Amid Harvard’s clash with the Trump administration over fostering an antisemitic environment, the university&#8217;s John F. Kennedy School of Government tapped a CNN anchor critical of Israel and President Donald Trump to deliver its 2025 graduation address.
Christiane Amanpour delivered the address to the student body the day before the commencement ceremony, in which she hailed academics as fighting &#8220;on the front lines of the current struggle between the two halves of America.”
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CNN&#39;s Christiane Amanpour, known for anti-Israel &amp; anti-Trump controversies, delivered Harvard Kennedy School’s grad address, calling education &quot;on the front lines between the two halves of America&quot; and saying that Europe welcomes &quot;those who are having their roles taken away.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/uo2qQ7ZOT0">pic.twitter.com/uo2qQ7ZOT0</a>
&mdash; Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1927817137000722708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The speech comes as the Trump administration and Harvard continue to face off over <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-cuts-ties-with-hamas-friendly-birzeit-university">campus antisemitism</a> and the school&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-other-countries-pay-nothing-for-foreign-students-to-attend-harvard?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+Other+Countries+%E2%80%98Pay+NOTHING%E2%80%99+For+Foreign+Students+To+Attend+Harvard">ability to admit</a> new foreign students. This week, the Trump administration announced that Harvard would lose close to all of its federal funding.
During the speech, Amanpour said that “we cannot surrender to any system that deems only power-approved speech or thought is allowed.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
She added that “this is not the first time the press, the fourth estate, has come under such sustained threat from the executive branch,” citing the Nixon administration challenging TV licenses held by The Washington Post following Watergate.
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Harvard Kennedy School graduation speaker and CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour:
&#8220;We cannot surrender to any system that deems only power-approved speech or thought is allowed.” <a href="https://t.co/qXl8gx4XgA">pic.twitter.com/qXl8gx4XgA</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1927824825134834117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
Amanpour said Europe was willing to take in “those who are having their roles taken away,” a likely reference to either foreign students being stopped from attending Harvard or researchers that may lose their positions following a cut to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-loses-another-massive-chunk-of-federal-funding?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Harvard+Loses+Another+Massive+Chunk+Of+Federal+Funding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal funding</a> to the private university.
“As you know, we over there in Europe are happy to lay out the welcome mat to all of those here who are having their roles taken away,” she said. “ We want your scientists, your researchers, your professionals.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/graduation-speaker-returns-honorary-degree-after-plagiarizing-speech-elite-womens-college?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Graduation+Speaker+Returns+Honorary+Degree+After+Plagiarizing+Speech+At+Elite+Women%E2%80%99s+College" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GRADUATION SPEAKER RETURNS HONORARY DEGREE AFTER PLAGIARIZING SPEECH AT ELITE WOMEN’S COLLEGE</a>
She added that the diversity, smarts, energy, and determination of foreign students are needed.
Amanpour also took a shot at Trump’s program to resettle Afrikaner refugees from South Africa in the United States, stating that she thinks about the legacy of Nelson Mandela when she sees &#8220;Afrikaner minorities, who were the perpetrators of apartheid, being brought into this country as refugees.”
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During her speech at Harvard, Christiane Amanpour took a shot at Trump&#8217;s Afrikaner program, stating that she thinks about the legacy of Nelson Mandela when she sees &#8220;Afrikaner minorities, who were the perpetrators of apartheid, being brought into this country as refugees.” <a href="https://t.co/29IXoy5Ao7">pic.twitter.com/29IXoy5Ao7</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1927822153895821637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
Amanpour has a long history of anti-Trump controversies, including in November 2020 when she compared the Trump presidency to to the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938. Amanpour <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-regret-any-pain-christiane-amanpour-apologizes-for-comparing-trump-era-to-kristallnacht?author=Jon+Brown&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98I+Regret+Any+Pain%E2%80%99%3A+Christiane+Amanpour+Apologizes+For+Comparing+Trump+Era+To+Kristallnacht" target="_blank" rel="noopener">later apologized</a> following public outcry and condemnation from former Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich.
In 2016, Amanpour said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/5M-805aTBIc">she was “shocked”</a> that Americans who voted for Trump ignored “the vulgarity of language, the sexual predatory behavior, the deep misogyny, the bigoted and insulting views.” In 2023, she <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/18/christiane-amanpour-columbia-cnn-town-hall-00097644?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confronted former</a> CNN CEO Chris Licht for hosting Trump for a townhall on the network, POLITICO reported.
Amanpour also challenged CNN&#8217;s leaders in 2024 over Israeli influence over the network&#8217;s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war that kicked off when the terror group massacred more than 1,000 Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Business Insider reported. CNN has faced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-blasted-for-report-on-israel-rearranging-weaponry-at-al-shifa-prior-to-news-crew-visits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severe criticism</a> for its anti-Israel coverage since the war began.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-to-screen-immigrants-and-foreign-students-social-media-for-anti-semitism?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=29&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Homeland+Security+To+Screen+Immigrants+And+Foreign+Students%E2%80%99+Social+Media+For+Anti-Semitism">HOMELAND SECURITY TO SCREEN IMMIGRANTS AND FOREIGN STUDENTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ANTI-SEMITISM</a>
Between October 7, 2023, and November 17, 2023, Israel was accused of “genocide” or being “genocidal” 13 times on “Amanpour,” with Hamas only being accused of similar atrocities 3 times, <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2023/11/22/ugly-tilt-pbss-amanpour-show-only-sees-genocide-israel-not?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Newsbusters</a>. 
In May 2023, Amanpour faced backlash after referring to a terrorist attack that killed a mother and her two daughters as a “shootout” during an interview with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. The victims — Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee were shot by Hamas-linked terrorists while driving on a highway. Amanpour later apologized, saying she had “misspoke.” Rabbi Leo Dee, the husband and father of the victims, said he did not accept her apology, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/cnn-anchor-amanpour-apologizes-for-calling-terror-attack-on-dee-family-a-shootout/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">The Times of Israel </a><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/cnn-anchor-amanpour-apologizes-for-calling-terror-attack-on-dee-family-a-shootout/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
A 2007 documentary by Amanpour titled “God’s Jewish Warriors&#8221; <a href="https://www.jewishpost.com/viewpoints/cnn-and-christiane-amanpour-defame-israel.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faced criticism</a> from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America for &#8220;equating the extremely rare cases of religiously-inspired violence on the part of Christians and Jews with radical Islam&#8217;s global, often state-supported, campaigns of mass killing.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-cuts-ties-with-hamas-friendly-birzeit-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HARVARD CUTS TIES WITH HAMAS-FRIENDLY BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY</a>
Amanpour has had a four-decade career in television journalism, beginning at CNN in 1983. She has reported on international conflicts throughout her career and currently hosts “Amanpour,” CNN’s flagship global affairs interview program, and “The Amanpour Hour.”
“Anyone who follows world news recognizes her signature determination to cut through the noise and help her viewers better understand complex global events,” <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/christiane-amanpour-will-deliver-2025-hks-graduation-address?utm_medium=socialmedia&amp;utm_source=hkstwitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Kennedy School Dean</a> Jeremy Weinstein. “At this time of change and uncertainty, she is the perfect person to address the next generation of public servants as they graduate from Harvard Kennedy School.”
Amanpour, who was born in London to an Iranian father and British mother, was raised in Tehran before moving to the United States following the 1979 Iranian revolution.

