Kenneth Roth: On Harvard University Ban & Why Human Rights Campaigners won’t be Silenced over Israel

Palestine Deep Dive

Palestine Deep Dive and the Foreign Press Association (New York) are live with the ‘the Godfather of Human Rights’ Kenneth Roth, for a DeepDive into Harvard’s reported decision to block him from taking up a fellowship over his organisation’s criticism of Israel’s human rights record.

The Harvard Kennedy School has allegedly bowed to pressure, according to the Nation, during a period when major donors and prominent Jewish organisations were particularly unhappy that Human Rights Watch, which Roth directed from 1993-2022, has recently accused Israel of practising apartheid.

According to Human Rights Watch’s 213 page report published in April 2021 illustrating the nature of Israel's apartheid, Israel systematically oppresses the Palestinian people both across the occupied Palestinian territory and within Israel itself.

Join Mark Seddon and FPA President Ian Williams as we learn why Roth feels his senior fellowship position at Harvard has been blocked, and what challenges human rights campaigners are facing today over criticism of Israel.