Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has ordered Hunter College to remove a job listing for a Palestinian studies professor over concerns the class will be used to foment anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism.
Her office said she also ordered the City University of New York system, to which the upper east side institution belongs, “to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom,” the New York Post reported.
The job listing stated: “We seek a historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine, including but not limited to, settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender, and sexuality.”
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former longtime trustee for CUNY, told the Post on Tuesday the listing peddles antisemitism by demonizing Israel, likening it to how the Nazis incited hate against Jews in 1930s Germany.
“What the hell are the trustees at CUNY doing allowing a course like this to be accredited?” Wiesenfeld, a trustee for 15 years, said. “To make a Palestinian studies course — completely about alleged Jewish crimes — is akin to courses offered in the Nazi era which ascribed all the world’s crimes to the Jews. This course takes antisemitism to another level at CUNY.
“What if we had a course that said all terrorists are Muslim? Would that be OK?”
William Thompson, the chair of the CUNY Board of Trustees, and Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez said they “strongly agree” with Hochul’s order to remove the posting for a “Palestinian Studies Cluster Hire,” which has been removed from the CUNY system’s website.
“We find this language divisive, polarizing and inappropriate and strongly agree with Gov. Hochul’s direction to remove this posting, which we have ensured Hunter College has since done,” Thompson and Ramos said in a joint statement. “CUNY will continue working with the governor and other stakeholders to tackle antisemitism on our campuses and combat hate in all of its forms.”
Like with many college campuses across the U.S., Israel bashing and antisemitism have escalated at CUNY’s schools since Iranian-backed Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Jewish state’s military response in the Gaza Strip.
A 10-month independent investigation commissioned by Hochul and released in September found that CUNY needs a top-to-bottom overhaul to fight “alarming’’ antisemitism fanned by its faculty and a do-nothing administration, according to the Post.
In 2022, professors at CUNY’s law school passed a resolution in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, and in 2023, one of its student commencement speakers, Fatima Mousa Mohammed, delivered a hate-filled diatribe against Israel and the U.S.
Students, joined by some professors, disrupted and vandalized some CUNY campuses with anti-Israel protests over the past year. CUNY’s faculty union — the Professional Staff Congress — approved a resolution in January to divest assets from Israel over the war in Gaza. But it later repealed the resolution under a wave of heavy criticism.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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