Leading Palestinian-American resigns from Harvard after lawsuit claims he aided Hamas

By Luke Tress

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11 April 2025, 4:42 am

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Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.

Palestinian entrepreneur Bashar al-Masri in front of his residential project of Rawabi in the West Bank, on February 23, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90/File)

A prominent Palestinian-American businessman, Bashar Masri, quits his position at Harvard University after a lawsuit alleged he abetted Hamas with development projects in Gaza.

Masri served on the dean’s council at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The school confirms to The New York Post that Masri has resigned.

“The lawsuit raises serious allegations that should be vetted and addressed through the legal process,” a spokesperson tells the news outlet.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this week by victims of October 7 and their families, alleges that Hamas deceived Israel ahead of the invasion by feigning an interest in developing Gaza, and that Masri and his companies were “an integral part of that grand deception.”

“They owned and operated flagship properties in Gaza that they knowingly and deliberately integrated into Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure and that were crucial elements in Hamas’s attack plan on October 7,” the lawsuit says.