CUNY students and faculty accuse Israel of genocide

Earlier this month,  Jewish students, faculty, and alumni from the City University of New York (CUNY) published a letter claiming Israel “commits genocide,” “funds Nazi militia groups,” and is a “settler colonial regime.”

The 39 signatories of the letter, titled “Not In Our Name: Anti-Zionist Jewish Coalition at CUNY,” pledge to “unlearn Zionism,” oppose “right wing Zionist organizations,”  and “[w]holeheartedly endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) of the settler colonial and apartheid state Israel.”

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According to 2020 data from the PEW Research Center, the “vast majority” of American Jews aware of the BDS movement oppose it.

The anti-Israel letter goes on to claim that “the CUNY administration works to silence Jewish anti-Zionist students and workers while aligning itself with Zionist organizations,” and charges campus Jewish organization Hillel with being “anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian”, though no evidence is cited for this charge.

In addition to the 39 CUNY-affiliated individuals who signed the letter, 4 CUNY student organizations, 13 non-CUNY individuals, and 9 non-CUNY organizations have signed.

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Campus Reform has covered numerous stories regarding anti-semitism at CUNY.

In June, for example, Campus Reform reported on New York Councilwoman Inna Vernikov withdrawing $50,000 from CUNY in response to CUNY allegedly supporting anti-Semitism.  

That same month, Campus Reform reported on anti-Israel activist Nerdeen Kiswani using her CUNY Law commencement speech to criticize the state of Israel.

CUNY has not responded to comments requested by Campus Reform.