Three Ivy League students who signed on to letters supporting Hamas against Israel have lost job offers from one of the top U.S. law firms.
Davis Polk rescinded letters of employment for three law students at Harvard and Columbia universities after the students signed on to open letters in support of Hamas amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, according to a report from NBC News.
The firm’s announcement came via an internal email that was later posted to social media, with chair and managing partner Neil Barr explaining that the statements in the letters are “simply contrary to our firm’s values.”
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Harvard banners hang outside Memorial Church on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Fein/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We thus concluded that rescinding these offers was appropriate in upholding our responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive work environment for all Davis Polk employees,” the email reads.
One of the open letters in question was published by the Harvard Crimson student newspaper last week and signed by more than 30 student groups. It argued that Israel is “entirely responsible” for “all unfolding violence” after the country was faced with a surprise attack by Hamas earlier this month.
The attack on Israel claimed the lives of thousands, while hundreds more are reported missing or held hostage.
“Discriminating against terrorist supporters is the most comically easy decision I’ll ever have to make as a CEO.”
“Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years,” the letter continued. “From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions, to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.”
People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus on June 29, 2023, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Getty Images)
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The email did not name the students impacted by the decision, though the firm said it is still in contact with two of the individuals.
“At this time, we remain in dialogue with two of these students to ensure that any further color being offered to us by these students is considered,” the email said.
The email garnered reaction from other employers on social media, who called for the release of the names of the students, so they could avoid hiring them as well.
Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman said that he would like to know which students signed the letter, so he could “know never to hire these people.”
“Same,” EasyHealth CEO David Duel wrote in a response to Newman.
“Discriminating against terrorist supporters is the most comically easy decision I’ll ever have to make as a CEO,” FabFitFun CEO Michael Broukhim said.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest at Columbia University in New York City, New York on Thursday, October 12, 2023. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
In a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson for Davis Polk said that the “views expressed in certain of the statements signed by law school student organizations in recent days are in direct contravention of our firm’s value system.”
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“For this reason and to ensure we continue to maintain a supportive and inclusive work environment, the student leaders responsible for signing on to these statements are no longer welcome in our firm; and their offers of employment have thus been rescinded,” the statement said.
The firm did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
