CUNY graduate slammed over anti-Israel, antisemitic remarks

Mohammed also accused the law school of serving its own interests and denounces its collaboration with what she referred to as the "fascist NYPD" and the military.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated: MAY 31, 2023 10:37
CUNY Graduate Center (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
CUNY Graduate Center
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

In a commencement address that has ignited fury and condemnation, a recent graduate of the City University of New York (CUNY) law school delivered a speech filled with what critics describe as hate and dangerous rhetoric on May 12.

Fatima Mousa Mohammed's remarks were said to have targeted the NYPD, the US military and Israel, sparking calls from outraged individuals to strip CUNY of its taxpayer funding.

During her address, Mohammed called for a "revolution" to confront what she deemed the legal system's "white supremacy." She launched scathing attacks on city police, the US military and accused Israel of carrying out "indiscriminate" murder. 

Her speech has drawn sharp criticism from various quarters, prompting a fierce debate over free speech, the appropriateness of the venue and the use of public funds.

"Imagine being so crazed by hatred for Israel as a Jewish State that you make it the subject of your commencement speech at a law school graduation," Congressman Ritchie Torres wrote on Twitter. "Anti-Israel derangement syndrome at work."

Students enter the 2012 Big Apple Job and Internship Fair at the Javits Center in New York, April 27, 2012. The job fair was organized specifically for students from the various City University of New York (CUNY) schools. (credit: REUTERS/ANDREW BURTON)
Students enter the 2012 Big Apple Job and Internship Fair at the Javits Center in New York, April 27, 2012. The job fair was organized specifically for students from the various City University of New York (CUNY) schools. (credit: REUTERS/ANDREW BURTON)

Mohammed accused the law school of serving its own interests and denounces its collaboration with what she referred to as the "fascist NYPD" and the military.

She claimed that the school continues "to train Israeli soldiers to carry out that violence globally."

Furthermore, she labeled the US legal system as a manifestation of white supremacy, accusing it of oppressing people both in the US and around the world. Urging her classmates to join her in a "Revolution," Mohammed called for the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism and Zionism.

The controversial speech has drawn condemnation from both politicians and the public alike. Barry Grodenchik, a former Democratic city councilman, agreed with Congressman Torres, stating that such hateful speech has no place at a publicly funded institution like CUNY. 

"Hate speech, however, should not be confused with free speech and has no place on our campuses or in our city, our state or our nation."

CUNY Chancellor and Board of Trustees

"@RitchieTorres is spot on here," he wrote on his Twitter feed. "This hater can spout her hate where she pleases but it should not be at the publicly funded @CUNY school of law.

"Her antisemitism destroyed this commencement and it must be roundly condemned and should not have been sanctioned with public funds."

Critics argue that Mohammed's speech promotes hate, crosses the boundaries of acceptable discourse and undermines the values of inclusivity and respect.

Calls for CUNY to condemn the speech and take appropriate action have grown louder, as some demand a reconsideration of the university's funding.

"Totally unacceptable graduation speech for the taxpayer-funded institution," Councilman Ari Kagan wrote in a tweet. "@CUNY and @CUNY Law should immediately condemn this hateful speech and take all steps necessary to address such dangerous rhetoric!"

"I was proud to offer a different message at this year's CUNY law commencement ceremony - one that celebrates the progress of our city and country and one that honors those who fight to keep us safe and protect our freedoms, like my Uncle Joe, who died at age 19 in Vietnam while giving his life for our country," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. Adams was personally bashed by Mohammed as well in her speech. "We cannot allow words of negativity and divisiveeness to be the only ones our students hear."

A Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov wrote on her Twitter, "If anyone had doubts on what's going on at @CUNY and if hearing we held did not convince you, here it is: Vile, unabashed hatred for America, Israel, NYPD and democracy. I can't imagine sitting in the audience as a graduate. These are New York City's future lawyers. @CUNY any comment?"

A representative from CUNY gave a statement to the New York Post saying, "Members of the Class of 2023 selected student speakers who offered congratulatory remarks and their own individual perspectives on advocating for social justice. As with all such commencement remarks, they reflect the voices of those individuals."

