The Defunding of CUNY for Vile Hate – Is it Possible?? 

On May 12th of this year, CUNY Law School graduate Fatima Mousa Mohammed had the dubious distinction of delivering the most virulently anti-Semtiic, anti-Israel and generally hate filled speech at a commencement exercise. In front of her fellow graduates at CUNY Law School and their families and guests, she did not flinch as she enthusiastically spewed forth her venom that was rooted in the far-left woke, progressive political agenda.

For instance, Mohammed was proud that the CUNY student body and faculty had “endorsed” inherently anti-Israel and anti-Semitic BDS boycotts. She also claimed a right and responsibility to speak out against “Israeli settlers’ colonization.” (According to the Oslo Accords, Israel has the right to protect its territory from illegal building by Palestinians).  She also accused Israel of “raining bullets and bombs indiscriminately” against old and young Arabs. (The IDF is known as the most ethical army in the history of the world ).    Mohammed also said that we must fight against Zionism, thus denying the Jews’ right to their country.

She declared silence is not acceptable and called to use “any means necessary” (implying violence) to support the revolution against “oppressors” and announced: “The fight begins now.”

In terms of her perspective on legal history, Mohammed said that “law is a manifestation of White supremacy, which oppresses people around the world” and that the law is a “facade” of legal neutrality She added that American legal organizations “bully” dissenters and that properly trained lawyers must confront the American empire with its “ravenous appetite” for worldwide destruction and violence (implying the U.S. has no right to self-defense).

Moreover, she claimed that the U.S. holds Muslim “political prisoners” in jail, even though the one she mentioned was arrested for providing material support to terrorism. And if this was not sufficient, Mohammed also accused the NYPD of being “fascist.”

The tragedy is that Mohammed’s insidious and vile comments were net by thunderous applause by her contemporaries, as well as CUNY staff, faculty and the entire administration.

As Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz pointed out in a recently published op-ed piece in the New York Post with former Manhattan Borough President Andrew Stein, “the CUNY faculty as a whole has endorsed the boycott movement against Israel, which is anti-Semitic to the core.” He added that, “It prohibits any contact between American academics and Jewish academics in Israel and calls for Israel’s end, demanding it be replaced by a Palestinian state, “from the river to the sea.” Which includes Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and all the rest of Israel.

While the exercise of free speech is the bedrock of American democratic principles and is enshrined in the constitution, the question remains whether these patently hated fill diatribes and acrimonious ad hominem verbal assaults crosses the line into the dark, dank category of hate speech. The kind of speech that is designed to provoke, incite and motivate people to do serious harm to those being targeted by this incendiary rhetoric.

If Mohammed’s address was an isolated incident that would be taken into consideration but tragically, CUNY has distinguished itself for the last decade or more as a bastion for anti-Semitism and a place where both pro-Israel students and faculty have been raked through the coals and severely harassed for expressing their views.

What can be done in terms of seeking redress for this campaign of visceral Jew hatred which has clearly received the imprimatur from the CUNY administration?

The City University of New York School of Law is a taxpayer funded institution of higher learning and all New York residents are footing the bill for his cauldron of hate.

As we know, the democracy that we call America has taught us that there should no taxation without representation and that every single person who pays taxes of any kind in the Empire State has a fundamental right to decide where their hard earned income to being distributed to.

There is no doubt that CUNY alumni, many of whom are Jewish, have generously contributed to their alma mater. A cogent campaign to inspire them to cease and desist in handing over donations to this network of colleges must be immediately implemented. Our local elected officials and those in the top tiers of the federal government must take action that has “teeth” to let CUNY know that such Jew hatred and hatred of America will not be tolerated or accepted.

Taxpayers must organize in the most effective manner to lobby their elected officials and tell them in no uncertain terms that they would sooner go to jail rather than give one more penny to this loathsome institution that is dedicated to destroying whatever remains of true intellectual discourse and freedom.

As Professor Dershowitz wrote in the op-ed piece previously referenced in this article, “New York City and state taxpayers should not be required to pay for this institutionalized hate speech. Let the marketplace of ideas prevail, and let students who agree with Fatima Mohammed’s view of American law and Jews attend a private law school that advocates such hatred without governmental financial support.”

He added that, “The government has no obligation or indeed legitimate right to lend its imprimatur to ideologically driven bigotry. Cutting off government financing may help return CUNY law school to its proper mission of teaching students how to think about the law instead of propagandizing the students about who to hate. CUNY Law is an embarrassment to the city university system.”

Moreover, he also stated that “no reasonable person would support a taxpayer institution that officially espoused hated against African-American or Arab-American students. Yet that is exactly what CUNY Law is doing against patriotic American, Zionist and Jewish students, alumni and all decent people. This double standard should not be accepted.”

The Jewish Voice is in complete agreement and we ask our readers to take a stand on this issue in order to protect the liberties that we hold so dear.