Approved, October 11, 2023

CUNY Alliance for Inclusion to Friends at CUNY and to the PSC

We are grieved by the brutal murders and abductions of civilians, including babies and the elderly, by Hamas. We mourn for those lost and pray for the recovery of the wounded and the return of all those who were kidnapped. The gusto with which these atrocities were carried out, gives witness to the relentless demonization of Jews by Hamas and by the Palestinian leadership. The message from the first Palestinian leader, Amin al-Husseini, who aligned Palestinian nationalism with Nazism, to the present Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, who last month reaffirmed his belief that the Holocaust was justified, is clear. The goals and methods of Hamas are enshrined in the Hamas Charter. Driving Israel into the sea and killing every Jew was never a secret. We pray for thesafety of Israelis and Palestinians in the days ahead.

Shamefully, the PSC-CUNY, faculty and staff union, passed a resolution in June 2021, whose only effect in the Middle East could have been to lead Hamas to believe that launching terror against Israel would find support in the US. The resolution singularly condemned Israel, and this for responding to Hamas’ attacks after 1000 rockets were fired at it from Gaza. In its zeal to condemn Israel in that conflict, the union buried Israel’s reluctance to enter into combat with Hamas by simply inverting the truth. Instead of Hamas that had proclaimed it would massacre Jews, it was Israel that was accused of carrying out massacres. The union’s condemnation of Israel for defending itself gives public expression to the antisemitic dream of returning to the time before the establishment of Israel, when Jews could not defend themselves or find refuge. The dehumanization of Jews is the driving force behind Hamas’ ideology and educational system. It should not find fertile ground at CUNY.

The PSC needs to recognize that their anti-Israel resolution has an impact on the campus climate at CUNY and beyond. The PSC must reverse course. It must rescind its condemnation of Israel and state publicly that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself. This would be a critical first step in removing the stain on CUNY faculty and staff of being represented by a union that amplifies Hamas’s rhetoric. No legitimate union can support the brutal murder of innocents. Such a union debases CUNY’s reputation for openness and academic excellence and cannot credibly make the case for supporting CUNY to the citizens of New York.