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CUNY’s law school banned student speakers at future commencements after last year’s anti-Israel tirade that called the NYPD and other groups “fascist.”
In a now infamous speech last year, Yemeni immigrant Fatima Mousa Mohammed claimed that laws are “white supremacy” and attacked American institutions.
The speech drew immediate reaction from numerous organizations and elected officials, even as Fatima defended her words and doubled down on her message.
Now the authorities have quietly banned student speakers at the school’s graduation ceremonies, although they will still give speeches as “pre-commencement” events.
“It’s a big step in the fight against hate speech at the law school — that they’re changing the process to ensure that what happened over the last two years doesn’t happen again,” said New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.
Fatima Mousa Mohammed denounced the NYPD and US military as “fascists” at her graduation ceremony and called on her colleagues to continue the “revolution” against capitalism and racism across the country
During the controversial speech, Dean Sudha Shetty was seen sitting on the stage and clapping for Muhammad.
CUNY wants to make their 2024 ceremony ‘shorter and focused on making all attendees feel welcome’
“We appreciate the small steps, but everything they do cannot just be a response to bad press,” she told the newspaper. New York Post.
The school said in a statement that they are “committed to ensuring a ‘welcome’ commencement ceremony” for 2024.
Adar Rubin, an activist with End Jew Hatred, also welcomed the idea that a student speaker would not be allowed.
Rubin wrote on opened the door for student speakers to ‘spit hatred of Jews’.
“Additionally, Dean Sudha Setty’s statement below categorizing the New York Jewish community’s outrage and pleas for CUNY to recognize their civil rights on campus as ‘anti-Palestinian harassment’ is beyond outrageous,” it added he added.
Some students disagreed with CUNY’s resolution and believe the school is restricting freedom of expression.
“I understand why they want to do it, you know, to eliminate controversy and things like that,” said CUNY law student Michael Piazza.
“But you know, I believe in freedom of speech, so I think whether or not someone agrees with what she said, I think they should probably be allowed to say it.”
Mohammed denounced the NYPD and the US military as “fascists” and called on her colleagues to continue the “revolution” against capitalism and racism across the country.
The future lawyer claimed that Black and brown prisoners are murdered daily in US prisons, and turned on her own university for “collaboration in global violence.”
Mohammed began her speech by saying, “I chose the CUNY School of Law because of its clearly stated mission to be law in the service of human needs.
“One of the few legal institutions created to recognize that the law is a manifestation of white supremacy that continues to oppress and oppress people in this country and around the world.”
During the controversial speech, Dean Sudha Shetty was seen sitting on the stage and clapping for Muhammad. However, after the speech, numerous people spoke out.
The future lawyer claimed that Black and brown prisoners are murdered daily in US prisons, and turned on her own university for “collaboration in global violence.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams, who attended the ceremony, later criticized the speech in a tweet.
“I was proud to deliver a different message at this year’s CUNY bill ceremony – one that celebrates the progress of our city and our country, and one that honors those who fight to keep us safe and protect our freedoms like my Uncle Joe, who died at the age of 19 in Vietnam giving his life for our country,” Adams said.
“We cannot allow words of negativity and division to be the only ones our students hear.”
Former United States Representative Lee Zeldin and Republican candidate for Governor of New York said: “Raging anti-Semitism has completely consumed the City University of New York.
“Until the administration is overhauled and all Jewish students and faculty are welcomed back, taxpayer funding must immediately cease.”
“Zionism is built on racist, colonial dispossession and ethnic cleansing,” she said, reciting her speech almost word for word
But the massive criticism and hatred have not deterred Mohammad from her views.
“I didn’t think CUNY would come out and say my speech, which was approved by CUNY law, was ‘hate speech.’ she told Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane.
She added: “Even a first-year law student would know that they are using a definition of hate speech that does not meet the legal standard.”
Mohammad then spoke further about her anti-Zionist views.
“Zionism is built on racist, colonial dispossession and ethnic cleansing,” she said, reciting her speech almost word for word.
“For as long as Zionism has existed, it has inflicted violence and pain on the Palestinian people. Our tax dollars are being used to fund this violence.
She argued that her anti-Zionist views are in fact her and her classmates’ “responsibility” as future lawyers — and that it was her way of honoring her fellow graduates.
“Declaring Zionism was my way of honoring my colleagues’ choice of me as a classroom speaker and honoring the mission of our school,” she said.
Regarding her angry comments about the military, Mohammed said CUNY students “have spoken out in opposition to racism, against the role of the military-industrial complex, against the privatization of higher education and in support of South Africa’s global liberation movements to Puerto Rico to Palestine.”
“Those calling to defund CUNY are deliberately ignorant of what CUNY is and who CUNY serves,” she said.
During her student years in the city, Mohammed was known as an avid protester and active member of Students for Justice in Palestine.