内容摘要：This mission has at times caused both chaos and controversy, including some instances in which federal judges halted mass firings and ordered employees reinstated.

This mission has at times caused both chaos and controversy, including some instances in which federal judges halted mass firings and ordered employees reinstated.

Ms McCourt, 49, who is gay and grew up surrounded by the sounds of "A10 Tank Busters punctuating my childhood bedroom", said those factors had shaped and influenced her work."Per Ardua" is a reference to the RAF motto "Per ardua ad astra", which translates as "Through adversity to the stars".

Homosexuality was illegal in the armed forces until 2000, and Ms McCourt crossed out "ad astra" in her work, in a reference to the stars being unattainable for LGBT personnel before the ban was lifted.The spiral design represents a "constant loop of adversity", the artist said.The ban was repealed after a campaign led by a group of veterans called the Rank Outsiders.

In 2023, Rishi Sunak, who was prime minister at the time,of LGBT veterans who were sacked or forced out of the military for being gay.

Ms McCourt said she grew up with an interest in aeroplanes along with "the conflict felt as a queer kid growing up in Bomber County".

She added: "I remember entering an armed forces recruitment office in my teenage years. It was a terrifying experience for fear of being 'found out'.Another Israeli at Harvard - who works as a research fellow – is concerned about the Trump administration's approach. The 38-year-old didn't want to be identified as she weighs up her future..

"I see that Harvard is really trying to address the problems... but you cannot change a culture and problems. These are not Harvard specific problems, and they're not even problems of the American elite. These are big problems in the world and it does not take a week, or a day, to solve them."She draws parallels with her home country and adopted country

"Israelis have been experiencing democratic backsliding in a very intense way and I think we should be the first to recognise what's going on here in the US."Harvard Professor Steven Levitsky goes further. He has spent decades studying authoritarian governments and believes that President Trump is using antisemitism as a cover to bring elite education under his control.