When Harvard undermines its own academic freedom

Behind his cup of green tea that he sips in a café in Geneva, the American Kenneth Roth is still in shock. After leaving the human rights NGO Human Rights Watch last April, which he had run continuously since 1993, he was regarding to obtain a position as a researcher (fellowship) for a year at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s prestigious Kennedy School of Government. This would have allowed him to write a book and interact with researchers on site. But Kennedy School dean Douglas Elmendorf officially vetoed it. Reason: Roth’s criticism of the Israeli government. For the former executive director of HRW, there is no doubt: either the rector was pressured by generous donors, fervent defenders of Israel, or he anticipated their reactions.