Joseph Leone

On October 13, 2023, Leone posted on X: “Proud to have worked for a union committed to human dignity and Palestinian liberation. As US institutions wholeheartedly endorse the massacre of Gaza, people of conscious must speak out collectively to stop this genocide and our role in supporting it.”

Embedded in his post was a post from the GEO3550 union that said: “GEO continues to stand in solidarity with Palestine & we condemn Israel's horrific siege on Gaza. It is unacceptable that our university plays an active role in supporting apartheid. We call on U-M to immediately divest from the companies who perpetuate violence in the region…”

The GEO’s post included a link to the union’s October 13, 2023 titled: “Statement on Israel’s Siege on Gaza.” The statement said: “...The violence that comes out of the open-air prison of Gaza is a consequence of the colonial violence that its people have endured for years. All military escalation in Palestine, including the tragic loss of countless Palestinian and Israeli lives, must be understood in light of this context…....”

On May 9, 2022, Leone posted on Twitter: “...all solidarity to @thecrimson editorial board for standing up for what is right and weathering through the unhinged smears and harassment.” Embedded in the post was an April 29, 2022 post from The Crimson editorial board titled: “In Support of Boycott, Divest, Sanctions and a Free Palestine…”

Leone also retweeted an April 29, 2022 post on Twitter by anti-Israel activist Mohammed El-Kurd who wrote: “!! the Editorial Board of The Harvard Crimson released an unequivocal statement of support for BDS & ‘A Free Palestine.’” The post included a screenshot of the full text of the statement.

The editorial board’s statement said: “As a board, we are proud to finally lend our support to both Palestinian liberation and BDS — and we call on everyone to do the same.”

The editorial board’s statement also showed support for Harvard PSC and its demonization of Israel’s security barrier and support for BDS. The display included multiple panels and was erected during Harvard PSC’s Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), a week of SJP events common at American universities.

Leone wrote: “Israel may advertise itself as a hub of innovation, but it did not invent this style of propaganda trip. South Africa’s apartheid regime also sponsored ‘educational trips’ to the country for current and future leaders…” Leone also claimed: “These trips were part of a larger public relations effort to try to stave off international pressure aimed at dismantling apartheid.”

On May 10, 2021, Leone posted on Twitter: “Deeply fascist country built and preserved through ethnic cleansing and endless US support.” Embedded in the post was a video posted by Ayman Odeh, an Israeli Arab member of Israel’s national government and leader of the Hadash Arab party, which showed Jews dancing on the Western Wall plaza, and above, on the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza, a tree in flames.

On April 12, 2022, The Crimson reported: “Protesters Stage Walkout of Event with Israeli Ambassador at Harvard Kennedy School.” HOOP posted on X: “Students walkout of Israeli ambassador to the United States, Mike Herzog, lecture at the HKS…We call on Harvard to end its normalization of Israeli war crimes.” The post included a video of the protesters, who chanted [00:00:01]: “end the occupation” and [00:00:15]: “apartheid has got to go.”

The Crimson reported: “Joseph G. Leone, a student at the Kennedy School who also participated in the walkout, said he recognizes the school will invite a range of government officials, but those responsible ‘for Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism shouldn’t be welcomed at HKS.’”

Leone continued: “‘HKS is going to host officials of various countries – that’s true – and we host plenty of odious figures from the United States as well…But I think there’s a line, and I think that HKS has lines as well.’”

The report further quoted Leone, who said: “...Harvard Out Of Occupied Palestine ‘has no plans to let up’ its protests of Israeli officials at HKS…”

On April 12, 2022, the Harvard PSC posted on Facebook: “An amazing turnout last Thursday for #keffiyehthursday…” Included in the post was a photo of Leone with anti-Israel activists wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh as part of the group’s campaign which urged students to wear a Palestinian keffiyeh on campus “...to bring visibility to Palestinians on campus…”

On March 20, 2022, HOOP posted on Instagram an appeal to sign its letter addressed to then-HKS Dean Elmendorf, with a graphic titled: “DEMAND ACTION / Would you take a class with a war criminal? / End Amos Yadlin’s study group…”

Leone signed [No. 930] the letter, which demanded that HKS suspend a weekly study group on Israeli national security led by retired Israeli Major General Amos Yadlin and said: “Harvard’s hosting of Yadlin as a senior fellow not only normalizes Israeli war crimes, but represents an act of violence against Palestinian students who face six decades of Israeli ethnic cleansing, settler colonialism, and apartheid.”

On February 2, 2022, The Crimson published an article titled: “Palestinian Advocacy Group Protests Former Israeli Military Official at Harvard Kennedy School.” The protest against HKS senior fellow, retired Israeli Major General Amos Yadlin, was organized by HOOP and held outside the study group’s classroom at its first session. A sign at the protest read: “THIS ‘TEACHER’ UPHELD ISRAELI APARTHEID.”

The article reported that Leone, “...an HKS student who attended the protests, called Yadlin’s appointment as a senior fellow ‘shocking and disgusting’ and criticized HKS for giving a platform to someone ‘whose career is entirely premised on the violence and dispossession against Palestinians.’”

The article reported Leone calling on participants in the study group to stop attending its meetings and withdraw from the class.

On May 25, 2021, HOOP posted on Twitter: “In light of the recent attacks on Palestinians by the Israeli state and settlers, and in solidarity with Palestinian resistance and the BDS movement, we are urgently renewing our call for Harvard to divest from Israeli apartheid…”

The post included a link to a petition with a call to “Sign and share widely…” Leone retweeted this post and was a signatory [no. 163] to the HOOP petition titled: “Harvard, Divest from Israeli Apartheid,” which called on the university to “...Disclose direct and indirect investments in companies that aid Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism” and to “...Divest all direct and indirect holdings in these companies immediately.”

The petition stated: “We share the belief that the current wave of Israeli violence must be situated in the context of Israel’s apartheid policies and settler-colonialism, which began in the early 20th century.”

On May 12, 2021, Leone tweeted: “Proud to be a part of the coalition of 33 (and counting) student groups standing in solidarity with Palestine and rejecting the US and Harvard's support for settler colonialism and apartheid…#SaveSheikhJarrah…”

Embedded in Leone’s post was a “Statement by Palestine Student Groups at Harvard…” that Leone signed [no. 428] which alleged that: “...Forced evictions, such as those occurring in Sheikh Jarrah, are representative of Israel's systematic settler-colonial violence that serves to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from East Jerusalem…”

The statement concluded by calling on the “Harvard administration” to divest from “companies that are involved in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise…”