At the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law graduation ceremonies on May 12, a member of the Class of 2023, Fatima Mousa Mohammed, delivered a hateful anti-American and anti-Semitic speech.
In her remarks she called the city’s police department a den of "fascists" and accused Israelis of persecuting and murdering Palestinians.
"As Israeli continues to indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on worshippers, murdering the old, the young, attacking even funerals and graveyards, as it encourages lynch mobs to target Palestinian homes and businesses, as it imprisons its children, as it continues its project of settler colonialism . . . our silence is no longer acceptable," she said.
Mohammed, who boasted that she chose to attend CUNY law school because it recognizes "that the law is a manifestation of white supremacy" admonished U.S. citizens for supporting "systems of oppression created to feed an empire with an adventurous appetite for destruction and violence — institutions created to intimidate bully and censor and stifle the voices of those who resist."
She also urged the "fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism and Zionism around the world."
Awfully outrageous rhetoric, don’t you think?
Not for those at the graduation ceremony.
A video of the event reveals the graduates wildly applauding, as well as the dean of the law school. This writer, for one, was not surprised by the speech or the enthusiastic response.
Here’s why:
The CUNY law school faculty had previously "passed a resolution supporting the pro- Palestinian boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel."
And the 2022 commencement speaker alleged there was a "campaign of Zionist harassment with ties to the Israeli government."
After viewing the video of the May graduation speech, Mayor Eric Adams spoke for most New Yorkers when he said "I will tell you if I was on that stage, when those comments were made, I would have stood up and denounced them immediately.
"Because we cannot allow it to happen."
Yet, despite the public outrage and the barrage of scathing front page news stories, the governing body of CUNY was silent for almost 3 weeks.
Finally on Tuesday May 30, Chancellor Felix Rodriguez and the Board of Trustees of City University issued a statement that declared Muhammed’s remarks "unfortunately fell into the category of hate speech as they were a public expression of hate toward people and communities based on their religion, race or political affiliation."
A nice statement, but in this writer's judgment, too little too late.
What about law school dean, Sudha Setty?
Was she suspended or publicly reprimanded for applauding? No.
The anti-Semitic cloud that hangs over the City University helps explain why Rabbi Joseph Potasik recently told the New York Post that "Jewish students are not welcome at the CUNY Law School. It’s Israel all the time. That smacks anti-Semitism. Free speech is a two-way street."
It also explains why CUNY initiated in September 2022 a program that "works to ensure a more positive campus climate for Jewish students."
Up to $750,000 of taxpayer money will be spent to counter anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism is not the only problem at CUNY. Free speech in general is under assault.
In mid-May, Shellyne Rodriguez, an adjunct assistant professor at CUNY’s Hunter College, trashed a table on school grounds displaying anti-abortion material. She also verbally assaulted the anti-abortion students manning the table with vulgar and hateful epithets.
Although the incident became front-page news and a video of the event went viral, the professor was not penalized by college administrators for her behavior.
Only after Rodriguez put a machete to the neck of a New York Post reporter who asked about her conduct, did CUNY act.
In a statement a spokesman said, "Hunter College strongly condemns the unacceptable actions of Shellyne Rodriguez and has taken immediate action. Rodriguez has been relieved of her duties at Hunter College effectively immediately, and will not be returning to teach at the school."
As for Rodriguez’s reaction to being fired — she claimed the school "capitulated" to "racist, white nationalists, and misogynists."
It wasn’t always that way at CUNY.
When I was growing up in Brooklyn, CUNY was known as the poor man’s Harvard.
It promoted academic excellence, open debate and free expression of ideas.
Yes, CUNY "educated"people from all walks of life including Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and Jerry Seinfeld.
Today the atmosphere at CUNY is very different.
Militant students and revolutionary-minded faculty stifle the free exchange of ideas, employ to the upmost any opportunities for disaffection, and instead of students being educated, they are indoctrinated with leftist propaganda.
The result: Standards have eroded to a devastating degree and some students have trouble reading the diplomas they receive at graduation.
CUNY was founded explicitly so that the children of rich and poor would sit together in the same classroom, with no distinction of race, color religion, or creed.
It’s time taxpayers, who pick up the tab for CUNY, to demand a return to that mission.
George J. Marlin, a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the author of "The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact," and "Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy." Read George J. Marlin's Reports — More Here.
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