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Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, has accused Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf of blocking him from a year-long fellowship at the school over Roth’s criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

Roth alleged in a Friday interview with The Crimson that he was denied the position because of HRW’s work on Israel, a potential contradiction with the Kennedy School’s diversity statement embracing open debate and diversity of political views.

Elmendorf’s role in blocking Roth’s fellowship was first reported in The Nation on Thursday.

Roth said he agreed in June to a fellowship at the Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy for the 2022-2023 academic year, but the center called him back several weeks later “sheepishly, embarrassed to say that Elmendorf had vetoed the fellowship.”

Roth said he learned why his fellowship was denied from Kathryn A. Sikkink, a professor of human rights policy at HKS, who had spoken with Elmendorf. “It was because I criticized Israel,” Roth said. Sikkink confirmed the account to The Crimson.

HKS spokesperson James F. Smith did not deny Roth’s specific allegations and declined to provide details about his fellowship candidacy.
Read more: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/1/9/kenneth-roth-hks-fellowship/