In our Jan.18 webinar, APN hosted Kenneth Roth, the former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. Earlier this month, Roth was denied a previously arranged year-long fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School. A member of the Kennedy School faculty told Roth that his fellowship was revoked because of his and HRW’s criticism of Israel’s violations of human rights. Roth discussed the implications of Harvard's decision, its impact on academic freedom, and the boundaries of criticism when it comes to Israel in the US.

Following our webinar, the Harvard Kennedy School announced Thursday, Jan. 19, it would reverse course on its decision and offer Roth the fellowship. The school's dean, Douglas Elmendorf, had previously said he was concerned about perceptions that Human Rights Watch had a bias against Israel. In a Thursday email to the Kennedy School, Elmendorf said the decision was an “error.”