Sense of isolation, loss amid Gaza war sparks quest to make all feel welcome

Part of a series of profiles focused on community-led efforts to promote dialogue across campus.

When he was 15, Nim Ravid and his family left their native Tel Aviv and made a work-related move to Woodbridge, Conn., for a couple of years. He loved what he found there.

“It was a transformative experience for me,” said Ravid, now a College senior concentrating in economics. “I love the multicultural nature of this place. In this country, you’re surrounded by people who are very diverse and have different opinions. Even within the Jewish community there is massive disagreements … The cultural diversity here was one of the reasons why I wanted to come back.”

When Ravid was accepted into Harvard, he looked forward to experiencing the same exhilaration he felt when he first came to the United States. But things turned out very different. During his first weeks on campus, he learned that some were avoiding him because of his nationality and his stint in Israel’s Defense Forces, where he spent four years of mandatory service and a few months as a spokesperson for the head of the legislative Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

After the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, Ravid’s sense of feeling like an outsider grew as tensions on campus mushroomed amid the ongoing protests over the war in Gaza. Many Israeli students experienced shunning and social exclusion inside and outside the classroom, Ravid said.

“I decided to embark on a mission to build spaces on campus that would allow people who share the same values, despite having different beliefs, to come together, hear one another, and learn from each other.”

In addition to isolation, Ravid struggled with devastating loss — three friends attending the Nova Music Festival were killed by Hamas forces. He decided to use his pain “as a fuel for action” to change campus culture and make it more inclusive and welcoming to all. Another motivation, he said, was his dreams for a brighter tomorrow in the Middle East, in which Israelis and Palestinians could live and prosper together.

“During my first days here, I was very excited to share my experience and looked forward to meeting people here to kind of dream together of a better future in the Middle East,” said Ravid.

“After experiencing such a difficult social exclusion, I decided to embark on a mission to build spaces on campus that would allow people who share the same values, despite having different beliefs, to come together, hear one another, and learn from each other. Since then, I’ve been on a quest.”

Ravid’s mission included informal efforts to bring together Jewish and Muslim students, but the tensions between the pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups made it hard to recruit people willing to sit together and talk.

With help from some professors, Ravid found a few like-minded Arab and Muslim peers who joined his endeavors, and now the group comprises Israeli, Jewish, Muslim, and Arab students. Together, they have hosted private dinners, small dialogue circles, and conversations with speakers from both sides of the conflict. The group decided to make their events private to promote more open participation away from the public eye.

Michael Sandel, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government, who helped moderate some group discussions, praised the students for their attempts to bridge the campus divide. In an email, he recalled the group’s origins and emphasized Ravid’s role.

“In the fraught aftermath of Oct. 7, a number of Harvard students from Israel and from Arab and Muslim countries came together, quietly and informally, to discuss the Israel-Palestinian conflict and ways of building dialogue,” wrote Sandel. “Nim was an impressive leader of this effort. He displayed an ability to bring people together, and to cultivate the ability to listen with sympathy and mutual respect.

“Nim has since broadened his mission of promoting respectful dialogue on the Harvard campus,” Sandel added. “He is a born leader and a force for good — at a time when not only our campuses but also the world needs voices for community, civility, and mutual understanding.”

Ravid sits on the Harvard Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias as one of its two student representatives. He has also been a member of the Intellectual Vitality Initiative, which aims to foster academic freedom, free expression, open inquiry, and civil discourse.

Although Ravid remains committed to his efforts to bring people together, he recognizes it is an uphill battle.

“It’s been tremendously difficult to get people to come to these events, but I’m inspired by some Arab friends who despite immense social pressures still come,” he said. “This initiative is a product of the work of students who are dedicated to creating a better Harvard for all. We want to create a Harvard where no one is treated differently based on their identity, whether it’s race, gender identity, country of origin, or political views.”

After graduation, Ravid said he plans to continue bringing people together, which has become a life mission. Polarization is poised to be the biggest challenge of the next century as democracies become more racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse, he said, and the way to overcome it is by fostering respectful dialogue across differences.

“For a multicultural democracy to function, one of the first pillars is that different people from different communities have to be able to effectively communicate with each other,” said Ravid. “When that cannot happen because one community is shunned, excluded, or not invited to take part in a dialogue, that prevents a multicultural society from operating effectively.”