Wife of Harvard professor issues groveling apology after viral video of her harassing a Muslim student wearing a 'terrorist scarf' while in her neighborhood

A writer and the wife of an esteemed Harvard economics professor is apologizing after a video of her saying that a student in a keffiyeh was wearing a 'terrorist scarf' went viral.

Eve A. Gerber is seen in the 26-second video clip following a student who is filming the interaction. 

'Hi, camera. Thank you for walking through neighborhoods and making families feel unsafe with your terrorist scarf,' she said of the traditional Palestinian garb. 

'Palestinians felt pretty unsafe when Israelis occupied their country, you know,' the student, who has remained anonymous, replied. 

'I'm glad you're so proud of the slaughtering of civilians,' Gerber retorts, to which the student snaps back: 'I'm not.' 

According to progressive media outlet The Sparrow Project, the anonymous student claims Gerber saw her and got out of her car to follow her when she spotted her.

'The student felt compelled to share this video after the horrific shooting of three Palestinian students, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Hisham Awartani in Burlington, VT,' the outlet tweeted. 

Awartani was left paralyzed in the shooting, in which all three men were wearing keffiyehs. 

Gerber - who has written for The Atlantic and is the US editor of Five Books - posted an apology to X on Wednesday.

'On 10/14, after I overheard chants I found disturbing at a rally near my home, I spoke with a person on my block who I thought had come from that event. When the political argument escalated, I used indefensible words,' she wrote. 

'I was wrong to confront someone based on their dress and to use divisive, accusatory language. In the two months since this video, I’ve tried to learn more and take reparative action.' 

'I will continue to do so. Hate and inhumanity in any form are abhorrent to me. I deeply regret what I said and did,' she finished.

The viral incident has since been condemned by the likes of Representative Ilhan Omar, who called it 'shameful and disgusting.'

Gerber's husband Furman is not only the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School, he also served as a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama. 

Furman - who also worked for President Bill Clinton - was the 28th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. 

According to the Harvard Crimson, Furman privately apologized in a text message to the graduate student October 20, six days after the confrontation.

Furman wrote to someone claiming to represent the person recording that there was 'absolutely no excuse' for Gerber's actions.

'I'm sorry. No one should have to go through what your friend has gone through,' he added.

Prior to her marriage to Furman, Gerber was married to Bill Gerber, a producer on films such as A Star is Born and Gran Torino. 

It comes during a period of the most intense fighting of the war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on Israeli border communities. 

Since the war began, there has been a 388 percent increase in antisemitism in America, Anti-Defamation League Director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said earlier this month.

There have also been incidents of Islamophobia, in addition to the shooting of the three students wearing keffiyehs in Burlington. 

Barack Obama's former National Security Council advisor spent his Thanksgiving morning in court after being charged with five counts for an Islamophobic attack on a halal street vendor.

Stuart Seldowitz, 64, issued a half-hearted apology for unleashing on the street cart owner in New York City amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

Seldowitz appeared before Judge James G. Clynes in Manhattan Criminal Court alongside his attorney Scott Bookstein. He pled not guilty on all charges and was released without bail.

He was wearing the same outfit from when he'd been arrested the night before. An NYPD spokesman confirmed Seldowitz was arrested and charged Wednesday night.

Seldowitz was arraigned on second-degree aggravated harassment and two counts of stalking under the city's hate crimes law.

Shocking footage emerged of him telling 24-year-old Mohammad Hussein 'if we killed 4,000 Palestinian children, it wasn't enough'.

He also asked if the victim 'raped his daughter like Mohammed and even threatened to get him deported to Egypt during the sick tirade.