Harvard rescinds fellowship for former HRW head over 'anti-Israel bias'

By Cindi Cook

DETROIT, Michigan (AA) - Harvard University has rescinded a fellowship offer for human rights advocate Kenneth Ross, the former Head of Human Rights Watch, over ‘anti-Israel bias,’ according to reporting by The Nation magazine.

The surprising turn of events came this week after Roth was offered a senior fellowship at the illustrious Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in April 2022. Roth has been involved in HRW since its founding in 1999 and has participated in debates at the school in the past.

Roth, 67, was the executive director of Human Rights Watch for 29 years, from 1993 to 2022. It is hailed as the premier international NGO defending human rights around the world. Roth, who is Jewish, is also an attorney by training as well as a writer. He has been dubbed the “godfather of human rights” by The New York Times.

After an initial interview on July 12 by the Carr Center’s Dean Douglas Elmendorf, the offer was retracted two weeks later. His reason: An anti-Israel bias on the part of HRW, played out on numerous occasions, particularly in numerous tweets by Roth.

But the withdrawal by the Carr Center did not fall in line with research done by the Center on other countries who had a similar track record of human rights violations.

This is not the first time Roth has been accused of anti-Israel bias.

The founder and former chair of HRW, Robert Bernstein, wrote as far back as 2009 in a New York Times opinion piece that “HRW has written far more condemnations of Israel than any other for violations of international law than of any other country in the region.”

The NGO monitor has also accused Roth of “playing a leading role in the demonization of Israel.”

The decision was met with outrage by some Harvard staff members.

In light of Harvard’s decision, Roth has accepted a visiting fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.