Ana María León Crespo is an associate professor at Harvard University whose academic prestige belies a troubling pattern of political activism that targets Israel and aligns with radical anti-Zionist movements. While she specializes in architecture and colonial studies, León Crespo has increasingly used her platform to advance rhetoric and petitions that excuse or ignore violence against Jewish people under the guise of “liberation” and “resistance.”
Ana María León Crespo’s Actions:
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January 2024: Signed the Statement by Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine—a group known for promoting extreme anti-Israel views and denying the legitimacy of Zionism.
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October 2023: Signed the Harvard Faculty Open Letter to President Claudine Gay, which condemned “intimidation” against pro-Palestinian students, without acknowledging that many of those students praised or justified the October 7 Hamas massacre.
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October 2020: Endorsed a public statement titled “‘Palestine is There’: A Problem, Evidently, for the Cornell Chair of Architecture,” defending an academic figure criticized for platforming anti-Israel propaganda in architectural discourse.
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Signed the 2024 Harvard Divestment Letter, joining a campaign to pressure the university to financially sever all ties with institutions linked to Israel—a key tenet of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement.
Why Ana María León Crespo Is a Problem on Campus
León Crespo is part of a growing faction of faculty who exploit academic credibility to legitimize antisemitism and promote one-sided, inflammatory narratives. Her continued support for divestment, open condemnation of Israel, and refusal to acknowledge terrorism as a red line create an academic environment hostile to Jewish students and faculty. Instead of fostering critical thinking, she champions ideological activism that threatens both intellectual diversity and campus safety.
