreading the word about our campaign and sending us any information on other war crimes or human rights abusers who have studied or worked at Harvard, regardless of nationality.

Harvard: Haven for war criminals?

KSG Citizen, 8 November 2006

"General Admission"

From The Economist (subscription required), 23 February 2007

Controversy is brewing at Harvard Business School over one of its alumni.Gabriel Ashkenazi graduated from HBS's eight-week-long Advanced Management Programme in 2004. Recently appointed head of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), General Ashkenazi has been accused by some on campus of overseeing human rights abuses during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. The general, who is portrayed as a moderate in Israel's press, has not been charged with wrongdoing in Israel or abroad. But that hasn't stopped activists from questioning HBR's admissions standards (the alleged abuses ccurred before Mr Ashkenazi came to Harvard).

The disagreement raises interesting questions over how schools make their admissions decisions. Sandy Kreisberg, an admissions consultant who follows HBS closely, thinks schools should avoid giving politically-motivated groups any sway over their decisions. "It would mean second-guessing military admits from scores of countries, including America," said Mr Reisberg.

Harvard's Ivy League rival, Yale University, provides a cautionary tale. The school faced an uproar last year when it was revealed that a former Taliban spokesman, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, had been admitted to a non-degree programme. Conservatives in the Wall Street Journal and on cable news shows hauled Yale over the coals, and one alumnus launched a campaign to cut off donations to the school. In July 2006 Mr Rahmatullah's application to one of Yale's degree-granting programmes was ejected.

Halutz Campaign on Front Page of Ma'ariv

[front page text]
WANTED AT HARVARD: DAN HALUTZ

An extreme leftist group at the prestigious U.S. university distributed "Wanted" posters against the former Chief of Staff around the campus * The "accusation": war crimes * One of the organizers, an Israeli student: "They won't stop us" * Ben Caspit, p.10

[Ma'ariv is one of the largest daily newspapers in Israel; original here]

[article text]
"Academic hunt" for Halutz
A group of students at Harvard, including Jews and Israelis, calls for the Chief of Staff to be tried for war crimes

By Ben Caspit
(Ma'ariv newspaper, May 15, 2007)

Even at Harvard University the former Chief of Staff, Dan Halutz, can't find peace; a group of radical and pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, among them Jews and Israelis, is "hunting" for him. As a part of this "hunt," the students, starting today, intend to hang posters of Halutz under the headline "Wanted for War Crimes" above a photograph of Halutz in uniform as Chief of Staff. Next to the photo is written, "General Dan Halutz was last seen at Harvard Business School, May 2007."

Beneath is a detailed "indictment" against the former Chief of Staff stating, "Dan Halutz ordered the indiscriminate shelling of Lebanon last summer, in which more than 1,000 civilians were killed. Military planes under his command exploded homes and hospitals, ambulances and airports."

The declaration continues: "The atrocities committed under his authority have been condemned around the world as war crimes. Halutz resigned from his position as Chief of Staff in January. Now he is hiding and padding his resume at Harvard Business School." The end of the letter, in larger letters, reads: "If you find him, please contact the International War Crimes Court."

An accompanying notice on the organization's website indicates that, "War criminal Halutz is moving around freely at Harvard." The mediatized "hunt" for Halutz is being organized by an organization called "the Alliance for Justice in the Middle East," whose members, in addition to pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, include a number of leftist activists, among them,
as noted earlier, Jews and even some Israeli students, some of whom are from very well-known families in the country.

Can't get to Halutz
They are organizing protests against IDF officers who come to study at the prestigious Harvard Business School. Incidentally, they are already aware of the anticipated arrival of the Deputy Chief of Staff, General Moshe Kaplinsky, to the university this coming July and are planning a warm welcome for him as well. Their website details the "crimes" of every IDF officer coming to the university, his connections, the school in which he is coming to study, and how to reach him and irritate him.

Yesterday members of the forum created a new group on the website Facebook, which is essentially a social site within the university, and invited users to join. Facebook is one of the most popular sites among students worldwide. Members include lecturers, students, and faculty from Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and others.

The "manhunt" against Halutz, which involves hanging "Wanted" posters around the university and publicity on the internet, was supposed to begin yesterday. One of the organizers of the protest is Naor Ben-Yehoyada, who told Ma'ariv last night in a telephone conversation: "We distributed flyers to students on campus, but a security officer from the Business School,
where he is studying, immediately approached us. He brought his superior, who asked -- just like a Border Patrol officer -- who is responsible for the group. He asked to see a permit to distribute flyers and ordered us to stop. This is not a deterrent; tomorrow we'll continue distributing flyers."

Ben-Yehoyada added: "We've already received one piece of hate mail in response, which says 'Your protest is the gayest thing I've seen on the internet. I'm shocked that douch-bags like you even got in to Harvard.'"

[Ben-]Yehoyada further explains: "We thought of trying to get to Halutz himself, but he is studying in a closed area that includes classrooms and a hotel, and no student has access to that area."