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City University of New York law faculty endorses BDS resolution
The resolution charged the school with 'complicity' in war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Israel
May 21, 2022 11:03
The resolution charged the school with 'complicity' in war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Israel
May 21, 2022 11:03The faculty of the City University of New York’s law school has endorsed a student government resolution backing the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions campaign.
The student resolution, passed in December 2021, charged the school with “complicity” in war crimes alleged to have been perpetrated by Israel, and called for ties to be cut between CUNY and Israeli institutions, as well a Jewish student groups on campus.
It criticised some students groups for supporting Israel and called for the school to “cut all ties with organisations that repress Palestinian organising”.
A CUNY Law spokesperson told The Algemeiner that the faculty endorsed the resolution on May 12, but did not provide further details on the vote.
The resolution, sponsored by CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine and CUNY Law Jewish Law Student Association, criticised exchange programs between the school and Israeli institutions as “a form of propaganda” that “[normalises] settler colonial and apartheid rule”.
It criticised students groups such as Hillel, Bulldogs for Israel, and Students Supporting Israel at City College of New York. It demanded that the school “cut all ties with organisations that repress Palestinian organising”.
The measure was rejected by CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodríguez when it was first passed by students in December last year.
He labelled the call for an academic boycott “contrary to a university’s core mission to expose students personally and academically to a world that can be vastly different to their own, particularly through international exchange programs.”
Miriam Elman, executive director of the Academic Engagement Network told The Algemeiner: “In endorsing the [Law Student Government Association] petition, the CUNY Law faculty have essentially told pro-Palestinian students that it’s perfectly fine to isolate, marginalise, and demoralise Jewish students who support Israel.
“Not only would this harm Israeli academics, including Palestinian students and scholars, but it would also deprive educational opportunities for CUNY students at some of the world’s best universities.”
Elman added: “It’s disgraceful that in their zeal to demonise and delegitimise Israel, they are willing to sacrifice their professional responsibilities to their own students.”