CUNY anti-Israel groups call for 'action all week' as campus police warns school is woefully unprepared for protests
A large group of anti-Israel groups across the City University of New York system are pledging to "take action all week on every CUNY campus."
A large group of anti-Israel groups across the City University of New York system are pledging to “take action all week on every CUNY campus.”
CUNY for Palestine announced the massive protest in an Instagram post on Sunday night, telling supporters to “Protest, fight back, and show them that we will not stand by while our people are murdered by CUNY‼”
Several other anti-Israel organizations at CUNY schools were listed in the post.
”TAKE AUTONOMOUS ACTION ALL WEEK FOR GAZA‼” the group wrote. “As the new school year begins at CUNY, we, the students, stand in solidarity and mourning for the thousands of students in Gaza who were murdered before they could start their own school year. But while we sit here and grieve, CUNY continues to fund and support the ongoing genocide.”
”So as CUNY refuses, we the students, refuse to remain silent as the school year begins while our brothers and sisters are murdered by the terrorist state of Isra*l,” they continued.
The planned protest comes as CUNY police officers allege that university administrators haven’t taken steps to prepare for anti-Israel protests in the coming semester.
“The university is going into this under fire – they have no idea what’s going to happen. There’s no preparation,” a CUNY police officer told the New York Post.
The officer said there have been “no meetings” to discuss additional protests, noting “everyone went on vacation” after the spring semester.
“There have been no meetings about any of this,” the officer said. “Ever since the encampment ended, everyone went on vacation. There’s no ‘Let’s prepare for September.’”
Another police officer said there’s not even enough officers in the police force to respond to a massive, spontaneous protest.
“It’s going to be bad. Our numbers just aren’t there,” the police officer told the Post. “If there’s a spontaneous protest that we don’t have any knowledge of, we’re going to be outnumbered – just by the sheer number of students enrolled, we’re outnumbered.”
A CUNY spokesperson previously told Campus Reform: “CUNY’s top priority is the safety of our students, faculty, and staff, and earlier this week, our Chancellor and campus leaders met with the New York State Executive Chamber to discuss safety plans for the upcoming semester. University leadership has been in ongoing communication with campus directors of public safety, academic and student affairs regarding their preparedness for the fall.”
”CUNY Public Safety has been holding preparation and planning sessions. Our officers undergo extensive and continuous training certified by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and we are grateful for our officers’ continued dedication to keeping our campuses safe,” the spokesperson continued.