"Free speech is precious, but often messy and is vital to the foundation of higher education," CUNY Chancellor and Board of Trustees said in a statement late Tuesday night. "Hate speech, however, should not be confused with free speech and has no place on our campuses or in our city, our state or our nation."

"The remarks by a student-selected speaker at the CUNY Law School graduation, unfortunately, fall 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," the statement continues as they condemn the hate speech.

"The speech is particularly unacceptable at a ceremony celebrating the achievements of a wide diversity of graduates, and hurtful to the entire CUNY community, which was founded on the principle of equal access and opportunity," the statement read. "CUNY's commitment to protecting and supporting our students has not wavered throughout our 175-year existence and we cannot and will not condone hateful rhetoric on our campuses."

CUNY is the 'most systemically antisemitic US university'

A 12-page report released on Thursday claims that CUNY has become the most systemically antisemitic US school in the past two years.

The report was compiled by Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY (SAFE CUNY), an NGO that describes itself as an alliance of CUNY students or scholars. The report alleges that there are alarming levels of deep-rooted, systemic antisemitism at the highest levels of CUNY "perpetuated through lies, coverups, retaliation campaigns, intimidation against whistleblowers and corruption that has penetrated the deepest corners and the most senior leaders of the university."

While the report shies away from investigating or re-investigating the "relentless barrage of antisemitic incidents since at least 2015," CUNY has made a slew of headlines in recent years for anti-Jewish occurrences. 

Last year, The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed a Title VI complaint against CUNY, which has 25 college campuses across the five boroughs. It alleges that CUNY has ignored a sustained pattern of antisemitic activity.

Numerous antisemitic incidents dating as far back as 2013 are listed in the complaint. Among them are several instances of students carving swastikas on school property. In all of these cases, CUNY was aware of the incidents and did nothing to stop them nor the situation, the complaint claims.

Rafaella Gunz was a student at CUNY but left the institution due to what she described as a "toxic" antisemitic environment. 

"There was just a big sort of like, icing out of me, a big culture of exclusion amongst the Jews that don't full-heartedly endorse the Palestinian cause by any means necessary," said Gunz, who noted that the anti-Zionist CUNY Law Jewish Law Students Association was of no help. "Basically, I was just not welcome in the community, despite the fact that I agree with them on, like, 99% of issues."

CUNY Law School faculty adopted a BDS resolution on May 11 that had been originally introduced and passed by the student government in December. The resolution officially endorses BDS, and calls on the institution to divest from Israel, end all Israeli student exchanges, and cut ties with any groups that "repress Palestinian organizing."

"CUNY's persistent and longstanding practice of ignoring antisemitism has enabled it to foment the horrifying Jew-hate that we are all seeing now across its campuses," said SAFE CUNY.

On May 27, the New York Post reported that New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov pulled $50,000 in funding for the CUNY Law School over the faculty's support of a Boycott, Sanction and Divestment (BDS) movement resolution.

"I have pulled funding from the program and redirected it to Legal Services NYC,” Vernikov, who is a Ukrainian-born Jew, told the NY Post. “It seems as if antisemitism is the only politically acceptable form of racism which exists. We must stop handing out free passes to antisemites like candy.”

Other controversies at CUNY included having Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime (WOL), give the CUNY Law graduation commencement speech on May 12. 

Kiswani has been under scrutiny in the past for threatening to light a person's IDF sweatshirt on fire, as well as several controversial statements. 

Gunz, a former classmate of Kiswani's at CUNY Law, has said that Kiswani has been criticized "because she interrupts Holocaust memorial ceremonies and says that she hopes the last thing Zionists hear in their life is 'pop pop.'"

In 2017, CUNY invited Linda Sarsour to deliver a commencement address to the school of public health despite nearly 9,000 petition signatures imploring the university not to honor Sarsour's long history of antisemitic comments. Sarsour has sympathized with terror against Israeli Jews, is a supporter of Louis Farrakhan, and has stated that “Israel was built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everybody else.”  

Haley Cohen and Michael Starr contributed to this report.



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