A groundskeeper working at Harvard University was caught on camera acting aggressively after being confronted for ripping down posters of Israeli hostages held by terrorists in Gaza on Wednesday morning.
The man, sporting a reflective vest with the Harvard logo, stuffed the posters into a trash bag in Harvard Yard before he was approached by an Israeli man, the video shows. The posters, sponsored by Jewish organization Harvard Chabad, were put up the night before.
“Why are you taking them down?” the man recording the video asks the man, who is called Jackson by his colleague.
“Because it’s my f***ing job,” Jackson responded. “F*** you, man.”
Harvard employees caught in the act of tearing hostage posters.
On the request of our Israeli students to raise awareness of the suffering of their loved ones being held hostage in Gaza, Harvard Chabad has been sponsoring posters of their loved ones. Against university policy… pic.twitter.com/wMuNs4F2LT— Harvard Chabad (@HarvardChabad) March 20, 2024
A spokesman for Harvard University told The Daily Wire that Jackson is an employee of a different company contracted to perform groundskeeping work.
“The University is aware of an incident that took place on Wednesday morning inside Harvard Yard between a contract worker and another individual,” the spokesman said. “Harvard strongly condemns the individual’s conduct reflected in the video of the incident, and, as a result, the contract worker was directed to leave campus, and his employer has been notified that the individual may not be assigned to return to campus to perform work in the future.”
“When I approached one of them, asking why he was removing those posters, he became very aggressive and scary, moving toward me with aggressive body movements and cursing,” the Israeli man, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, told The Daily Wire. “I had to step back. His colleague had to come between us at some point.”
“I have a family with two kids, and my wife is affiliated with Harvard,” he added. “We are scared to walk by the yard and be confronted by this person again, or other Harvard Ops. Other Jewish and Israeli people who live in the yard are scared too.”
Jackson can be seen screaming aggressively at the Israeli man, and being held back by his colleague in the video.
“Get the f*** out of here mother******,” Jackson tells the man. “You are recording me without permission because I am doing my stupid job.”
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According to the university’s policy posted on the board, fliers hung by recognized Harvard affiliates are permitted and should only be removed on Monday and Thursday mornings for cleaning.
Policies for postering posted on a Harvard Yard kiosk.
“On the request of our Israeli students to raise awareness of the suffering of their loved ones being held hostage in Gaza, Harvard Chabad has been sponsoring posters of their loved ones,” Harvard Chabad wrote on Twitter. “It was only yesterday that we hosted at Harvard Law School and at Harvard Chabad a delegation of Jewish and Muslim families who flew from Israel to tell the stories of their loved ones who are being held hostage or who were murdered on October 7.”
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When the Israeli man told Jackson the flyers were sponsored by Harvard Chabad he said, “I don’t give a f***.”
Harvard has faced criticism in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre for its failure to combat anti-Semitism on campus. Jewish students filed a lawsuit that accuses the school of enforcing its policies selectively to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment.
Posters have been graffitied and removed from Harvard Yard several times since Hamas’s brutal attack on Oct. 7, including on Monday when Jackson’s colleague explained the posting rules to the same Israeli man, in a video obtained by The Daily Wire.
“It’s very likely the same Harvard team each time,” the man told The Daily Wire. “They are supposed to remove all posters every Monday and Thursday, but it seems they remove the hostage posters every morning.
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“This is clearly an act against Jews,” he added.
At the start of the semester in January, hostage posters were desecrated with various anti-Israel graffiti including accusing the Jewish state of being responsible for September 11 terrorist attacks.
Harvard University did not respond to a request for comment.
This article has been updated to include information provided by a Harvard University spokesman.