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Harvard Hosts Anti-Trump, Anti-Israel CNN News Anchor As Grad Speaker

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The Harvard Kennedy School  is set to host a Palestinian professor who called Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians a “normal struggle for freedom,” and said she would never forgive Israel’s government for “making us take their children and elderly as hostages.”
Dalal Saeb Iriqat, a professor of diplomacy and conflict resolution at the Arab American University in Ramallah is set to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School&#8217;s Belfer Center as part of its Middle East Dialogues series on March 7, 2024. 
On Oct. 7, while terrorists were still slaughtering Israeli civilians in the Gaza envelope, Iriqat justified the attack.
“The world tolerated watching &gt;35000 Palestinian youth seek refuge via territorial waters, putting their lives at risk, choosing to drawn in the sea over their miserable lives in a big prison called #Gaza after 17 yrs Israeli siege [sic],” <a href="https://archive.ph/7DdGm">she posted</a> to X, formerly Twitter. “Today is just a normal human struggle 4 #Freedom.”
<div id="attachment_690567" style="width: 590px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-690567" class="wp-image-690567" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.54.59%E2%80%AFAM-300x108.png" alt="“The world tolerated watching &gt;35000 Palestinian youth seek refuge via territorial waters, putting their lives at risk, choosing to drawn in the sea over their miserable lives in a big prison called #Gaza after 17 yrs Israeli siege [sic],” she posted to X. “Today is just a normal human struggle 4 #Freedom.”" width="580" height="209" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.54.59%E2%80%AFAM-300x108.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.54.59%E2%80%AFAM-1024x370.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.54.59%E2%80%AFAM-768x277.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.54.59%E2%80%AFAM.png 1186w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" />Dalal Saeb Iriqat&#8217;s post to Twitter on Oct. 7 calling Hamas&#8217;s attack a &#8220;normal struggle 4 freedom.&#8221;</div>Shortly after, she said Palestinians “have the right to defend themselves,” <a href="https://archive.ph/uSuZY">adding</a> the she was “shocked that the world is shocked!”
A few hours later, she condemned those issuing statements in support of Israel as its people were under attack.
“Statements of support to @netanyahu far right Israeli Gov can only fuel more state organized terror and more impunity to Israel’s continued #crimes &amp; collective punishment against the Palestinian civilians,” <a href="https://archive.ph/aTGv4#selection-441.82-451.108">she posted to X</a>.
The next day, she seemingly aligned herself with Hamas and blamed Israel for the attack.
“We will never forgive the Israeli right wing extreme government for making us take their children and elderly as hostages,” <a href="https://archive.ph/wkBpy">she posted</a>. “The Israeli public need to realize that their own government had caused all this bloodshed and they remain the ones responsible for this escalatin and losses of civilians lives [sic].”
<div id="attachment_690571" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-690571" class="wp-image-690571" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.57.16%E2%80%AFAM-275x300.png" alt="“We will never forgive the Israeli right wing extreme government for making us take their children and elderly as hostages,” she posted. “The Israeli public need to realize that their own government had caused all this bloodshed and they remain the ones responsible for this escalatin and losses of civilians lives [sic].”" width="590" height="643" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.57.16%E2%80%AFAM-275x300.png 275w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.57.16%E2%80%AFAM-529x576.png 529w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.57.16%E2%80%AFAM-768x836.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-11.57.16%E2%80%AFAM.png 1190w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" />Dalal Saeb Iriqat said she would &#8220;never forgive the Israeli right wing extreme government for making us take their children and elderly as hostages.&#8221;</div>Harvard University has been under mounting criticism for its response to Hamas’ massacre, including a lawsuit being filed by Jewish students that accuse the school of enabling antisemitism and selectively enforcing its policies to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment. The university parted ways with its former president, Claudine Gay, as she dealt with backlash over her public statements about combatting antisemitism on campus.
