Israeli Student Assaulted at Infamous ‘Die-In’ Protest Sues Harvard for Protecting Perpetrators
19th July 2025
Harvard University “refused to take any reasonable action to punish” its two students who faced criminal charges for assaulting an Israeli classmate and instead “did everything it could to defend, protect, and reward” them, according to a new lawsuit from the Israeli student.
Video footage of the incident showed the assailants, law student Ibrahim Bharmal and divinity school student Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, shoving and accosting Israeli business school student Yoav Segev at an October 2023 “die-in” protest. Bharmal and Tettey-Tamaklo eventually faced criminal charges, which came to a head in April when they agreed to take an in-person anger management class and perform 80 hours of community service as part of a pretrial diversion program.
Former Harvard president Claudine Gay testified to Congress that the school would complete its own disciplinary process after the criminal case’s conclusion. Instead, both Bharmal and Tettey-Tamaklo were allowed to graduate in good standing from their respective schools shortly after they agreed to the diversion program. They were also “rewarded” for their anti-Semitic behavior, the lawsuit notes: Bharmal received a $65,000 “public interest” fellowship from the Harvard Law Review shortly before graduating, while Tettey-Tamaklo was made a class marshall for the divinity school’s graduation ceremony.