June 28, 2023

CUNY’s Self-Proclaimed Social-Justice Faculty and Staff Union Condemns Itself

By its silence on Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and the bombardment of Syria.

By giving China a pass on its enabling North Korea’s crushing, despotic regime, for its program to eradicate the cultures and religions of Muslim Uyghurs and Tibetan Buddhists, and for the suppression of democracy throughout China.
 

By its disinterest in Iran’s suppression of democracy and violence against LGBTQ people and women, and its proxy wars throughout the Middle East that devastate people on all sides of these conflicts, and for their drive to produce nuclear weapons and the means to deploy them to wipe out Israel.

By its unwavering support of Palestinian authoritarian leadership which holds onto power by rejecting every offer of peace with Israel with waves of terror, as they instill lethal hatred of Jews in their people. This does immeasurable harm to the national aspirations of the Palestinian People. Nevertheless, the power of anti-Jewish and antisemitic indoctrination by Palestinian leadership is regularly on display in addresses by class representatives and faculty favorites at commencement ceremonies at the CUNY School of Law.

By its unhinged condemnation of Israel for defending itself from those who proclaim their aim is to kill every Jew in Israel.

By its insensitivity in giving public expression to the dream of returning to the time before the establishment of Israel when Jews could not defend themselves or find refuge anywhere in the world. Succumbing to Palestinian Arab pressure, the British Mandate of Palestine closed off the escape of Jews from Nazi-controlled Europe when it was desperately needed.

By the message it sends, as received by many Jewish students: Your faculty is pledged to continue the timeless assault on the good name of the Jewish People.
  

So deep into the ideological hatred of Israel in the PSC-CUNY that the union doesn’t see that Jews and Israelis are part of humanity*. The union’s demonization of the Jewish People is rooted in the appropriation of Islamic annihilationism and fealty to the legacy of Soviet hegemonic opportunism in the Middle East, and in the union’s resolve to believe and promulgate every lie about Israel. In order not to be distracted from demonizing Israel, the union defers to the gentleman’s agreement followed by the UN of criticizing only Israel and forgoing censure of actual tyrannies around the world.

So blind is the union that, as it works relentlessly to lay the foundation for an academic boycott of Israel, that it protests to the CUNY Board of Trustees that