The professor&#8217;s radical pro-Hamas rhetoric has continued in the months since the attack, even promoting conspiracy theories that Israel was lying about what took place that day. On November 18, amid carrying out its weeks-long effort to identify bodies burned by Hamas terrorists, Iriqat denied that they were Israelis. 
“The burnt bodies were Hamas militants,” she <a href="https://archive.ph/rf7Hz">posted to Instagram</a>.
She added that “Israeli helicopter fire may have killed ravers,” citing a Haaretz article that has widely been taken out of context and used to blame Israel for Hamas’ massacre of the partygoers at the NOVA festival. The Israel Police slammed Haaretz’s article, which claims an unnamed police source said an IDF helicopter “apparently harmed a few partygoers who were in the area,” reported the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-police-slams-haaretz-claim-idf-helicopter-may-have-harmed-civilians-on-oct-7/">Times of Israel</a>.
On December 31, she said the conflict isn’t Israel versus Hamas. 
“This is not an Israel Hamas conflict,” she <a href="https://archive.ph/QHrm6">posted</a>. “Israel is waging a series of #war_crimes against the Palestinians, this is not against Hamas, this is against the Palestinian right of self determination,” she wrote. “I urge everyone to refrain from the framing of Israel/Hamas or Israel/Gaza, this is Israel Vs Palestine!!”
Iriqat also posted a cartoon of soldiers shooting on top of a wall displaying a Jewish star combined with a swastika.
<div id="attachment_690575" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-690575" class="wp-image-690575" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-12.01.06%E2%80%AFPM-300x177.png" alt="Iriqat also posted a cartoon of soldiers shooting on top of a wall displaying a Jewish star combined with a swastika." width="590" height="347" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-12.01.06%E2%80%AFPM-300x177.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-12.01.06%E2%80%AFPM-979x576.png 979w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-12.01.06%E2%80%AFPM-768x452.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-12.01.06%E2%80%AFPM-1536x904.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-02-at-12.01.06%E2%80%AFPM-2048x1205.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" />Iriqat posted a cartoon of soldiers shooting on top of a wall displaying a Jewish star combined with a swastika.</div>
On November 21, Iriqat chimed in on former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s condemnation of Hamas’ rape of Israeli women. 
“Yes 100 against rape, against violence as acts against humanity,” she <a href="https://archive.ph/mt1v5">posted</a>. “You spoke of rape in 2023, your voice went out for Israeli women, are you aware that for decades Palestinian women documented harassment and abuse cases by Israeli soldiers?”
“Don’t fall into #Hasbara, propaganda in 2023, truth and Justice shall prevail [sic],” she <a href="https://archive.ph/mt1v5">wrote</a>.
Harvard Kennedy School&#8217;s <a href="https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/announcing-middle-east-dialogues">intention</a> behind the speaker series is to help their community members “understand what is happening and to expose them to the best thinking on how peace may be achieved,” according to the announcement. 
“At a time when much attention has been focused on our University and its perceived failures in fostering dialogue on difficult, divisive issues, we have been working quietly to demonstrate that this is in fact a place where open inquiry, searching debate, and honest conversation can and do happen,” it added. 
It said the speakers were chosen because “they represent points of view that I believe anyone who cares about the region can ill afford [to] ignore.”
Other speakers slated for the series include Jared Kushner, former senior advisor to President Donald Trump, Salam Fayyad, the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Einat Wilf, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, and Matt Duss, a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders who has been <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/report-anti-israel-activist-heading-to-biden-state-dept/">criticized</a> for his antisemitic writing. 
“We hope you will join us for these critical conversations, which I hope will not just make us smarter, but also help us to better become instruments of peace and prosperity in a part of the world that surely deserves them,” the announcement reads.
Harvard University and Dalal Saeb Iriqat did not respond to a request for comment.

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Harvard Kennedy School To Host Radical Palestinian Professor Who Blamed Israel For Hamas Terrorist Attack

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Harvard Hosts Anti-Trump, Anti-Israel CNN News Anchor As Grad Speaker

Harvard Kennedy School To Host Radical Palestinian Professor Who Blamed Israel For Hamas Terrorist Attack