|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
CUNY Profs Union Rescinds BDS Resolution Amid Backlash and Voting “Irregularities”
Edited by: Fern Sidman
The Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the labor union representing faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY), has overturned a contentious resolution advocating for a boycott of Israel after members raised concerns over voting irregularities and significant backlash. The New York Post reported on Sunday that the original resolution, passed in a narrow 73-70 vote on January 23, sought to sever union financial ties with Israel and called for the teachers’ pension system to follow suit in divesting from the Jewish State. However, amid growing dissent from pro-Israel professors and union members, the PSC leadership moved to address the disputed voting process by holding a second vote, which overwhelmingly rejected the resolution.
According to the information provided in The New York Post report, the initial resolution condemned Israel’s bombing of Gaza and accused it of killing thousands of civilians, yet it made no mention of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terrorist attack, which saw 1,200 Israelis brutally murdered and 251 hostages taken. This glaring omission, critics argued, demonstrated a biased stance that failed to recognize the events that led to Israel’s military response. Following concerns over the fairness of the January vote, the PSC conducted a revote on February 20, with the revised tally showing a decisive defeat of the resolution—113 votes against and 63 in favor.
A spokesperson for the union, Francis Clark, confirmed to the New York Post that “irregularities were identified in the January 23 vote,” prompting a correction and subsequent revote. With the resolution now formally rescinded, pro-Israel faculty members expressed relief while maintaining that the union has a long way to go in ensuring a tolerant environment for Jewish faculty and students. CUNY law professor Jeffrey Lax, founder of Students, Alumni, and Faculty for Equality on Campus (S.A.F.E), hailed the outcome, telling the New York Post, “I am thrilled that the union—solely for its own survival—rescinded its hateful, illegal, and anti-Semitic resolution, and I am hopeful that this is a trend that catches on nationally.”
This is not the first time the PSC has found itself at the center of controversy regarding its stance on Israel. As was detailed in a June 2021 New York Post report, the union passed a resolution denouncing Israel for attacks on Palestinians, foreshadowing its later support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The pattern of hostility toward Israel within the CUNY system has prompted numerous professors to resign from the union in protest, Lax noted. The New York Post further highlighted that in 2022, the faculty at CUNY Law School also passed a resolution in favor of the BDS movement, exacerbating tensions within the academic institution.
The growing wave of anti-Israel activism at CUNY has not been confined to faculty resolutions. According to the New York Post, students—often joined by professors—have participated in disruptive protests, with some demonstrations escalating into vandalism at various CUNY campuses over the past year. The environment has become so hostile that an independent investigation, commissioned by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and released last September, concluded that CUNY requires a “top-to-bottom overhaul” to address the “alarming” levels of anti-Semitism, perpetuated by faculty and enabled by indifferent administrators.
As the New York Post report indicated, the controversy surrounding the PSC’s attempted divestment calls attention to a broader national debate over anti-Semitism within academic institutions and the role of faculty unions in shaping campus politics. While the rejection of the BDS resolution represents a significant victory for pro-Israel advocates at CUNY, the episode serves as a reminder that ideological divisions over Israel remain deeply entrenched within American higher education.
