Mary Travis Bassett, a physician and professor of public health, currently serves as Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University. Once known for her work in urban health equity, Bassett has transformed into a vocal advocate for radical Pro-Hamas activism—using the credibility of her medical background and institutional authority to lend academic legitimacy to highly politicized and deeply biased narratives.
Rather than promoting balanced health research or protecting scholarly integrity, Bassett has embedded pro-Hamas talking points within Harvard’s public health apparatus. Under her leadership, the FXB Center has become a hub for ideological messaging that distorts facts, ignores terrorism, and fuels antisemitic hostility on campus.
Institutionalizing Pro-Hamas Advocacy at Harvard
As Director of the FXB Center, Bassett oversaw the creation of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights—a program launched in partnership with the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness (ICPH). Far from maintaining medical neutrality, the program functions as a political platform for accusing Israel of “war crimes” and “genocide” while omitting the role of Hamas in turning hospitals into operational bases.
- FXB/ICPH Collaboration: Founded the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights to publish and promote one-sided accusations against Israel, including charges of deliberately “targeting Gaza’s medical system.”
- No mention of Hamas tactics: The program consistently ignores Hamas’s well-documented use of hospitals for storing weapons, hiding fighters, and launching attacks.
- FXB publications and events frame Israel as the aggressor while erasing the context of October 7 and Hamas’s mass atrocities.
This isn’t public health—it’s politically curated narrative-making, wrapped in the language of human rights.
Spreading One-Sided and Misleading Narratives
Since October 2023, Bassett has signed and published multiple statements and op-eds that adopt Hamas-aligned language, falsely accusing Israel of indiscriminate bombing and genocide, while omitting any reference to the terrorist group’s crimes against civilians.
- January 2024: Signed the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP) letter at Harvard, a document later deleted after it faced criticism for whitewashing antisemitism and denying the October 7 atrocities.
- End-of-Year Message (Deleted): Just a week after the October 7 massacre, Bassett wrote of the “potential genocide facing civilians in Gaza,” with no acknowledgment of the rape, kidnapping, and slaughter of Israeli civilians.
- May 2024: In a widely circulated op-ed, she condemned the global community’s “silence” in the face of “Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza’s medical system” and described the IDF’s actions as “indiscriminate murder of health workers and patients in their hospital beds.”
- 2025: Co-authored research papers accusing Israel of bombing near hospitals—without clearly attributing blame to Hamas for military activity inside medical zones.
These narratives do not promote peace or health—they promote a distorted worldview that vilifies one side while sanitizing the actions of known terrorists.
Participating in Radical Campus and Media Advocacy
Bassett’s voice extends beyond print. She has participated in podcasts, panels, and university events that continue to reinforce ideologically biased narratives, portraying Israel as a singular aggressor and Gaza as a passive victim—again, ignoring Hamas’s role as an instigator and combatant.
- February 2025: Appeared on Trauma Code, a political podcast, where she reiterated claims of Israeli “war crimes” without addressing Hamas terrorism.
- September 2024: Moderated a Harvard event titled “The Polio Crisis in Gaza,” which framed Gaza’s deteriorating health infrastructure as a result of Israeli action, with no mention of Hamas’s role in diverting aid and sabotaging medical access.
- December 2023 – May 2024: Participated in a series of events and letters, including the New England Academics Call for Ceasefire and Health Faculty Call to Center Palestine in the Classroom.
Bassett has built a platform that doesn’t just educate—it agitates, aligning health research with political messaging that inflames division.
Framing Academia Around Pro-Hamas Ideology
Bassett has consistently used the FXB Center’s resources to normalize pro-Hamas advocacy in research, teaching, and institutional communication. Her writings and public appearances showcase a clear ideological commitment that undermines Harvard’s credibility as a center for rigorous, balanced scholarship.
- 2024: Published “Are hospitals collateral damage?”, a paper assessing bomb detonations near hospitals in Gaza—but framed Israel as the clear aggressor, despite evidence of Hamas embedding operations in those same hospitals.
- 2025: Co-authored “Structural racism and diminished health returns on education among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon,” reinforcing victim narratives without accounting for the role of Palestinian leadership or terror networks.
- Signed repeated calls to “center Palestine in the classroom”—code for embedding activism in place of objective curriculum.
This is not scholarship—it is strategic politicization of humanitarian disciplines to serve a singular ideological narrative.
A Danger to Academic Integrity and Campus Safety
Mary Bassett’s ongoing efforts to weaponize public health discourse against the Jewish state pose a serious threat to Harvard’s academic integrity and community cohesion. Through institutional partnerships, one-sided research, and inflammatory public statements, she has:
- Spread unverified and ideologically loaded accusations of genocide and war crimes.
- Ignored the October 7 massacre and Hamas’s continued use of human shields.
- Used FXB Center resources to legitimize biased programming and advocacy.
- Aligned with activist networks that promote antisemitic hostility and academic boycotts.
- Helped normalize the vilification of Jewswithin the language of “health justice.”
Bassett’s leadership has transformed a center for health and human rights into a platform for political indoctrination and misinformation—undermining both public health and the academic credibility of Harvard University.