The City University of New York has a reputation for being a far-left bastion. But the CUNY law school commencement address by Fatima Mousa Mohammed stepped over the line and resulted in calls for its funding to be stripped.
“Israel continues to indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on worshipers, murdering the old, the young, attacking the funerals and graveyards as it encourages lynch mobs,” railed Mohammed.
That nonsense not only strained credulity, but it also went beyond any propaganda uttered by the Palestinians.
“May we rejoice in the corners of our New York City bedroom apartments and dining tables, may it be fuel for the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism, and Zionism around the world,” Mohammed said.
She left out “sexism,” but who’s counting?
Needless to say, everyone from liberal Jewish groups to conservative Republicans was calling for a cut in funding for the university.
“Raging antisemitism has fully consumed the City University of New York,” former Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said. “Until the administration is overhauled and all Jewish students and faculty are welcome again, taxpayer funding must be immediately halted.”
Simcha Eichenstein, a Democratic state assemblyman from Brooklyn, called the speech “dangerous.”
“This hate-filled and dangerous speech has been brought to you by @CUNY and paid for by New York taxpayers,” Eichenstein said. “Keep this in mind next time our elected leaders highlight their commitment to fighting antisemitism.”
Another Democrat, state Rep. Ritchie Torres, called Mohammed “crazed.”
“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,” Torres said.
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York called the speech “incendiary anti-Israel propaganda” in a statement, noting that Mohammed’s speech comes just one year after the law school came under fire for hosting Nerdeen Kiswani, then president of CUNY Law’s Students for Justice in Palestine, as the 2022 commencement speaker.
“This particular commencement speech cast aside the principle of seeking truth in a shameless attempt to vilify CUNY’s constructive engagement with Israel and the New York Jewish community and to denigrate Israel’s supporters on campus while trading in antisemitic tropes,” the group said. “We strongly encourage CUNY to revise its guidelines surrounding commencement speeches.”
The ADL of New York was also incensed by the speech.
Graduations should be a place for all – not a time to denigrate students’ identities. We are appalled to see such an egregious display of hostility toward "Zionists" (which is how many Jews see themselves) and Israel in @CUNYLaw's commencement address. This is yet another example… https://t.co/czOhAWCaB0
— ADL New York / New Jersey (@ADL_NYNJ) May 12, 2023
New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler is “finalizing legislation to strip universities of their funding if they engage in and promote anti-semitism.” Prospects for passage in the House may have improved considerably following this rancid commencement address.
The speech was originally given on May 12, but the law school almost immediately took it down from YouTube. Only after pushback from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups was it reposted.
Here in its entirety is the vitriolic, evil, antisemitic @CUNYLaw commencement address from Jew hater Fatima Mohammed. Unimaginably, it is even worse than last year's hate spewed by Nerdeen Kiswani. No wonder CUNY Law, under state investigation, tried to hide this video. pic.twitter.com/nKCe1Kx2sc
— SAFE CUNY (@SAFECUNY) May 28, 2023
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